diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'ghc/docs/release_notes/0-10-notes.lit')
| -rw-r--r-- | ghc/docs/release_notes/0-10-notes.lit | 72 |
1 files changed, 72 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/ghc/docs/release_notes/0-10-notes.lit b/ghc/docs/release_notes/0-10-notes.lit new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..9048e8a1bc --- /dev/null +++ b/ghc/docs/release_notes/0-10-notes.lit @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +Release~0.10 was the first major, public release of this compilation +system. + +The announcement (now distributed in \tr{ghc/docs/ANNOUNCE-0.10}) +describes the most notable features of this release. These notes, +therefore, just cover some of the fine points... + +%************************************************************************ +%* * +\subsection[0-10-new-docs]{New documentation} +%* * +%************************************************************************ + +We're providing a few more papers, in \tr{ghc/docs/papers}. See +\tr{ghc/docs/README} for a full list of documentation. + +%************************************************************************ +%* * +\subsection[0-10-new-in-usage]{User-visible changes} +%* * +%************************************************************************ + +An ``Appel-style'' generational garbage collector is now the default. +(It used to be a two-space copying collector.) + +The flag to use the unboxery and other Glasgow extensions was +\tr{-funboxed}. We've changed it to \tr{-fglasgow-exts}. We may +elaborate this further, eventually... + +(If 0.06 is the last version you looked at, flags/options have changed +a fair bit since then.) + +%************************************************************************ +%* * +\subsection[0-10-new-in-compiler]{New in the compiler proper} +%* * +%************************************************************************ + +Derived instances are in, well partly. We'll put in the rest when +there's a demand (or we have nothing better to do). + +@Integers@ (arbitrary-precision integers) are now in properly. +Just as HBC does, we use the GNU multi-precision arithmetic package. +Source is in \tr{ghc/runtime/gmp}. + +We did a bunch of stuff in the typechecker region to support +overloading better; we called it ``dictionary stomping.'' One +side-effect of this work is that error messages related to overloading +have a slight chance of being sensible (which they weren't before). + +``Primitive arrays,'' on top of which efficient, regular Haskell +arrays can be (are) built, went in. There's a {\em little} about +using them, in the ``Glasgow extensions'' section of the User's Guide. + +Similarly, the mechanisms for calling C directly (@ccall@ and @casm@) +are more likely to be useful. Again, a little documentation in the +same place... + +%************************************************************************ +%* * +\subsection[0-10-new-in-libraries]{In the prelude and runtime support} +%* * +%************************************************************************ + +Our standard prelude conforms to the Haskell~1.2 report. + +We support a non-standard @fromInt@ method for the @Num@ class, just as +HBC does. + +We support a non-standard @cmp3@ method for the @Ord@ class. Snoop +around in the \tr{ghc/lib/prelude/*.hs} code, if you care. (We use it +in code generated for derived instances.) |