Scripts

Scripts are executable entrypoints similar to a main function in a conventional language. A script typically calls functions of a published module that perform updates to global storage. Scripts are ephemeral code snippets that are not published in global storage.

A Move source file (or compilation unit) may contain multiple modules and scripts. However, publishing a module or executing a script are separate VM operations.

Syntax

A script has the following structure:

script {
    <use>*
    <constants>*
    fun <identifier><[type parameters: constraint]*>([identifier: type]*) <function_body>
}

A script block must start with all of its use declarations, followed by any constants and (finally) the main function declaration. The main function can have any name (i.e., it need not be called main), is the only function in a script block, can have any number of arguments, and must not return a value. Here is an example with each of these components:

script {
    // Import the debug module published at the named account address std.
    use std::debug;

    const ONE: u64 = 1;

    fun main(x: u64) {
        let sum = x + ONE;
        debug::print(&sum)
    }
}

Scripts have very limited power—they cannot declare friends, struct types or access global storage. Their primary purpose is to invoke module functions.