X-Git-Url: http://git.megacz.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=ghc%2FANNOUNCE;h=4f0e1cfc675776113bff558c0be8c11e1eea87f4;hb=416bd081eab1ec76a1bf488d76c986ec2c4ef15f;hp=ed1f9e961158a17afc087232530584e47a69245e;hpb=92b2b7bb6647a176554328ca6e02660d413d346f;p=ghc-hetmet.git diff --git a/ghc/ANNOUNCE b/ghc/ANNOUNCE index ed1f9e9..4f0e1cf 100644 --- a/ghc/ANNOUNCE +++ b/ghc/ANNOUNCE @@ -1,84 +1,129 @@ - The Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 4.08 - ============================================== -We are pleased to announce a new release of the Glasgow Haskell -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. + ============================================================ + The (Interactive) Glasgow Haskell Compiler -- version 5.02 + ============================================================ -Haskell is "the" standard lazy functional programming language; the -current language version is Haskell 98, agreed in December 1998. +We are pleased to announce a new major release of the Glasgow Haskell +Compiler (GHC), version 5.02. -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). +This is the first version of GHC that has all of the following: -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 + * An interactive read-eval-print loop, similar to Hugs. + You can load a mixture of compiled and interpreted modules; + in particular, you automatically use the precompiled libraries, + so your "interpreted" programs often run pretty fast. - http://www.haskell.org/ + * Works solidly on Windows platforms. Installation is simple + (Installshield); you don't have to install anything else; + and GHC does not get confused if you also happen to + have (say) Cygwin installed. -GHC's Web page lives at + * Implements the changes adopted for the (now almost finalised) + Revised Haskell 98 Language and Library Reports. + + * The ability to emit "External Core", a documented typed + intermediate language, suitable for slurping up into other + tools. [Andrew Tolmach's work.] + + * A particularly thorough pre-release test programme. + Some releases are more solid than others; this one is + at the solid end of the spectrum. We fondly hope. + +So if you have been waiting to upgrade your GHC 4.08, this is +the moment. + + +How to get it +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +The easy way is to go to the WWW page, which should be self-explanatory: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ -+ What's new -============= +We supply binary builds in the native package format for various +flavours of Linux and BSD, and in InstallShield form for Windows +folks. Binary builds for other platforms are available as a .tar.gz +which can be installed wherever you want. The source distribution is +also available from the same place. -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)). +Once you have the distribution, please follow the pointers in the +README file to find all of the documentation about this release. -There are the following changes - - New profiling subsystem, based on cost-centre stacks. +More details about what's new +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - - 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). +5.02 incorporates many small refinements and bug fixes over the previous +stable release (5.00.2). There are no major language changes. - - Implicit parameters (i.e. dynamic scoping without the pain). + - Implements Haskell 98 (revised) - - DEPRECATED pragma for marking obsolescent interfaces. + - Ability to emit External Core. (But GhC can't read External Core + back in. Yet.) - - In the wake of hslibs, a new package system for - libraries. -package should now be used instead of -syslib. + - Much improved support for Windows platforms. Binary builds are + now entirely freestanding. There's no need to install Cygwin or + Mingwin to use it. It's a one-click-install-and-off-you-go story now. - - Result type signatures work. + - Several small changes to bring GHC into line with the newest Haskell 98 + report. - - Many tiresome long-standing bugs and problems (e.g. the trace - problem) have been fixed. + - GHCi (the interactive system) now works on Windows. - - Many error messages have been made more helpful and/or - accurate. + - Partial FFI support in GHCi. At the moment, foreign import (both + static and dynamic) is supported on x86 and sparc platforms. + + - A compacting garbage collector, to try and reduce space use. + + - Ability to disconnect built-in numeric syntax from the supplied + Prelude. This allows you to define your own arithmetic packages, + which Haskell98 doesn't quite support. + + - Experimental: partial support for hierarchical module names. + + - Experimental: following heroic hacking by Ken Shan, 5.02 now + works on Alpha (Tru64 only). Many 64-bit bugs have been shaken + out. At the moment only the batch-mode compiler works -- no GHCi + or native code generator yet. + +We've found and fixed more bugs than you could possibly imagine. A +big thank-you to all those who reported bugs in the 5.00.X series. We +claim to have fixed almost all reported bugs. In general we've spent +a large amount of effort trying to improve the stability of the +system relative to 5.00.X. (Famous last words ...) For full details see the release notes: - http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/4.08/set/release-4-08.html + http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/5.02/set/release-5-02.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: +Background +~~~~~~~~~~ +Haskell is a standard lazy functional programming language; the +current language version is Haskell 98, agreed in December 1998. - subscribe glasgow-haskell-{users,bugs} Your Name +GHC is a state-of-the-art programming suite for Haskell. Included is +an optimising compiler generating good code for a variety of +platforms, together with an interactive system for convenient, quick +development. 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, whatever). GHC is distributed under a +BSD-style open source license. -or +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 - subscribe cvs-ghc Your Name + http://www.haskell.org/ + +GHC's Web page lives at + + http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ -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 -================================ +On-line GHC-related resources +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Relevant URLs on the World-Wide Web: @@ -86,38 +131,52 @@ 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/ - -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 programs with GHC, you need a machine with 32+MB memory, GNU C +System requirements +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +To compile programs with GHC, you need a machine with 64+MB memory, GCC and perl. This release is known to work on the following platforms: - * i386-unknown-{linux,freebsd,netbsd,cygwin32,mingw32} + * i386-unknown-{linux,*bsd,mingw32} * sparc-sun-solaris2 - * hppa1.1-hp-hpux{9,10} + * alpha-dec-osf3 + * powerpc-apple-darwin (MacOS/X) Ports to the following platforms should be relatively easy (for a wunderhacker), but haven't been tested due to lack of time/hardware: + * hppa1.1-hp-hpux{9,10} * i386-unknown-solaris2 - * alpha-dec-osf{2,3} * mips-sgi-irix{5,6} * {rs6000,powerpc}-ibm-aix 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/4.08/building/building-guide.html + http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/latest/building/building-guide.html + + + +Mailing lists +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +We run mailing lists for GHC users and bug reports; to subscribe, use +the web interfaces at + + http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/glasgow-haskell-users + http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/glasgow-haskell-bugs + +There are several other haskell and ghc-related mailing lists on +www.haskell.org; for the full list, see + + http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/ + +Please report bugs using our SourceForge page at + + http://sourceforge.net/projects/ghc/ + +or send them 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. +