- The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 3.02
+ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.01
==============================================
We are pleased to announce a new release of the Glasgow Haskell
-Compiler (GHC), version 3.02. The source distribution is freely
+Compiler (GHC), version 4.01. The source distribution is freely
available via the World-Wide Web and through anon. FTP; details below.
Haskell is "the" standard lazy functional programming language; the
+ What's new
=============
-GHC 3.02 is a source-only release. Major news items:
+GHC 4.01 is a small increment over 4.00. Many bugs have been fixed.
+The following features are new:
- * A new specialiser,
- * Many bugs fixed, including several performance-related ones,
- * A new unsafeCoerce# primitive.
+ * Weak pointers,
+ * The foreign function interface is now complete.
-GHC 3.02 produces the fastest code since 0.29, but there's still
-plenty of tuning to do.
+In addition, bootstrapping the compiler should now work out of the box.
+
+The following things have not been fixed yet:
+
+ * The native code generator is still flaky, and is turned off by
+ default for the time being.
+ * The profiler is still flaky.
+ Mailing lists
================
+ System requirements
======================
-To compile up this source-only release, you need a machine with 16+MB
+To compile up this source-only release, you need a machine with 32+MB
memory, GNU C (`gcc'), `perl' plus a version of GHC installed (version
-2.10 at least). We have seen GHC work on these platforms:
+2.10 at least). This release is known to work on the following platforms:
+
+ * i386-unknown-{linux,solaris2,freebsd,cygwin32}
+ * sparc-sun-{sunos4,solaris2}
+
+Ports to the following platforms should be relatively easy, but
+haven't been tested due to lack of time/hardware:
* alpha-dec-osf{2,3}
* hppa1.1-hp-hpux{9,10}
- * sparc-sun-{sunos4,solaris2}
* mips-sgi-irix{5,6}
- * i386-unknown-{linux,solaris2,freebsd,cygwin32}.
* {rs6000,powerpc}-ibm-aix
-Similar platforms should work with minimal hacking effort. The installer's
-guide included in distribution gives a complete run-down of what-ports-work;
-an on-line version can be found at
-
- http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/ghc/3.02/installation_guide/installing_toc.html
+The installer's guide included in distribution gives a complete
+run-down of what-ports-work; an on-line version can be found at
-EOF
+ http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/ghc/4.01/installation_guide/installing_toc.html