1 <sect1>Release notes for version~2.03---4/97
2 <label id="release-2-03">
5 GHC 2.03 is a minor upgrade of GHC 2.02. It differs in the following
10 A slew of small bugs are fixed. You can find the complete list
14 http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~simonpj/ghc-bugs.html
17 One bug remains un-fixes, namely the crash when there's an empty
18 comment at the end of file. It's wierd!
21 Last-minute language changes have been implemented (minor changes
22 to the libraries, and to module export/hiding scope rules)
25 It is only available as a source distribution. If you want to
26 use it you'll have to build it from source. Nowadays this is
27 a well-documented process (see the build and installation guide, but
28 note that this release is still not self-booting, you still need
29 to have The Good Old Compiler (0.29) at your disposal).
32 None of the bugs in GHC 2.02 are show-stoppers, so you'll only want
33 to upgrade if you are a build-from-source junkie and the bugs are
36 Apart from bug-fixes, which are itemized elsewhere,
37 the exact language and standard-library changes are as follows:
40 A hiding clause hides the unqualified name, but not the qualified name.
42 There's a new @Numeric@ library, containing mostly mildly marginal
43 code for showing and reading numbers. Parts of its exports used to be
44 exported by @Prelude@, but now you'll have to import them explicitly.
45 It also defines some functions that weren't provided before; have a
46 look in the Haskell library report for details of complete interface.
48 The following extra functions are exported from @IO@:
49 @try@, @bracket@, @bracket_@, @hGetLine@, @hWaitForInput@.
52 In addition, we've made following changes to GHC libraries/GHC's
53 implementation of the Haskell standard prelude:
56 <item> The function @fromRational__@, exported from @PrelNum@, is now called @fromRat@.
57 (And it's exported by @Numeric@.)
59 Documentation for the Glasgow specific interfaces plus the system
60 libraries have been re-instated. Posix library documentation included also.
62 @maybe@ is now exported from Prelude, as it should have been in 2.02.
64 Equality on @IO.Handle@ is now defined as specified by the library
67 @Ix.rangeSize@ returns @0@ on an empty range;previously it failed.
69 The new interface @GlaExts@ which is meant to be the gateway to the
70 various Glasgow extensions has now been documented.
72 @GlaExts@ now exports the representation of @Char@.
74 The mutable variable interface, @MutVar@, has also been documented,
75 together with @ByteArray@, @MutableArray@ and @Foreign@.
77 Added documentation on how to compile mutually recursive modules with