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fold 1.9.6 NEWS into the main text
* NEWS: Incorporate 1.9.6 NEWS items into the main text.
This commit is contained in:
Andy Wingo
parent
2051e2bdbb
commit
4a45769178
1 changed files with 183 additions and 211 deletions
394
NEWS
394
NEWS
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@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
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Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
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Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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See the end for copying conditions.
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Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
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@ -14,215 +14,6 @@ Changes in 1.9.7 (since the 1.9.6 prerelease):
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Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
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||||
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||||
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Changes in 1.9.6 (since the 1.9.5 prerelease):
|
||||
|
||||
** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
|
||||
|
||||
Guile's `primitive-eval' is now implemented in Scheme. Actually there is
|
||||
still a C evaluator, used when building a fresh Guile to interpret the
|
||||
compiler, so we can compile eval.scm. Thereafter all calls to
|
||||
primitive-eval are implemented by VM-compiled code.
|
||||
|
||||
This allows all of Guile's procedures, be they interpreted or compiled,
|
||||
to execute on the same stack, unifying multiple-value return semantics,
|
||||
providing for proper tail recursion between interpreted and compiled
|
||||
code, and simplifying debugging.
|
||||
|
||||
As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
|
||||
representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
|
||||
|
||||
There are two negative aspects of this change, however. First, Guile
|
||||
takes a lot longer to compile now. Also, there is less debugging
|
||||
information available for debugging interpreted code. We hope to improve
|
||||
both of these situations.
|
||||
|
||||
There are many changes to the internal C evalator interface, but all
|
||||
public interfaces should be the same. See the ChangeLog for details. If
|
||||
we have inadvertantly changed an interface that you were using, please
|
||||
contact bug-guile@gnu.org.
|
||||
|
||||
** Elisp compiler
|
||||
|
||||
The derelict Guile maintainers finally got around to merging Daniel
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||||
Kraft's excellent Emacs Lisp compiler. You can now switch to Elisp at
|
||||
the repl: `,language elisp'. All kudos to Daniel, and all bugs to
|
||||
bug-guile@gnu.org.
|
||||
|
||||
** Faster SRFI-9 record access
|
||||
|
||||
SRFI-9 records are now implemented directly on top of Guile's structs,
|
||||
and their accessors are defined in such a way that normal call-sites
|
||||
inline to special VM opcodes, while still allowing for the general case
|
||||
(e.g. passing a record accessor to `apply').
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** Some VM metadata removed
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||||
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||||
It used to be that the standard virtual machine counted the number of
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instructions it executed. This capability has been removed, as it was
|
||||
not very useful, and had some overhead. Also it used to try to record
|
||||
the time spent in the VM, but these calculations were borked, so we
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||||
removed them too.
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|
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** Inline memq/memv of a key in a constant list
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||||
|
||||
The impoverished Guile inliner is slightly less lame now that it does
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||||
`(memv k '(foo))' => `(eq? k 'foo)'.
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||||
|
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** Rename "else" fields of <conditional> and <lambda-case>
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Having a field named "else" just didn't sit right with "cond", and
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||||
everything else. So now Tree-IL's <conditional> has "consequent" and
|
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"alternate", and <lambda-case> has "alternate".
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|
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** Allow interrupts in tail loops
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||||
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Tail-recursive loops that compile to tight, procedure-less jumps
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||||
previously were uninterruptible. Now the VM handle interrupts whenever
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||||
it jumps backwards.
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||||
|
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** Tail patterns in syntax-case
|
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|
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Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
|
||||
syntax expander, to implement support for "tail patterns". Such patterns
|
||||
are supported by syntax-rules and syntax-case. This allows a syntax-case
|
||||
match clause to have ellipses, then a pattern at the end. For example:
|
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|
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(define-syntax case
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(syntax-rules (else)
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((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
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[...])))
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|
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Note how there is MATCH-CLAUSE, which is ellipsized, then there is a
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tail pattern for the else clause. Thanks to Andreas Rottmann for the
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patch, and Kent Dybvig for the code.
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||||
|
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** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
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`scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
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constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
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** Applicable struct support
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|
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One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
|
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To do so, make a struct whose vtable is `<applicable-struct-vtable>'.
|
||||
That struct will be the vtable of your applicable structs; instances of
|
||||
that new struct are assumed to have the procedure in their first slot.
|
||||
`<applicable-struct-vtable>' is like Common Lisp's
|
||||
`funcallable-standard-class'. Likewise there is
|
||||
`<applicable-struct-with-setter-vtable>', which looks for the setter in
|
||||
the second slot. This needs to be better documented.
|
||||
|
||||
** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
|
||||
|
||||
As an implementation detail, GOOPS dispatch is no longer implemented by
|
||||
special evaluator bytecodes, but rather directly via a Scheme function
|
||||
associated with an applicable struct. There is some VM support for the
|
||||
underlying primitives, like `class-of'.
|
||||
|
||||
This change will in the future allow users to customize generic function
|
||||
dispatch without incurring a performance penalty, and allow us to
|
||||
implement method combinations.
|
||||
|
||||
** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
|
||||
|
||||
From a user's perspective this doesn't mean very much. But if, for some
|
||||
odd reason, you used the SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P, SCM_PROCEDURE, or
|
||||
SCM_SETTER macros, know that they're deprecated now. Also, scm_tc7_pws
|
||||
is gone.
|
||||
|
||||
** No more `local-eval'
|
||||
|
||||
`local-eval' used to exist so that one could evaluate code in the
|
||||
lexical context of a function. Since there is no way to get the lexical
|
||||
environment any more, as that concept has no meaning for the compiler,
|
||||
and a different meaning for the interpreter, we have removed the
|
||||
function.
|
||||
|
||||
If you think you need `local-eval', you should probably implement your
|
||||
own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
|
||||
anyway.
|
||||
|
||||
** Bit twiddlings
|
||||
|
||||
*** Remove old evaluator closures
|
||||
|
||||
There used to be ranges of typecodes allocated to interpreted data
|
||||
structures, but that it no longer the case, given that interpreted
|
||||
procedure are now just regular VM closures. As a result, there is a
|
||||
newly free tc3, and a number of removed macros. See the ChangeLog for
|
||||
details.
|
||||
|
||||
*** Simplify representation of primitive procedures
|
||||
|
||||
It used to be that there were something like 12 different typecodes
|
||||
allocated to primitive procedures, each with its own calling convention.
|
||||
Now there is only one, the gsubr. This may affect user code if you were
|
||||
defining a procedure using scm_c_make_subr rather scm_c_make_gsubr. The
|
||||
solution is to switch to use scm_c_make_gsubr. This solution works well
|
||||
both with the old 1.8 and and with the current 1.9 branch.
|
||||
|
||||
*** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
|
||||
|
||||
Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
|
||||
they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
|
||||
|
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*** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
|
||||
|
||||
If things go right, we'll be changing the SMOB representation soon. To
|
||||
that end, we did a lot of cleanups to calls to e.g. SCM_CELL_WORD_2(x) when
|
||||
the code meant SCM_SMOB_DATA_2(x); user code will need similar changes
|
||||
in the future. Code accessing SMOBs using SCM_CELL macros was never
|
||||
correct, but until now things still worked. Users should be aware of
|
||||
such changes.
|
||||
|
||||
** Stack refactor
|
||||
|
||||
It used to be that Guile had debugging frames on the C stack and on the
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||||
VM stack. Now Guile's procedures only run on the VM stack, simplifying
|
||||
much of the C API. See the ChangeLog for details. The Scheme API has not
|
||||
been changed significantly.
|
||||
|
||||
** New procedure, `define!'
|
||||
|
||||
`define!' is a procedure that takes two arguments, a symbol and a value,
|
||||
and binds the value to the symbol in the current module. It's useful to
|
||||
programmatically make definitions in the current module, and is slightly
|
||||
less verbose than `module-define!'.
|
||||
|
||||
** eqv? not a generic
|
||||
|
||||
One used to be able to extend `eqv?' as a primitive-generic, but no
|
||||
more. Because `eqv?' is in the expansion of `case' (via `memv'), which
|
||||
should be able to compile to static dispatch tables, it doesn't make
|
||||
sense to allow extensions that would subvert this optimization.
|
||||
|
||||
** Deprecate trampolines
|
||||
|
||||
There used to be C functions `scm_trampoline_0', `scm_trampoline_1', and
|
||||
so on. The point was to do some precomputation on the type of the
|
||||
procedure, then return a specialized "call" procedure. However this
|
||||
optimization wasn't actually an optimization, so it is now deprecated.
|
||||
Just use `scm_call_0', etc instead.
|
||||
|
||||
** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
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||||
|
||||
It's useful to be able to get the root module from C without doing a
|
||||
full module lookup.
|
||||
|
||||
** New struct slot allocation: "hidden"
|
||||
|
||||
A hidden slot is readable and writable, but will not be initialized by a
|
||||
call to make-struct. For example in your layout you would say "ph"
|
||||
instead of "pw". Hidden slots are useful for adding new slots to a
|
||||
vtable without breaking existing invocations to make-struct.
|
||||
|
||||
** New type definitions for `scm_t_intptr' and friends.
|
||||
|
||||
`SCM_T_UINTPTR_MAX', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MIN', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MAX',
|
||||
`SIZEOF_SCM_T_BITS', `scm_t_intptr' and `scm_t_uintptr' are now
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||||
available to C. Have fun!
|
||||
|
||||
** And of course, the usual collection of bugfixes
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||||
|
||||
Interested users should see the ChangeLog for more information.
|
||||
|
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@ -284,11 +75,48 @@ mouse.
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|||
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||||
* Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
|
||||
|
||||
** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
|
||||
|
||||
Guile's `primitive-eval' is now implemented in Scheme. Actually there is
|
||||
still a C evaluator, used when building a fresh Guile to interpret the
|
||||
compiler, so we can compile eval.scm. Thereafter all calls to
|
||||
primitive-eval are implemented by VM-compiled code.
|
||||
|
||||
This allows all of Guile's procedures, be they interpreted or compiled,
|
||||
to execute on the same stack, unifying multiple-value return semantics,
|
||||
providing for proper tail recursion between interpreted and compiled
|
||||
code, and simplifying debugging.
|
||||
|
||||
As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
|
||||
representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
|
||||
|
||||
There are two negative aspects of this change, however. First, Guile
|
||||
takes a lot longer to compile now. Also, there is less debugging
|
||||
information available for debugging interpreted code. We hope to improve
|
||||
both of these situations.
|
||||
|
||||
There are many changes to the internal C evalator interface, but all
|
||||
public interfaces should be the same. See the ChangeLog for details. If
|
||||
we have inadvertantly changed an interface that you were using, please
|
||||
contact bug-guile@gnu.org.
|
||||
|
||||
** Procedure removed: `the-environment'
|
||||
|
||||
This procedure was part of the interpreter's execution model, and does
|
||||
not apply to the compiler.
|
||||
|
||||
** No more `local-eval'
|
||||
|
||||
`local-eval' used to exist so that one could evaluate code in the
|
||||
lexical context of a function. Since there is no way to get the lexical
|
||||
environment any more, as that concept has no meaning for the compiler,
|
||||
and a different meaning for the interpreter, we have removed the
|
||||
function.
|
||||
|
||||
If you think you need `local-eval', you should probably implement your
|
||||
own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
|
||||
anyway.
|
||||
|
||||
** Files loaded with `primitive-load-path' will now be compiled
|
||||
automatically.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -334,6 +162,10 @@ the first time they run a Guile script, as the script is autocompiled.
|
|||
Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
|
||||
in the next prerelease.
|
||||
|
||||
** New POSIX procedure: `getsid'
|
||||
|
||||
Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
|
||||
|
||||
** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
|
||||
|
||||
** BUG: (procedure-property func 'arity) does not work on compiled
|
||||
|
|
@ -380,6 +212,12 @@ languages. See the manual for details, or
|
|||
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
|
||||
Brainfuck language itself.
|
||||
|
||||
** New language: Elisp
|
||||
|
||||
Guile now has an experimental Emacs Lisp compiler and runtime. You can
|
||||
now switch to Elisp at the repl: `,language elisp'. All kudos to Daniel
|
||||
Kraft, and all bugs to bug-guile@gnu.org.
|
||||
|
||||
** Defmacros may now have docstrings.
|
||||
|
||||
Indeed, any macro may have a docstring. `object-documentation' from
|
||||
|
|
@ -571,6 +409,13 @@ Now a syntax error is signaled, as this syntax is not supported by
|
|||
default. If there is sufficient demand, this syntax can be supported
|
||||
again by default.
|
||||
|
||||
** New procedure, `define!'
|
||||
|
||||
`define!' is a procedure that takes two arguments, a symbol and a value,
|
||||
and binds the value to the symbol in the current module. It's useful to
|
||||
programmatically make definitions in the current module, and is slightly
|
||||
less verbose than `module-define!'.
|
||||
|
||||
** All modules have names now
|
||||
|
||||
Before, you could have anonymous modules: modules without names. Now,
|
||||
|
|
@ -659,6 +504,22 @@ environment as well: `syntax->datum', `datum->syntax',
|
|||
`bound-identifier=?', `free-identifier=?', `generate-temporaries',
|
||||
`identifier?', and `syntax-violation'. See the R6RS for documentation.
|
||||
|
||||
** Tail patterns in syntax-case
|
||||
|
||||
Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
|
||||
syntax expander, to implement support for "tail patterns". Such patterns
|
||||
are supported by syntax-rules and syntax-case. This allows a syntax-case
|
||||
match clause to have ellipses, then a pattern at the end. For example:
|
||||
|
||||
(define-syntax case
|
||||
(syntax-rules (else)
|
||||
((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
|
||||
[...])))
|
||||
|
||||
Note how there is MATCH-CLAUSE, which is ellipsized, then there is a
|
||||
tail pattern for the else clause. Thanks to Andreas Rottmann for the
|
||||
patch, and Kent Dybvig for the code.
|
||||
|
||||
** Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not be referenced
|
||||
by nonhygienic macros.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -834,6 +695,17 @@ This slightly improves program startup times.
|
|||
|
||||
See `cancel-thread', `set-thread-cleanup!', and `thread-cleanup'.
|
||||
|
||||
** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
|
||||
|
||||
As an implementation detail, GOOPS dispatch is no longer implemented by
|
||||
special evaluator bytecodes, but rather directly via a Scheme function
|
||||
associated with an applicable struct. There is some VM support for the
|
||||
underlying primitives, like `class-of'.
|
||||
|
||||
This change will in the future allow users to customize generic function
|
||||
dispatch without incurring a performance penalty, and allow us to
|
||||
implement method combinations.
|
||||
|
||||
** GOOPS cleanups.
|
||||
|
||||
GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
|
||||
|
|
@ -843,6 +715,31 @@ were a kind of generic specific to the Tcl support. Entities were
|
|||
applicable structures, but were unusable; entities will come back in the
|
||||
next alpha release, but with a less stupid name.
|
||||
|
||||
** Applicable struct support
|
||||
|
||||
One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
|
||||
To do so, make a struct whose vtable is `<applicable-struct-vtable>'.
|
||||
That struct will be the vtable of your applicable structs; instances of
|
||||
that new struct are assumed to have the procedure in their first slot.
|
||||
`<applicable-struct-vtable>' is like Common Lisp's
|
||||
`funcallable-standard-class'. Likewise there is
|
||||
`<applicable-struct-with-setter-vtable>', which looks for the setter in
|
||||
the second slot. This needs to be better documented.
|
||||
|
||||
** New struct slot allocation: "hidden"
|
||||
|
||||
A hidden slot is readable and writable, but will not be initialized by a
|
||||
call to make-struct. For example in your layout you would say "ph"
|
||||
instead of "pw". Hidden slots are useful for adding new slots to a
|
||||
vtable without breaking existing invocations to make-struct.
|
||||
|
||||
** eqv? not a generic
|
||||
|
||||
One used to be able to extend `eqv?' as a primitive-generic, but no
|
||||
more. Because `eqv?' is in the expansion of `case' (via `memv'), which
|
||||
should be able to compile to static dispatch tables, it doesn't make
|
||||
sense to allow extensions that would subvert this optimization.
|
||||
|
||||
** `inet-ntop' and `inet-pton' are always available.
|
||||
|
||||
Guile now use a portable implementation of `inet_pton'/`inet_ntop', so
|
||||
|
|
@ -855,6 +752,13 @@ The bit-twiddling operations `ash', `logand', `logior', and `logxor' now
|
|||
have dedicated bytecodes. Guile is not just for symbolic computation,
|
||||
it's for number crunching too.
|
||||
|
||||
** Faster SRFI-9 record access
|
||||
|
||||
SRFI-9 records are now implemented directly on top of Guile's structs,
|
||||
and their accessors are defined in such a way that normal call-sites
|
||||
inline to special VM opcodes, while still allowing for the general case
|
||||
(e.g. passing a record accessor to `apply').
|
||||
|
||||
** R6RS block comment support
|
||||
|
||||
Guile now supports R6RS nested block comments. The start of a comment is
|
||||
|
|
@ -929,6 +833,12 @@ backward-compatible way. A new allocation routine,
|
|||
Libgc is a conservative GC, which we hope will make interaction with C
|
||||
code easier and less error-prone.
|
||||
|
||||
** New type definitions for `scm_t_intptr' and friends.
|
||||
|
||||
`SCM_T_UINTPTR_MAX', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MIN', `SCM_T_INTPTR_MAX',
|
||||
`SIZEOF_SCM_T_BITS', `scm_t_intptr' and `scm_t_uintptr' are now
|
||||
available to C. Have fun!
|
||||
|
||||
** The GH interface (deprecated in version 1.6, 2001) was removed.
|
||||
|
||||
** Internal `scm_i_' functions now have "hidden" linkage with GCC/ELF
|
||||
|
|
@ -939,12 +849,53 @@ application code.
|
|||
** Functions for handling `scm_option' now no longer require an argument
|
||||
indicating length of the `scm_t_option' array.
|
||||
|
||||
** scm_primitive_load_path has additional argument, exception_on_error
|
||||
** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
|
||||
|
||||
From a user's perspective this doesn't mean very much. But if, for some
|
||||
odd reason, you used the SCM_PROCEDURE_WITH_SETTER_P, SCM_PROCEDURE, or
|
||||
SCM_SETTER macros, know that they're deprecated now. Also, scm_tc7_pws
|
||||
is gone.
|
||||
|
||||
** Remove old evaluator closures
|
||||
|
||||
There used to be ranges of typecodes allocated to interpreted data
|
||||
structures, but that it no longer the case, given that interpreted
|
||||
procedure are now just regular VM closures. As a result, there is a
|
||||
newly free tc3, and a number of removed macros. See the ChangeLog for
|
||||
details.
|
||||
|
||||
** Simplify representation of primitive procedures
|
||||
|
||||
It used to be that there were something like 12 different typecodes
|
||||
allocated to primitive procedures, each with its own calling convention.
|
||||
Now there is only one, the gsubr. This may affect user code if you were
|
||||
defining a procedure using scm_c_make_subr rather scm_c_make_gsubr. The
|
||||
solution is to switch to use scm_c_make_gsubr. This solution works well
|
||||
both with the old 1.8 and and with the current 1.9 branch.
|
||||
|
||||
** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
|
||||
|
||||
Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
|
||||
they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
|
||||
|
||||
** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
|
||||
|
||||
If things go right, we'll be changing the SMOB representation soon. To
|
||||
that end, we did a lot of cleanups to calls to e.g. SCM_CELL_WORD_2(x) when
|
||||
the code meant SCM_SMOB_DATA_2(x); user code will need similar changes
|
||||
in the future. Code accessing SMOBs using SCM_CELL macros was never
|
||||
correct, but until now things still worked. Users should be aware of
|
||||
such changes.
|
||||
|
||||
** New C function: scm_module_public_interface
|
||||
|
||||
This procedure corresponds to Scheme's `module-public-interface'.
|
||||
|
||||
** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
|
||||
|
||||
It's useful to be able to get the root module from C without doing a
|
||||
full module lookup.
|
||||
|
||||
** Inline vector allocation
|
||||
|
||||
Instead of having vectors point out into the heap for their data, their
|
||||
|
|
@ -953,6 +904,19 @@ true for bytevectors, by default, though there is an indirection
|
|||
available which should allow for making a bytevector from an existing
|
||||
memory region.
|
||||
|
||||
** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
|
||||
|
||||
`scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
|
||||
constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
|
||||
|
||||
** Stack refactor
|
||||
|
||||
In Guile 1.8, there were debugging frames on the C stack. Now there is
|
||||
no more need to explicitly mark the stack in this way, because Guile has
|
||||
a VM stack that it knows how to walk, which simplifies the C API
|
||||
considerably. See the ChangeLog for details; the relevant interface is
|
||||
in libguile/stacks.h. The Scheme API has not been changed significantly.
|
||||
|
||||
** Removal of Guile's primitive object system.
|
||||
|
||||
There were a number of pieces in `objects.[ch]' that tried to be a
|
||||
|
|
@ -969,6 +933,14 @@ shall be, Amen, except that `futures.c' and `futures.h' are no longer a
|
|||
part of it. These files were experimental, never compiled, and would be
|
||||
better implemented in Scheme anyway. In the future, that is.
|
||||
|
||||
** Deprecate trampolines
|
||||
|
||||
There used to be C functions `scm_trampoline_0', `scm_trampoline_1', and
|
||||
so on. The point was to do some precomputation on the type of the
|
||||
procedure, then return a specialized "call" procedure. However this
|
||||
optimization wasn't actually an optimization, so it is now deprecated.
|
||||
Just use `scm_call_0', etc instead.
|
||||
|
||||
** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
|
||||
|
||||
The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Add table
Add a link
Reference in a new issue