[[modules-scripting-painless]]
== Painless scripting language

_Painless_ is a simple, secure scripting language designed specifically for use
with Elasticsearch. It is the default scripting language for Elasticsearch and
can safely be used for inline and stored scripts. To get started with
Painless, see the {painless}/painless-guide.html[Painless Guide]. For a
detailed description of the Painless syntax and language features, see the
{painless}/painless-lang-spec.html[Painless Language Specification].

[[painless-features]]
You can use Painless anywhere scripts can be used in Elasticsearch. Painless
provides:

* Fast performance: Painless scripts https://benchmarks.elastic.co/index.html#search_qps_scripts[
run several times faster] than the alternatives.

* Safety: Fine-grained whitelist with method call/field granularity. See the
{painless}/painless-api-reference.html[Painless API Reference] for a
complete list of available classes and methods.

* Optional typing: Variables and parameters can use explicit types or the
dynamic `def` type.

* Syntax: Extends a subset of Java's syntax to provide additional scripting
language features.

* Optimizations: Designed specifically for Elasticsearch scripting.

Ready to start scripting with Painless? See the
{painless}/painless-guide.html[Painless Guide] for the
{painless}/index.html[Painless Scripting Language].