boabem 0.3.0

Python bindings for the Rust crate 'boa', an embeddable JavaScript engine

boabem

Boabem (/po.a.bɛm/, 'bo-ah-bem') is a Python binding for the Rust crate boa — an embeddable JavaScript engine.

Run small bits of JavaScript from Python, get back plain Python values, and keep state across evaluations.

Install

Python 3.9+ is required.

• If a prebuilt wheel is available for your platform:
  • pip install boabem
• Otherwise, build from source.

Quick start

from boabem import Context

ctx = Context()
ctx.eval("var x = 41")
print(ctx.eval("x + 1"))  # 42

print(ctx.eval("'A' + 'B'"))         # 'AB'
print(ctx.eval("[1,2,3].length"))    # 3
print(ctx.eval("JSON.stringify({a:1})"))  # '{"a":1}'

Load code from a file:

from pathlib import Path
from boabem import Context

ctx = Context()
result = ctx.eval_from_filepath(Path("script.js"))

API

• boabem.Context
  • eval(source: str) -> Any
  • eval_from_bytes(source: str) -> Any (same behavior as eval)
  • eval_from_filepath(path: str | os.PathLike[str]) -> Any
• boabem.PanicException
  • Exception class exposed for Rust panics (e.g., attempting to use a Context across threads).
• boabem.Undefined
  • Sentinel type representing JavaScript undefined.
  • String representation: "Undefined".

State persists within a single Context instance between calls. Each Context is isolated from others.

Value mapping (JS -> Python)

• undefined -> boabem.Undefined
• null -> None
• boolean -> bool
• number -> float (NaN/Infinity preserved as float("nan")/float("inf"))
• BigInt -> int
• string -> str
• Array -> list
• Object -> dict

Notes:

• Some JS values (e.g., Symbol) cannot be converted and will raise an error.
• Each undefined you get back is a distinct Python object, but compares equal to another Undefined.

Object/Array conversion details

When converting composite values (JavaScript Objects and Arrays) to Python dict/list, elements are converted recursively with a few caveats:

• BigInt inside Objects/Arrays is converted to Python int.
  • Examples: ({ a: 1n, 1: 2n, 2n: 3n }) -> {"a": 1, "1": 2, "2": 3} and [1, 2, 3n] -> [1, 2, 3].
• NaN and ±Infinity inside Objects/Arrays are preserved as Python floats (float('nan') / float('inf')).
  • Examples: ({ a: NaN, b: Infinity }) -> {"a": nan, "b": inf} and [1, 2, NaN, Infinity] -> [1, 2, nan, inf].
• undefined inside Objects/Arrays is converted to boabem.Undefined.

Additional notes:

• JavaScript object property keys are coerced to strings during conversion; for example, a 2n property name becomes the Python key "2".

Note: Top-level primitives are still mapped as documented above (e.g., 10n -> int, NaN/Infinity -> float('nan')/float('inf')). The special rules here apply only to values nested within Objects/Arrays.

Threading and processes

Context is not thread-sendable or picklable:

• Do not move or use a Context across threads (ThreadPoolExecutor will fail).
• Do not send a Context to another process (cannot pickle).
• Create and use a Context only in the thread where it was created.

If you try to use a Context across threads, you'll get a Rust panic surfaced as pyo3_runtime.PanicException (exposed as boabem.PanicException).

Errors

• JavaScript exceptions (e.g., throw new Error('boom')) raise RuntimeError with the JS message.
• Syntax/Reference/Type errors surface as RuntimeError messages (e.g., "SyntaxError", "ReferenceError").

License

Dual-licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0.