Helma is a server-side Javascript environment and web application framework for fast and efficient scripting and serving of your websites and Internet applications.

Helma is written in Java and employs Javascript for its server-side scripting environment, removing the need for compilation cycles and reducing development costs while giving you instant access to leverage the whole wealth of Java libraries out there.

Helma pioneered the simple and codeless mapping of application objects to database tables. In addition, an embedded object-oriented database performs automatic data persistence of unmapped objects.

Helma has proven itself to be stable and fast, capable of serving high traffic sites with hundreds of thousands of dynamic pages per day. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, popular weblog hosting sites such as antville.org, twoday.net, and blogger.de, among many others, have successfully been deploying Helma for several years.

Helma Development Update

Helma has been in development for 12 years now, and has been used in production for almost as long. Along that way, there were a number occasions when major new features were added to Helma. But at its core, we have remained true to the original design of a fully integrated, prototypal web platform.

The world hasn't stood still for the last 10 years, though. It is increasingly clear that not all challenges of tomorrow's web can be met using a fully integrated software package. Breaking up Helma and trying to make it something it wasn't designed to be seems like a bad idea given its level of maturity. This is why we started RingoJS to provide a lower level platform for server-side JavaScript that is more flexible and less integrated.

For Helma, this means that there we are not planning any major overhauls or new features. We will continue to support Helma for the indefinite future, though. There are large companies with major investments in Helma (ORF.at just did a major roll-out this summer). You can expect bug fixes and security updates will be released in a timely manner.

What does that mean for you? For production work, Helma is still a great choice if it fits your needs and mode of operation. Having a stable platform without new releases that break existing software may be a great feature here. However, if you are looking for cutting edge stuff, check out Ringo. It's nowhere near as mature as Helma, but it should provide a good, evolving platform for the years to come.

Whichever tool you choose, JavaScript on the JVM will continue to prove a secure and reliable platform for writing server-side applications.

Helma 1.7.0 Released

The Helma 1.7.0 release contains some bug fixes and major improvements, such as programmable HopObject collections and prototype mappings, Apache Commons Daemon support, a profiler for measuring function runtime and invocation frequency, and skin/macro introspection, to mention just a few. It also contains an updated version of Rhino and is the first Helma release that has Javascript 1.7 features enabled by default. The Helma 1.7.0 Changelog has the nitty gritty details. Better get it now, before there is an even better one. Really, it's that good!

Markdown on helma.org

As of today, the Helma website supports Markdown as page markup format and uses it as default for new pages. Markdown allows you to write using an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format. Read more.

Announcing Helma NG 0.3

It's been a long time coming, but we're happy to finally announce the 0.3 release of Helma NG, a completely rearchitected and slimmed down successor of Helma. Have a look at the demo app to see what Helma NG is about, and download your copy from github today!

Helma turns 1.6.3

Helma is 1.6.3 and ready to be downloaded! She is now more mature and more stable than ever. Just see the long list of ways in which she's changed. She is ready for your projects!

Helma 1.6.3-rc3 ready for testing

The third release candidate can be taken for a spin. See the Helma 1.6.3 Changelog for detailed information about the changes included in this new version.

Release Candidate 3 contains some additional important changes, such as the totalUploadLimit value now being applied also to ordinary form post requests, as well as preventing a potential problem with the insertion order and making it easier to run Helma in other servlet containers.

Helma 1.6.3 Release Candidate 2

A second release candidate is ready to download. Please take a moment to check for any remaining problems with these packages.

See the Helma 1.6.3 Changelog for detailed information about the changes included in this new version.