- The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.01
- ==============================================
+ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.08
+ ==============================================
We are pleased to announce a new release of the Glasgow Haskell
-Compiler (GHC), version 4.01. 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 1.4, agreed in April, 1997. Haskell
-related information is available from the Haskell home page at
+current language version is Haskell 98, agreed in December 1998.
- http://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/
+ What's new
=============
-GHC 4.01 is a small increment over 4.00. Many bugs have been fixed.
-The following features are new:
+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).
- * Weak pointers,
- * The foreign function interface is now complete.
+ - DEPRECATED pragma for marking obsolescent interfaces.
-In addition, bootstrapping the compiler should now work out of the box.
+ - In the wake of hslibs, a new package system for
+ libraries. -package should now be used instead of -syslib.
-The following things have not been fixed yet:
+ - Result type signatures work.
- * The native code generator is still flaky, and is turned off by
- default for the time being.
- * The profiler is still flaky.
+ - 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/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@dcs.gla.ac.uk; the msg body should be:
+mail to majordomo@haskell.org; the msg body should be:
+
+ subscribe glasgow-haskell-{users,bugs} Your Name <you@where.soever>
- subscribe glasgow-haskell-<which> Your Name <your-email@where.you.are>
+or
-Please send bug reports about GHC to glasgow-haskell-bugs@dcs.gla.ac.uk ; GHC
-users hang out on glasgow-haskell-users@dcs.gla.ac.uk
+ 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.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/ghc/
-Haskell home page http://haskell.org/
-Glasgow FP group page http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/
-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.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/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 (version
-2.10 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}
- * hppa1.1-hp-hpux{9,10}
* 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.dcs.gla.ac.uk/fp/software/ghc/4.01/installation_guide/installing_toc.html
+ http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/4.08/building/building-guide.html
projects / ghc-hetmet.git / blobdiff