-<sect1 id="release-5-04">
+<sect1 id="release-6-0">
<title>Release notes for version 6.0</title>
<sect2>
<title>User-visible compiler changes</title>
- <para></para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Template Haskell, a new feature for compile-time
+ metaprogramming has been introduced. See <xref
+ linkend="template-haskell">.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>INLINE pragmas on methods in class or instance
+ declarations now work properly.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Recursive do-notation (aka <literal>mdo</literal>) is
+ now supported. See <xref linkend="mdo-notation">.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>There is now a native code generator for PowerPC
+ platforms.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Profiling: the <option>-xt</option> RTS option enables
+ inclusion of thread stacks in a heap profile. See <xref
+ linkend="rts-options-heap-prof">.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Non-blocking I/O is now supported on Windows.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The <ulink url="../base/Data.Dynamic.html#Typeable"><literal>Typeable</literal></ulink> class can now be
+ derived, and the implementation of <literal>Typeable</literal>
+ is now more efficient.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>User-visible interpreter (GHCi) changes</title>
- <para></para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Loading a <literal>Main</literal> module that does not
+ define <literal>main</literal> is no longer an error, although
+ GHCi will still emit a warning in this case.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</sect2>
-
+
<sect2>
<title>User-visible library changes</title>
- <para></para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Hierarchical libraries are now available without needing
+ to specify an explicit <option>-package</option> flag. There
+ are some exceptions to this rule (see <xref
+ linkend="using-packages">), but if you stick to GHCi and
+ <option>--make</option> mode then there will normally be no
+ need to specify <option>-package</option> options at
+ all.</para>
+
+ <para>Non-hierarchical libraries
+ (i.e. <literal>hslibs</literal> libraries) still need to be
+ explicitly requested with <option>-package</option>
+ options.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The <literal>Posix</literal> library has been rewritten.
+ It is now a hierarchical library rooted at
+ <literal>System.Posix</literal>, and has some additions aimed
+ at supporting the latest revision of the POSIX standard (IEEE
+ Std 1003.1-2001). See the <ulink
+ url="../unix/index.html"><literal>unix</literal>
+ package</ulink> for details.</para>
+
+ <para>The old <literal>posix</literal> package is still
+ available for backwards compatibility, but is deprecated and
+ will be removed in a future release.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink url="../base/Data.IORef.html"><literal>Data.IORef</literal></ulink>: Added <literal>atomicModifyIORef</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink url="../base/System.Cmd.html"><literal>System.Cmd</literal></ulink>: Added <literal>rawSystem</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/System.Environment.html"><literal>System.Environment</literal></ulink>:
+ Added <literal>withArgs</literal> and <literal>withProgName</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Network.Socket.html"><literal>Network.Socket</literal></ulink>:
+ Added <literal>sendFd</literal> and <literal>recvFd</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The <literal>Readline</literal> library has moved to
+ <ulink
+ url="../readline/System.Console.Readline.html"><literal>System.Console.Readline</literal></ulink>,
+ and is in a package of its own
+ (<literal>readline</literal>).</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The non-hierarchical versions of the FFI libraries are
+ now all available without needing to specify <literal>-package
+ lang</literal> (they are actually now in the
+ <literal>haskell98</literal> package, which is available by
+ default).</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../network/Network.BSD.html"><literal>Network.BSD</literal></ulink>:
+ <literal>symlink</literal> and <literal>readline</literal> are
+ now deprecated; use
+ <literal>System.Posix.createSymbolicLink</literal> and
+ <literal>System.Posix.readSymbolicLink</literal>
+ respectively.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Control.Exception.html"><literal>Control.Exception</literal></ulink>:
+ Added <literal>mapException</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.Dynamic.html"><literal>Data.Dynamic</literal></ulink>:
+ various changes to make the implementation of
+ <literal>Typeable</literal> more efficient. This entails some
+ changes to the interface, and affects how instances of
+ <literal>Typeable</literal> are defined.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.Tree.html"><literal>Data.Tree</literal></ulink>
+ is a new library for trees.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.Graph.html"><literal>Data.Graph</literal></ulink>
+ is a new library for graphs.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/System.IO.html"><literal>System.IO</literal></ulink>:
+ Removed <literal>bracket</literal> and
+ <literal>bracket_</literal> (use the versions from
+ <literal>Control.Exception</literal> instead).</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/System.IO.html"><literal>System.IO</literal></ulink>:
+ The <literal>IOError</literal> type is now a synonym for
+ <literal>IOException</literal>, whereas previously it was a
+ synonym for <literal>Exception</literal>. This has various
+ consequences, one of which is that the types of
+ <literal>System.IO.catch</literal> and
+ <literal>Control.Exception.catch</literal> are now different
+ (useful, because they do different things).</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/System.IO.Error.html"><literal>System.IO.Error</literal></ulink>:
+ added <literal>annotateIOError</literal>,
+ <literal>modifyIOError</literal>, and <literal>ioeSet{ErrorType,ErrorString,Handle,FileName}</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Text.ParserCombinators.ReadP.html"><literal>Text.ParserCombinators.ReadP</literal></ulink>:
+ lots of updates.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><literal>Control.Monad.Monoid</literal> is now <ulink url="../base/Data.Monoid.html"><literal>Data.Monoid</literal></ulink>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.PackedString.html"><literal>Data.PackedString</literal></ulink>:
+ added <literal>joinPS</literal>, <literal>unwordsPS</literal>
+ and <literal>unlinesPS</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.HashTable.html"><literal>Data.HashTable</literal></ulink>
+ is a new dynamic hash-table implementation.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Added <ulink
+ url="../unix/System.Sendfile.html"><literal>System.Sendfile</literal></ulink>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Added <ulink
+ url="../base/Foreign.Marshal.Pool.html"><literal>Foreign.Marshal.Pool</literal></ulink>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para><ulink
+ url="../base/Data.Bits.html"><literal>Data.Bits</literal></ulink>:
+ <literal>shiftL</literal>, <literal>shiftR</literal>,
+ <literal>rotateL</literal>, and <literal>rotateR</literal> are
+ now methods of the <literal>Bite</literal> class.</para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The FFI libraries now conform to the latest version of
+ the FFI spec:</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Added <ulink
+ url="../base/Foreign.ForeignPtr.html#mallocForeignPtr"><literal>Foreign.ForeignPtr.mallocForeignPtr</literal></ulink>
+ and friends.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Finalizers added to a <literal>ForeignPtr</literal>
+ with <literal>addForeignPtrFinalizer</literal> are now run
+ in strict order; namely the reverse of the order they were
+ added.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><literal>Foreign.C.TypesISO</literal> has been
+ merged into <ulink
+ url="../base/Foreign.C.Types.html"><literal>Foreign.C.Types</literal></ulink>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
- <title>New experimental features</title>
- <para></para>
+ <title>Experimental features</title>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The <literal>Data</literal> class provides for generic
+ data traversals and folds; see <ulink
+ url="../base/Data.Generics.html"><literal>Data.Generics</literal></ulink>.
+ <literal>Data</literal> can be derived for arbitrary
+ datatypes. The <literal>Data</literal> class is still
+ experimental, so its contents may change in the future.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Several bugs have been fixed in the threaded RTS, and it
+ should now be rather more robust (it should still be
+ considered experimental, however).</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Internal changes</title>
- <para></para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Sweeping changes to the compiler and runtime system to
+ change the evaluation model from <quote>push/enter</quote> to
+ <quote>eval/apply</quote>. The bottom line is that the
+ compiler is now more portable and some of the complexity is
+ now more centralised, while performance and binary sizes
+ remain about the same.</para>
+
+ <para>A paper describing these changes can be found <ulink
+ url="http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/eval-apply">here</ulink>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The test suite is now driven by a Python script and is
+ rather more flexible and robust. It now supports building
+ tests several different "ways", and as a result we now run
+ each test with optimisation, profiling, native code
+ generation, and GHCi in addition to the vanilla way.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The build system now supports bootstrapping the compiler
+ in a single build tree. By default, typing
+ <literal>make</literal> at the top level will bootstrap the
+ compiler once to create a stage-2 compiler. See the Building
+ Guide for more details.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The RTS debugging flags are no longer represented by a
+ bitfield and now have single-character names. For example, to
+ turn on scheduler debugging output, use <literal>-Ds</literal>
+ rather than <literal>-D1</literal>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>The compiler no longer requires any packages from
+ <literal>hslibs</literal> to bootstrap. It is enough to
+ compile <literal>fptools/libraries</literal> before building
+ the stage 2 compiler.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</sect2>
</sect1>
projects / ghc-hetmet.git / commitdiff