- The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.04
- ==============================================
+ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.08
+ ==============================================
We are pleased to announce a new release of the Glasgow Haskell
-Compiler (GHC), version 4.04. The source distribution is freely
-available via the World-Wide Web and through anon. FTP; details below.
+Compiler (GHC), version 4.08. The source distribution is freely
+available via the World-Wide Web and through anon. FTP, under a
+BSD-style license. See below for download details. Pre-built
+packages for Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and Win32 are also available.
Haskell is "the" standard lazy functional programming language; the
current language version is Haskell 98, agreed in December 1998.
-Haskell related information is available from the Haskell home page at
- http://www.haskell.org/
+GHC is a state-of-the-art optimising compiler for Haskell, generating
+good code for a variety of platforms. The distribution includes space
+and time profiling facilities, a large collection of libraries, and
+support for various language extensions, including concurrency, exceptions,
+and foreign language interfaces (C, C++, whatever).
+
+A wide variety of Haskell related resources (tutorials, libraries,
+specifications, documentation, compilers, interpreters, references,
+contact information, links to research groups) are available from the
+Haskell home page at
+
+ http://www.haskell.org/
GHC's Web page lives at
- http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
+ http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
+ What's new
=============
- - GHC is now officially Open Source, see the LICENSE file in the
- distribution for details.
+This should be a stable release. There have been many enhancements
+since 4.06, and shed-loads of bug-fixes (one shed (imperial) ~ one ton
+(US)).
+
+There are the following changes
+
+ - New profiling subsystem, based on cost-centre stacks.
+
+ - Working x86 native code generator: now it works properly, runs
+ about twice as fast as compiling via C, and is on a par for
+ run-time speed (except in FP-intensive programs).
+
+ - Implicit parameters (i.e. dynamic scoping without the pain).
- - Rewrite rules can be specified in the source using the RULES
- pragma. This is used for automatic fusion of common list functions.
+ - DEPRECATED pragma for marking obsolescent interfaces.
- - Performance tuning: compiled programs now allocate 30% less
- and run 20% faster on average compared to GHC 4.02.
+ - In the wake of hslibs, a new package system for
+ libraries. -package should now be used instead of -syslib.
- - GHC now uses a Happy parser instead of the old yacc/lex one.
+ - Result type signatures work.
+
+ - Many tiresome long-standing bugs and problems (e.g. the trace
+ problem) have been fixed.
+
+ - Many error messages have been made more helpful and/or
+ accurate.
For full details see the release notes:
- http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/users_guide/users_guide-1.html#ss1.4
+ http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/4.08/set/release-4-08.html
+ Mailing lists
================
We run mailing lists for GHC users and bug reports; to subscribe, send
mail to majordomo@haskell.org; the msg body should be:
- subscribe glasgow-haskell-<which> Your Name <your-email@where.you.are>
+ subscribe glasgow-haskell-{users,bugs} Your Name <you@where.soever>
+
+or
-Please send bug reports about GHC to glasgow-haskell-bugs@haskell.org ; GHC
-users hang out on glasgow-haskell-users@haskell.org
+ subscribe cvs-ghc Your Name <you@where.soever>
+Please send bug reports about GHC to glasgow-haskell-bugs@haskell.org;
+GHC users hang out on glasgow-haskell-users@haskell.org. Bleeding
+edge CVS users party on cvs-ghc@haskell.org.
+ On-line GHC-related resources
================================
Relevant URLs on the World-Wide Web:
-GHC home page http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
-Haskell home page http://www.haskell.org/
-comp.lang.functional FAQ http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/Department/Staff/mpj/faq.html
-
+GHC home page http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
+Haskell home page http://www.haskell.org/
+comp.lang.functional FAQ http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~gmh/faq.html
+ How to get it
================
The easy way is to go to the WWW page, which should be
self-explanatory:
- http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
+ http://www.haskell.org/ghc/
Once you have the distribution, please follow the pointers in the
README file to find all of the documentation about this release. NB:
preserve modification times when un-tarring the files (no `m' option
for tar, please)!
-
+ System requirements
======================
-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 (3.02 at
-least). This release is known to work on the following platforms:
+To compile programs with GHC, you need a machine with 32+MB memory, GNU C
+and perl. This release is known to work on the following platforms:
- * i386-unknown-{linux,solaris2,freebsd,cygwin32}
- * sparc-sun-{sunos4,solaris2}
+ * i386-unknown-{linux,freebsd,netbsd,cygwin32,mingw32}
+ * sparc-sun-solaris2
* hppa1.1-hp-hpux{9,10}
-Ports to the following platforms should be relatively easy, but
-haven't been tested due to lack of time/hardware:
+Ports to the following platforms should be relatively easy (for a
+wunderhacker), but haven't been tested due to lack of time/hardware:
+ * i386-unknown-solaris2
* alpha-dec-osf{2,3}
* mips-sgi-irix{5,6}
* {rs6000,powerpc}-ibm-aix
-The installer's guide included in distribution gives a complete
-run-down of what-ports-work; an on-line version can be found at
+The builder's guide included in distribution gives a complete
+run-down of what ports work; an on-line version can be found at
- http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/installation_guide/installing.html
+ http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/4.08/building/building-guide.html
projects / ghc-hetmet.git / blobdiff