Guile NEWS --- history of user-visible changes.
-Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
See the end for copying conditions.
Please send Guile bug reports to bug-guile@gnu.org.
-\f
-(During the 1.9 series, we will keep an incremental NEWS for the latest
-prerelease, and a full NEWS corresponding to 1.8 -> 2.0.)
-Changes in 1.9.7 (since the 1.9.6 prerelease):
+Note: During the 1.9 series, we will keep an incremental NEWS for the
+latest prerelease, and a full NEWS corresponding to 1.8 -> 2.0.
-** New primitive `getsid'
-Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
+Changes in 1.9.12 (since the 1.9.11 prerelease):
-\f
-Changes in 1.9.6 (since the 1.9.5 prerelease):
+** Many R6RS bugfixes
-** New implementation of `primitive-eval'
+`(rnrs bytevectors)' and `(rnrs io ports)' now have version information,
+like the rest of the modules. The `(rnrs unicode)' module is now
+re-exported by `(rnrs)'. Top-level `import' forms may have more than one
+clause. Warnings about duplicate bindings have been fixed, along with
+some typos in the modules. There were a number of other bugfixes as well.
+
+For the current list of known R6RS incompatibilities, see "R6RS
+Incompatibilities" in the manual.
-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.
+** Documentation for standard R6RS libraries
-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.
+See "R6RS Standard Libraries" in the manual, for more details.
-As part of this change, the evaluator no longer mutates the internal
-representation of the code being evaluated in a thread-unsafe manner.
+** Support for `letrec*'
-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.
+Guile now supports `letrec*', a recursive lexical binding operator in
+which the identifiers are bound in order. See "Local Bindings" in the
+manual, for more details.
-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.
+** Internal definitions now expand to `letrec*'
-** Elisp compiler
+Following the R6RS, internal definitions now expand to letrec* instead
+of letrec. The following program is invalid for R5RS, but valid for
+R6RS:
-The derelict Guile maintainers finally got around to merging Daniel
-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.
+ (define (foo)
+ (define bar 10)
+ (define baz (+ bar 20))
+ baz)
-** Faster SRFI-9 record access
+ ;; R5RS and Guile <= 1.8:
+ (foo) => Unbound variable: bar
+ ;; R6RS and Guile >= 2.0:
+ (foo) => 30
-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').
+This change should not affect correct R5RS programs, or programs written
+in earlier Guile dialects.
-** Some VM metadata removed
+** Recursive debugging REPL on error
-It used to be that the standard virtual machine counted the number of
-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
-removed them too.
+When Guile sees an error, instead of dropping into a special debugging
+prompt, it will enter a recursive REPL in the dynamic context of the
+error. See "Error Handling" in the manual, for more information.
-** Inline memq/memv of a key in a constant list
+A recursive REPL is the same as any other REPL, except that it
+has been augmented with debugging information, so that one can inspect
+the context of the error. The debugger has been integrated with the REPL
+via a set of debugging meta-commands.
-The impoverished Guile inliner is slightly less lame now that it does
-`(memv k '(foo))' => `(eq? k 'foo)'.
+For example, one may access a backtrace with `,backtrace' (or
+`,bt'). See "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for more
+information.
-** Rename "else" fields of <conditional> and <lambda-case>
+** Readline tab completion for arguments
-Having a field named "else" just didn't sit right with "cond", and
-everything else. So now Tree-IL's <conditional> has "consequent" and
-"alternate", and <lambda-case> has "alternate".
+When readline is enabled, tab completion works for arguments too, not
+just for the operator position.
-** Allow interrupts in tail loops
+** Various REPL robustness fixes
-Tail-recursive loops that compile to tight, procedure-less jumps
-previously were uninterruptible. Now the VM handle interrupts whenever
-it jumps backwards.
+The REPL no longer enters the debugger when an error occurs at read-time
+and compile-time, or when executing meta-commands. Additionally, the
+REPL is more strict about the ports that it uses, saving the current
+input and output ports at startup and using those ports when entering
+recursive prompts. This allows debugging of an error within
+e.g. `call-with-input-port'.
-** Tail patterns in syntax-case
+Finally, Ctrl-d can now be used to exit a recursive REPL, dropping the
+user back to the parent REPL.
-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:
+** Better procedure name and source location propagation
- (define-syntax case
- (syntax-rules (else)
- ((_ val match-clause ... (else e e* ...))
- [...])))
+There was a bug in 1.9.11 which would leave most procedures un-named;
+this and other previous deficiencies have been fixed.
-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.
+** New macro: `current-source-location'
-** New struct constructors that don't involve making lists
+See FIXME in the manual, for more information.
-`scm_c_make_struct' and `scm_c_make_structv' are new varargs and array
-constructors, respectively, for structs. You might find them useful.
+** module-filename field and accessor
-** Applicable struct support
+Modules now record the file in which they are defined. This field may be
+accessed with the new `module-filename' procedure.
-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.
+** call-with-error-handling / with-error-handling
-** GOOPS dispatch in scheme
+FIXME: document?
-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'.
+** Deprecate the old scm-style-repl
-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.
+The following bindings from boot-9 are now found in `(ice-9
+scm-style-repl)': `scm-style-repl', `error-catching-loop',
+`error-catching-repl', `bad-throw', `scm-repl-silent'
+`assert-repl-silence', `repl-print-unspecified',
+`assert-repl-print-unspecified', `scm-repl-verbose',
+`assert-repl-verbosity', `scm-repl-prompt', `set-repl-prompt!', `repl',
+`default-pre-unwind-handler', `handle-system-error',
-** Procedures-with-setters are now implemented using applicable structs
+The following bindings have been deprecated, with no replacement:
+`pre-unwind-handler-dispatch'.
-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.
+The following bindings have been totally removed:
+`before-signal-stack'.
-** No more `local-eval'
+Deprecated forwarding shims have been installed so that users that
+expect these bindings in the main namespace will still work, but receive
+a deprecation warning.
+
+** Miscellaneous other deprecations
-`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.
+`apply-to-args', `has-suffix?', `scheme-file-suffix'
+`get-option', `for-next-option', `display-usage-report',
+`transform-usage-lambda', `collect', `set-batch-mode?!'
-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.
+** All core defmacros reimplemented hygienically
-** Bit twiddlings
+All macros present in the default environment are now implemented with
+syntax-case. This should not have practical ramifications, beyond those
+listed below in "Lexical bindings introduced by hygienic macros may not
+be referenced by nonhygienic macros".
-*** Remove old evaluator closures
+** Random generator state may be serialized to a datum
-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.
+`random-state->datum' will serialize a random state to a datum, which
+may be written out, read back in later, and revivified using
+`datum->random-state'. See "Random" in the manual, for more details.
-*** Simplify representation of primitive procedures
+** New primitive: `tmpfile'.
+
+See "File System" in the manual.
-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.
+** Modules load within a known environment
-*** Some SMOB types changed to have static typecodes
+It takes a few procedure calls to define a module, and those procedure
+calls need to be in scope. Now we ensure that the current module when
+loading a module is one that has the needed bindings, instead of relying
+on chance.
-Fluids, dynamic states, and hash tables used to be SMOB objects, but now
-they have statically allocated tc7 typecodes.
+** Remove encoding of versions into the file system
-*** Preparations for changing SMOB representation
+It used to be that, when loading a module, if the user specified a
+version, Guile would grovel about in the file system to find the
+module. This process was slow and not robust. This support has been
+removed: modules are once more always loaded via `primitive-load-path'.
-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.
+Module versions in the file system may be added again in the future, in
+an extensible way. Contact bug-guile@gnu.org with patches.
+
+** Alex Shinn's pattern matcher for (ice-9 match).
+
+Guile's copy of Andrew K. Wright's `match' library has been replaced by
+a compatible hygienic implementation by Alex Shinn.
-** Stack refactor
+Compared to Andrew K. Wright's `match', the new `match' lacks
+`match-define', `match:error-control', `match:set-error-control',
+`match:error', `match:set-error', and all structure-related procedures.
-It used to be that Guile had debugging frames on the C stack and on the
-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.
+** Better debugging for psyntax
-** New procedure, `define!'
+We now build psyntax-pp.go directly from psyntax.scm, which allows us to
+preserve the original source locations and variable names. Git users
+will also be please to note that psyntax-pp.scm is no longer
+automatically regenerated from a normal `make' invocation.
+
+** AM_SILENT_RULES
-`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!'.
+Guile's build is visually quieter, due to the use of Automake 1.11's
+AM_SILENT_RULES. Build as `make V=1' to see all of the output.
+
+** Better REPL options interface
-** eqv? not a generic
+The set of REPL options is now fixed and typechecked -- you can't
+mistakenly set an option that doesn't exist, or set an value with an
+incorrect type. The following options have been added: `prompt',
+`compile-options', and `value-history'.
-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.
+The new `repl-default-option-set!' procedure from `(system repl common)'
+can set default options for future REPLs. `repl-default-prompt-set!' is
+a convenience procedure to set default prompts.
-** Deprecate trampolines
+** `*unspecified*' is identifier syntax
+
+`*unspecified*' is no longer a variable, so it is optimized properly by
+the compiler, and is not `set!'-able.
-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.
+** `set-batch-mode?!' replaced by `ensure-batch-mode!'
+
+"Batch mode" is a flag used to tell a program that it is not running
+interactively. One usually turns it on after a fork. It may not be
+turned off. `ensure-batch-mode!' deprecates the old `set-batch-mode?!',
+because it is a better interface, as it can only turn on batch mode, not
+turn it off.
+
+** `(debug)' gone (fix?)
+
+ * module/system/vm/debug.scm (debug): Change to debug the current stack
+ instead of the last stack.
-** Undeprecate `scm_the_root_module ()'
+** Support for settable identifier syntax
-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
-available to C. Have fun!
+Following the R6RS, "variable transformers" are settable
+identifier-syntax. See "Identifier macros" in the manual, for more
+information.
+
+** Deprecate `save-stack', `the-last-stack'
+
+It used to be that the way to debug programs in Guile was to capture the
+stack at the time of error, drop back to the REPL, then debug that
+stack. But this approach didn't compose, was tricky to get right in the
+presence of threads, and was not very powerful.
+
+So `save-stack', `stack-saved?', and `the-last-stack' have been moved to
+`(ice-9 save-stack)', with deprecated bindings left in the root module.
+
+** Compilation warnings at the REPL
+
+By default, Guile now prints compile-time warnings for code entered at
+the REPL. Current warnings are for unbound variables and mismatched
+arities.
+
+** syntax-case treats `_' as a placeholder
+
+Following R6RS, a `_' in a syntax-rules or syntax-case pattern matches
+anything, and binds no pattern variables. Unlike the R6RS, Guile also
+permits `_' to be in the literals list for a pattern.
+
+** Remove old Emacs interface
+
+Guile had an unused `--emacs' command line argument that was supposed to
+help when running Guile inside Emacs. This option has been removed, and
+the helper functions `named-module-use!' and `load-emacs-interface' have
+been deprecated.
+
+** `top-repl' has its own module
+
+The `top-repl' binding, called with Guile is run interactively, is now
+is its own module, `(ice-9 top-repl)'. A deprecated forwarding shim was
+left in the default environment.
+
+** Value history in the REPL on by default
+
+By default, the REPL will save computed values in variables like `$1',
+`$2', and the like. There are programmatic and interactive interfaces to
+control this. See "Value History" in the manual, for more information.
+
+** New threads are in `(guile-user)' by default, not `(guile)'
+
+It used to be that a new thread entering Guile would do so in the
+`(guile)' module, unless this was the first time Guile was initialized,
+in which case it was `(guile-user)'. This has been fixed to have all
+new threads unknown to Guile default to `(guile-user)'.
+
+** Backtrace improvements
+
+It used to be that backtraces showed a couple of extra frames, from the
+implementation of prompts. This has been fixed. Also, backtraces now
+print column numbers in addition to line numbers, if possible.
+
+** `display-error' takes a frame
+
+The `display-error' / `scm_display_error' helper now takes a frame as an
+argument instead of a stack. Stacks are still supported in deprecated
+builds. Additionally, `display-error' will again source location
+information for the error.
+
+** Better error reporting from the VM
+
+If a value of the wrong type is passed to `car', `cdr', `set-car!',
+`set-cdr!', `apply', a struct accessor, or a bytevector accessors, the
+error from the VM now indicates which procedure failed, instead of
+lumping them all into the non-helpful "VM error". In addition, unbound
+variable reporting is now more helpful.
+
+** No more `(ice-9 debug)'
+
+This module had some debugging helpers that are no longer applicable to
+the current debugging model. Importing this module will produce a
+deprecation warning. Users should contact bug-guile for support.
+
+** No more `(system vm debug)'
+
+This module is replaced by the recursive debugging REPL.
+
+** File ports handle binary mode and coding declarations
+
+Binary file ports are supported again, by opening files in the
+ISO-8859-1 encoding. If an encoding is not specified for textual ports,
+Guile now grovels the file for a "coding:" directive, and uses that if
+possible. See the documentation for `open-file', for more information.
+
+** R6RS character hex escapes on by default
+
+However, R6RS character escapes within strings are incompatible with
+older Guile escape sequences, so they still need the reader option
+turned on. See "Reader Options" in the manual, for more information.
+
+** Fix random number generator on 64-bit platforms
+
+There was a nasty bug on 64-bit platforms in which asking for a random
+integer with a range between 2**32 and 2**64 caused a segfault. After
+many embarrassing iterations, this was fixed.
+
+** Add `vhash-fold*' in `(ice-9 vlist)'.
+
+See "VLists" in the manual, for more information.
+
+** Timestamps on autocompiled files checked for freshness, not equality
+
+It used to be that to load a `.go' file instead of a `.scm' file, we
+required that the timestamp of the `.go' file be equal to that of the
+`.scm'. This has been relaxed to accept newer `.go' files, to integrate
+better with `make' tools.
+
+** Simplifications to the `(system foreign)' API.
+
+Guile's foreign function interface was simplified a great
+deal. Interested users should see "Foreign Function Interface" in the
+manual, for full details.
+
+** User Scheme code may be placed in a version-specific path
+
+Before, there was only one way to install user Scheme code to a
+version-specific Guile directory: install to Guile's own path,
+e.g. /usr/share/guile/2.0. The site directory,
+e.g. /usr/share/guile/site, was unversioned. This has been changed to
+add a version-specific site directory, e.g. /usr/share/guile/site/2.0,
+searched before the global site directory.
** And of course, the usual collection of bugfixes
** `(srfi srfi-18)', more sophisticated multithreading support
** `(ice-9 i18n)', internationalization support
-** `(rnrs bytevector)', the R6RS bytevector API
+** `(rnrs bytevectors)', the R6RS bytevector API
** `(rnrs io ports)', a subset of the R6RS I/O port API
** `(system xref)', a cross-referencing facility (FIXME undocumented)
+** `(ice-9 vlist)', lists with constant-time random access; hash lists
+** `(system foreign)', foreign function interface
+** `(sxml match)', a pattern matcher for SXML
+** `(srfi srfi-9 gnu)', extensions to the SRFI-9 record library
+** `(system vm coverage)', a line-by-line code coverage library
+
+** Imported statprof, SSAX, and texinfo modules from Guile-Lib
+
+The statprof statistical profiler, the SSAX XML toolkit, and the texinfo
+toolkit from Guile-Lib have been imported into Guile proper. See
+"Standard Library" in the manual for more details.
+
+** Integration of lalr-scm, a parser generator
+
+Guile has included Dominique Boucher's fine `lalr-scm' parser generator
+as `(system base lalr)'. See "LALR(1) Parsing" in the manual, for more
+information.
* Changes to the stand-alone interpreter
Compiled code loads much faster than Scheme source code, and runs around
3 or 4 times as fast, generating much less garbage in the process.
-** The stack limit is now initialized from the environment.
+** Evaluating Scheme code does not use the C stack.
-If getrlimit(2) is available and a stack limit is set, Guile will set
-its stack limit to 80% of the rlimit. Otherwise the limit is 160000
-words, a four-fold increase from the earlier default limit.
+Besides when compiling Guile itself, Guile no longer uses a recursive C
+function as an evaluator. This obviates the need to check the C stack
+pointer for overflow. Continuations still capture the C stack, however.
** New environment variables: GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH,
GUILE_SYSTEM_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH
it is self-documenting to an extent, the new REPL has not yet been
documented in the manual. This will be fixed before 2.0.
+** New reader options: `square-brackets' and `r6rs-hex-escapes'
+
+The reader supports a new option (changeable via `read-options'),
+`square-brackets', which instructs it to interpret square brackets as
+parentheses. This option is on by default.
+
+When the new `r6rs-hex-escapes' reader option is enabled, the reader
+will recognize string escape sequences as defined in R6RS.
+
+** Function profiling and tracing at the REPL
+
+The `,profile FORM' REPL meta-command can now be used to statistically
+profile execution of a form, to see which functions are taking the most
+time. See `,help profile' for more information.
+
+Similarly, `,trace FORM' traces all function applications that occur
+during the execution of `FORM'. See `,help trace' for more information.
+
+** New debugger
+
+By default, if an exception is raised at the REPL and not caught by user
+code, Guile will drop the user into a debugger. The user may request a
+backtrace, inspect frames, or continue raising the exception. Full
+documentation is available from within the debugger.
+
** New `guile-tools' commands: `compile', `disassemble'
Pass the `--help' command-line option to these commands for more
Backtraces may now be disclosed with the keyboard in addition to the
mouse.
+** Load path change: search in version-specific paths before site paths
+
+When looking for a module, Guile now searches first in Guile's
+version-specific path (the library path), *then* in the site dir. This
+allows Guile's copy of SSAX to override any Guile-Lib copy the user has
+installed. Also it should cut the number of `stat' system calls by half,
+in the common case.
+
+** Interactive Guile follows GNU conventions
+
+As recommended by the GPL, Guile now shows a brief copyright and
+warranty disclaimer on startup, along with pointers to more information.
+
* Changes to Scheme functions and syntax
+** Support for R6RS libraries
+
+The `library' and `import' forms from the latest Scheme report have been
+added to Guile, in such a way that R6RS libraries share a namespace with
+Guile modules. R6RS modules may import Guile modules, and are available
+for Guile modules to import via use-modules and all the rest. See "R6RS
+Libraries" in the manual for more information.
+
+** Implementations of R6RS libraries
+
+Guile now has implementations for all of the libraries defined in the
+R6RS. Thanks to Julian Graham for this excellent hack. See "R6RS
+Standard Libraries" in the manual for a full list of libraries.
+
+** Partial R6RS compatibility
+
+Guile now has enough support for R6RS to run a reasonably large subset
+of R6RS programs.
+
+Guile is not fully R6RS compatible. Many incompatibilities are simply
+bugs, though some parts of Guile will remain R6RS-incompatible for the
+foreseeable future. See "R6RS Incompatibilities" in the manual, for more
+information.
+
+Please contact bug-guile@gnu.org if you have found an issue not
+mentioned in that compatibility list.
+
+** 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.
-** Files loaded with `primitive-load-path' will now be compiled
- automatically.
+** 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.
+
+** Scheme source files will now be compiled automatically.
If a compiled .go file corresponding to a .scm file is not found or is
not fresh, the .scm file will be compiled on the fly, and the resulting
To inhibit autocompilation, set the GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE environment
variable to 0, or pass --no-autocompile on the Guile command line.
-Note that there is currently a bug here: automatic compilation will
-sometimes be attempted when it shouldn't.
-
-For example, the old (lang elisp) modules are meant to be interpreted,
-not compiled. This bug will be fixed before 2.0. FIXME 2.0: Should say
-something here about module-transformer called for compile.
-
-** Files loaded with `load' will now be compiled automatically.
-
-As with files loaded via `primitive-load-path', `load' will also compile
-its target if autocompilation is enabled, and a fresh compiled file is
-not found.
-
-There are two points of difference to note, however. First, `load' does
-not search `GUILE_LOAD_COMPILED_PATH' for the file; it only looks in the
-autocompilation directory, normally a subdirectory of ~/.cache/guile.
-
-Secondly, autocompilation also applies to files loaded via the -l
-command-line argument -- so the user may experience a slight slowdown
-the first time they run a Guile script, as the script is autocompiled.
-
** New POSIX procedures: `getrlimit' and `setrlimit'
Note however that the interface of these functions is likely to change
in the next prerelease.
-** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
+** New POSIX procedure: `getsid'
+
+Scheme binding for the `getsid' C library call.
+
+** New POSIX procedure: `getaddrinfo'
-** BUG: (procedure-property func 'arity) does not work on compiled
- procedures
+Scheme binding for the `getaddrinfo' C library function.
-This will be fixed one way or another before 2.0.
+** New procedure in `(oops goops)': `method-formals'
** New procedures in (ice-9 session): `add-value-help-handler!',
`remove-value-help-handler!', `add-name-help-handler!'
- `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments',
+ `remove-name-help-handler!', `procedure-arguments'
The value and name help handlers provide some minimal extensibility to
the help interface. Guile-lib's `(texinfo reflection)' uses them, for
Additionally, `module-commentary' is now publically exported from
`(ice-9 session).
-** Deprecated: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
+** Removed: `procedure->memoizing-macro', `procedure->syntax'
-These procedures will not work with syncase expansion, and indeed are
-not used in the normal course of Guile. They are still used by the old
-Emacs Lisp support, however.
+These procedures created primitive fexprs for the old evaluator, and are
+no longer supported. If you feel that you need these functions, you
+probably need to write your own metacircular evaluator (which will
+probably be as fast as Guile's, anyway).
** New language: ECMAScript
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck for more information about the
Brainfuck language itself.
-** Defmacros may now have docstrings.
+** 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.
+
+** Better documentation infrastructure for macros
+
+It is now possible to introspect on the type of a macro, e.g.
+syntax-rules, identifier-syntax, etc, and extract information about that
+macro, such as the syntax-rules patterns or the defmacro arguments.
+`(texinfo reflection)' takes advantage of this to give better macro
+documentation.
-Indeed, any macro may have a docstring. `object-documentation' from
-`(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to retrieve the docstring, once you
-have a macro value -- but see the above note about first-class macros.
-Docstrings are associated with the syntax transformer procedures.
+** Support for arbitrary procedure metadata
+
+Building on its support for docstrings, Guile now supports multiple
+docstrings, adding them to the tail of a compiled procedure's
+properties. For example:
+
+ (define (foo)
+ "one"
+ "two"
+ 3)
+ (procedure-properties foo)
+ => ((name . foo) (documentation . "one") (documentation . "two"))
+
+Also, vectors of pairs are now treated as additional metadata entries:
+
+ (define (bar)
+ #((quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
+ 3)
+ (procedure-properties bar)
+ => ((name . bar) (quz . #f) (docstring . "xyzzy"))
+
+This allows arbitrary literals to be embedded as metadata in a compiled
+procedure.
** The psyntax expander now knows how to interpret the @ and @@ special
forms.
It used to be you had to export `helper' from `(foo)' as well.
Thankfully, this has been fixed.
-** New function, `procedure-module'
-
-While useful on its own, `procedure-module' is used by psyntax on syntax
-transformers to determine the module in which to scope introduced
-identifiers.
-
+** Complete support for version information in Guile's `module' form
+
+Guile modules now have a `#:version' field. They may be loaded by
+version as well. See "R6RS Version References", "General Information
+about Modules", "Using Guile Modules", and "Creating Guile Modules" in
+the manual for more information.
+
+** Support for renaming bindings on module export
+
+Wherever Guile accepts a symbol as an argument to specify a binding to
+export, it now also accepts a pair of symbols, indicating that a binding
+should be renamed on export. See "Creating Guile Modules" in the manual
+for more information.
+
+** New procedure: `module-export-all!'
+
+This procedure exports all current and future bindings from a module.
+Use as `(module-export-all! (current-module))'.
+
** `eval-case' has been deprecated, and replaced by `eval-when'.
-The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. It is still
-missing documentation, however.
+The semantics of `eval-when' are easier to understand. See "Eval When"
+in the manual, for more information.
** Guile is now more strict about prohibiting definitions in expression
contexts.
default expander), and may choose to revisit this situation before 2.0
in response to user feedback.
+** Macro expansion produces structures instead of s-expressions
+
+In the olden days, macroexpanding an s-expression would yield another
+s-expression. Though the lexical variables were renamed, expansions of
+core forms like `if' and `begin' were still non-hygienic, as they relied
+on the toplevel definitions of `if' et al being the conventional ones.
+
+The solution is to expand to structures instead of s-expressions. There
+is an `if' structure, a `begin' structure, a `toplevel-ref' structure,
+etc. The expander already did this for compilation, producing Tree-IL
+directly; it has been changed now to do so when expanding for the
+evaluator as well.
+
** Defmacros must now produce valid Scheme expressions.
It used to be that defmacros could unquote in Scheme values, as a way of
(define-macro (double-literal x) (double-helper x))
(double-literal 2) => 4
-See the (currently missing) documentation for eval-when for more
-information.
+See the documentation for eval-when for more information.
-** New variable, %pre-modules-transformer
+** `macroexpand' produces structures, not S-expressions.
-Need to document this one some more.
+Given the need to maintain referential transparency, both lexically and
+modular, the result of expanding Scheme expressions is no longer itself
+an s-expression. If you want a human-readable approximation of the
+result of `macroexpand', call `tree-il->scheme' from `(language
+tree-il)'.
-** Temporarily removed functions: `macroexpand', `macroexpand-1'
+** Removed function: `macroexpand-1'
-`macroexpand' will be added back before 2.0. It is unclear how to
-implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though PLT Scheme does prove
-that it is possible.
+It is unclear how to implement `macroexpand-1' with syntax-case, though
+PLT Scheme does prove that it is possible.
** New reader macros: #' #` #, #,@
#; comments out an entire expression. See SRFI-62 or the R6RS for more
information.
+** Prompts: Delimited, composable continuations
+
+Guile now has prompts as part of its primitive language. See "Prompts"
+in the manual, for more information.
+
+Expressions entered in at the REPL, or from the command line, are
+surrounded by a prompt with the default prompt tag.
+
** `make-stack' with a tail-called procedural narrowing argument no longer
works (with compiled procedures)
that is active in the current continuation, or narrow to a specific
number of stack frames.
-** backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
+** Backtraces through compiled procedures only show procedures that are
active in the current continuation
Similarly to the previous issue, backtraces in compiled code may be
(define f (lambda (a) (lambda (b) (* a b))))
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.
+default. Use the `(ice-9 curried-definitions)' module to get back the
+old behavior.
+
+** 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
created without a name, the first time `module-name' is called on it, a
fresh name will be lazily generated for it.
+** The module namespace is now separate from the value namespace
+
+It was a little-known implementation detail of Guile's module system
+that it was built on a single hierarchical namespace of values -- that
+if there was a module named `(foo bar)', then in the module named
+`(foo)' there was a binding from `bar' to the `(foo bar)' module.
+
+This was a neat trick, but presented a number of problems. One problem
+was that the bindings in a module were not apparent from the module
+itself; perhaps the `(foo)' module had a private binding for `bar', and
+then an external contributor defined `(foo bar)'. In the end there can
+be only one binding, so one of the two will see the wrong thing, and
+produce an obtuse error of unclear provenance.
+
+Also, the public interface of a module was also bound in the value
+namespace, as `%module-public-interface'. This was a hack from the early
+days of Guile's modules.
+
+Both of these warts have been fixed by the addition of fields in the
+`module' data type. Access to modules and their interfaces from the
+value namespace has been deprecated, and all accessors use the new
+record accessors appropriately.
+
+When Guile is built with support for deprecated code, as is the default,
+the value namespace is still searched for modules and public interfaces,
+and a deprecation warning is raised as appropriate.
+
+Finally, to support lazy loading of modules as one used to be able to do
+with module binder procedures, Guile now has submodule binders, called
+if a given submodule is not found. See boot-9.scm for more information.
+
+** New procedures: module-ref-submodule, module-define-submodule,
+ nested-ref-module, nested-define-module!, local-ref-module,
+ local-define-module
+
+These new accessors are like their bare variants, but operate on
+namespaces instead of values.
+
+** The (app modules) module tree is officially deprecated
+
+It used to be that one could access a module named `(foo bar)' via
+`(nested-ref the-root-module '(app modules foo bar))'. The `(app
+modules)' bit was a never-used and never-documented abstraction, and has
+been deprecated. See the following mail for a full discussion:
+
+ http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2010-04/msg00168.html
+
+The `%app' binding is also deprecated.
+
** Many syntax errors have different texts now
Syntax errors still throw to the `syntax-error' key, but the arguments
any of these procedures provided useful facilities to you, we encourage
you to contact the Guile developers.
+** Hygienic macros documented as the primary syntactic extension mechanism.
+
+The macro documentation was finally fleshed out with some documentation
+on `syntax-rules' and `syntax-case' macros, and other parts of the macro
+expansion process. See "Macros" in the manual, for details.
+
** psyntax is now the default expander
Scheme code is now expanded by default by the psyntax hygienic macro
There is no longer any need to import the `(ice-9 syncase)' module
(which is now deprecated). The expander may be invoked directly via
-`sc-expand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
+`macroexpand', though it is normally searched for via the current module
transformer.
Also, the helper routines for syntax-case are available in the default
`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.
It is not normal to run into this situation with existing code. However,
as code is ported over from defmacros to syntax-case, it is possible to
-run into situations like this. In the future, Guile will probably port
-its `while' macro to syntax-case, which makes this issue one to know
-about.
+run into situations like this. For example, if you have a defmacro that
+generates a `while' expression, the `break' bound by the `while' may not
+be visible within other parts of your defmacro. The solution is to port
+from defmacros to syntax-rules or syntax-case.
** Macros may no longer be referenced as first-class values.
/referenced/ via the module system, e.g. `(module-ref (current-module)
'if)'.
-This decision may be revisited before the 2.0 release. Feedback welcome
-to guile-devel@gnu.org (subscription required) or bug-guile@gnu.org (no
-subscription required).
+** Macros may now have docstrings.
+
+`object-documentation' from `(ice-9 documentation)' may be used to
+retrieve the docstring, once you have a macro value -- but see the above
+note about first-class macros. Docstrings are associated with the syntax
+transformer procedures.
** `case-lambda' is now available in the default environment.
`(srfi srfi-16)' module. Use the srfi-16 module explicitly if you wish
to maintain compatibility with Guile 1.8 and earlier.
-** Compiled procedures may now have more than one arity.
+** Procedures may now have more than one arity.
This can be the case, for example, in case-lambda procedures. The
arities of compiled procedures may be accessed via procedures from the
`(system vm program)' module; see "Compiled Procedures", "Optional
Arguments", and "Case-lambda" in the manual.
+** Deprecate arity access via (procedure-properties proc 'arity)
+
+Instead of accessing a procedure's arity as a property, use the new
+`procedure-minimum-arity' function, which gives the most permissive
+arity that the the function has, in the same format as the old arity
+accessor.
+
** `lambda*' and `define*' are now available in the default environment
As with `case-lambda', `(ice-9 optargs)' continues to be supported, for
Optional and keyword arguments now dispatch via special VM operations,
without the need to cons rest arguments, making them very fast.
+** New function, `truncated-print', with `format' support
+
+`(ice-9 pretty-print)' now exports `truncated-print', a printer that
+will ensure that the output stays within a certain width, truncating the
+output in what is hopefully an intelligent manner. See the manual for
+more details.
+
+There is a new `format' specifier, `~@y', for doing a truncated
+print (as opposed to `~y', which does a pretty-print). See the `format'
+documentation for more details.
+
+** SRFI-4 vectors reimplemented in terms of R6RS bytevectors
+
+Guile now implements SRFI-4 vectors using bytevectors. Often when you
+have a numeric vector, you end up wanting to write its bytes somewhere,
+or have access to the underlying bytes, or read in bytes from somewhere
+else. Bytevectors are very good at this sort of thing. But the SRFI-4
+APIs are nicer to use when doing number-crunching, because they are
+addressed by element and not by byte.
+
+So as a compromise, Guile allows all bytevector functions to operate on
+numeric vectors. They address the underlying bytes in the native
+endianness, as one would expect.
+
+Following the same reasoning, that it's just bytes underneath, Guile
+also allows uniform vectors of a given type to be accessed as if they
+were of any type. One can fill a u32vector, and access its elements with
+u8vector-ref. One can use f64vector-ref on bytevectors. It's all the
+same to Guile.
+
+In this way, uniform numeric vectors may be written to and read from
+input/output ports using the procedures that operate on bytevectors.
+
+Calls to SRFI-4 accessors (ref and set functions) from Scheme are now
+inlined to the VM instructions for bytevector access.
+
+See "SRFI-4" in the manual, for more information.
+
+** Nonstandard SRFI-4 procedures now available from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'
+
+Guile's `(srfi srfi-4)' now only exports those srfi-4 procedures that
+are part of the standard. Complex uniform vectors and the
+`any->FOOvector' family are now available only from `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)'.
+
+Guile's default environment imports `(srfi srfi-4)', and probably should
+import `(srfi srfi-4 gnu)' as well.
+
+See "SRFI-4 Extensions" in the manual, for more information.
+
** New syntax: include-from-path.
`include-from-path' is like `include', except it looks for its file in
processing. It appeared that full EBCDIC support was never completed
and was unmaintained.
-** Compile-time warnings: -Wunbound-variable, -Warity-mismatch.
+** Compile-time warnings
Guile can warn about potentially unbound free variables. Pass the
-Wunbound-variable on the `guile-tools compile' command line, or add
procedure, with -Warity-mismatch, or `arity-mismatch' in the
`#:warnings' as above.
-** New macro type: syncase-macro
-
-XXX Need to decide whether to document this for 2.0, probably should:
-make-syncase-macro, make-extended-syncase-macro, macro-type,
-syncase-macro-type, syncase-macro-binding
+Other warnings include `-Wunused-variable' and `-Wunused-toplevel', to
+warn about unused local or global (top-level) variables.
** A new `memoize-symbol' evaluator trap has been added.
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.
+
+** 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.
+
** GOOPS cleanups.
GOOPS had a number of concepts that were relevant to the days of Tcl,
but not any more: operators and entities, mainly. These objects were
never documented, and it is unlikely that they were ever used. Operators
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.
+replaced by applicable structs, mentioned above.
+
+** 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.
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
These are analogous to %load-path and %load-extensions.
+** New fluid: `%file-port-name-canonicalization'
+
+This fluid parameterizes the file names that are associated with file
+ports. If %file-port-name-canonicalization is 'absolute, then file names
+are canonicalized to be absolute paths. If it is 'relative, then the
+name is canonicalized, but any prefix corresponding to a member of
+`%load-path' is stripped off. Otherwise the names are passed through
+unchanged.
+
+In addition, the `compile-file' and `compile-and-load' procedures bind
+%file-port-name-canonicalization to their `#:canonicalization' keyword
+argument, which defaults to 'relative. In this way, one might compile
+"../module/ice-9/boot-9.scm", but the path that gets residualized into
+the .go is "ice-9/boot-9.scm".
+
** New procedure, `make-promise'
`(make-promise (lambda () foo))' is equivalent to `(delay foo)'.
Instead, use make-typed-array, list->typed-array, or array-type,
respectively.
+** Deprecated: `lazy-catch'
+
+`lazy-catch' was a form that captured the stack at the point of a
+`throw', but the dynamic state at the point of the `catch'. It was a bit
+crazy. Please change to use `catch', possibly with a throw-handler, or
+`with-throw-handler'.
+
+** Deprecated `@bind' syntax
+
+`@bind' was part of an older implementation of the Emacs Lisp language,
+and is no longer used.
+
** Last but not least, the `λ' macro can be used in lieu of `lambda'
* Changes to the C interface
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
** 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.
+
+** Primitive procedures are now VM trampoline 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.
+
+Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying "gsubrs",
+primitive procedures with specified numbers of required, optional, and
+rest arguments. Now, however, Guile represents gsubrs as normal VM
+procedures, with appropriate bytecode to parse out the correct number of
+arguments, including optional and rest arguments, and then with a
+special bytecode to apply the gsubr.
+
+This allows primitive procedures to appear on the VM stack, allowing
+them to be accurately counted in profiles. Also they now have more
+debugging information attached to them -- their number of arguments, for
+example. In addition, the VM can completely inline the application
+mechanics, allowing for faster primitive calls.
+
+However there are some changes on the C level. There is no more
+`scm_tc7_gsubr' or `scm_tcs_subrs' typecode for primitive procedures, as
+they are just VM procedures. Likewise the macros `SCM_GSUBR_TYPE',
+`SCM_GSUBR_MAKTYPE', `SCM_GSUBR_REQ', `SCM_GSUBR_OPT', and
+`SCM_GSUBR_REST' are gone, as are `SCM_SUBR_META_INFO', `SCM_SUBR_PROPS'
+`SCM_SET_SUBR_GENERIC_LOC', and `SCM_SUBR_ARITY_TO_TYPE'.
+
+Perhaps more significantly, `scm_c_make_subr',
+`scm_c_make_subr_with_generic', `scm_c_define_subr', and
+`scm_c_define_subr_with_generic'. They all operated on subr typecodes,
+and there are no more subr typecodes. Use the scm_c_make_gsubr family
+instead.
+
+Normal users of gsubrs should not be affected, though, as the
+scm_c_make_gsubr family still is the correct way to create primitive
+procedures.
+
+** Remove deprecated array C interfaces
+
+Removed the deprecated array functions `scm_i_arrayp',
+`scm_i_array_ndim', `scm_i_array_mem', `scm_i_array_v',
+`scm_i_array_base', `scm_i_array_dims', and the deprecated macros
+`SCM_ARRAYP', `SCM_ARRAY_NDIM', `SCM_ARRAY_CONTP', `SCM_ARRAY_MEM',
+`SCM_ARRAY_V', `SCM_ARRAY_BASE', and `SCM_ARRAY_DIMS'.
+
+** Remove unused snarf macros
+
+`SCM_DEFINE1', `SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC_1', `SCM_PROC1, and `SCM_GPROC1'
+are no more. Use SCM_DEFINE or SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC instead.
+
+** New functions: `scm_call_n', `scm_c_run_hookn'
+
+`scm_call_n' applies to apply a function to an array of arguments.
+`scm_c_run_hookn' runs a hook with an array of arguments.
+
+** 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.
+
+** Changed invocation mechanics of applicable SMOBs
+
+Guile's old evaluator used to have special cases for applying SMOB
+objects. Now, with the VM, when Guile sees a SMOB, it looks up a VM
+trampoline procedure for it, and use the normal mechanics to apply the
+trampoline. This simplifies procedure application in the normal,
+non-SMOB case.
+
+The upshot is that the mechanics used to apply a SMOB are different from
+1.8. Descriptors no longer have `apply_0', `apply_1', `apply_2', and
+`apply_3' functions, and the macros SCM_SMOB_APPLY_0 and friends are now
+deprecated. Just use the scm_call_0 family of procedures.
** 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
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
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.
+
+** Deprecated `scm_badargsp'
+
+This function is unused in Guile, but was part of its API.
+
** Better support for Lisp `nil'.
The bit representation of `nil' has been tweaked so that it is now very
efficient to check e.g. if a value is equal to Scheme's end-of-list or
Lisp's nil. Additionally there are a heap of new, specific predicates
-like scm_is_null_or_nil. Probably in the future we will #define
-scm_is_null to scm_is_null_or_nil.
+like scm_is_null_or_nil.
+
+** Better integration of Lisp `nil'.
+
+`scm_is_boolean', `scm_is_false', and `scm_is_null' all return true now
+for Lisp's `nil'. This shouldn't affect any Scheme code at this point,
+but when we start to integrate more with Emacs, it is possible that we
+break code that assumes that, for example, `(not x)' implies that `x' is
+`eq?' to `#f'. This is not a common assumption. Refactoring affected
+code to rely on properties instead of identities will improve code
+correctness. See "Nil" in the manual, for more details.
** Support for static allocation of strings, symbols, and subrs.
If $(libdir) is /usr/lib, for example, Guile will install its .go files
to /usr/lib/guile/1.9/ccache. These files are architecture-specific.
+** Parallel installability fixes
+
+Guile now installs its header files to a effective-version-specific
+directory, and includes the effective version (e.g. 2.0) in the library
+name (e.g. libguile-2.0.so).
+
+This change should be transparent to users, who should detect Guile via
+the guile.m4 macro, or the guile-2.0.pc pkg-config file. It will allow
+parallel installs for multiple versions of Guile development
+environments.
+
** Dynamically loadable extensions may be placed in a Guile-specific path
Before, Guile only searched the system library paths for extensions
(e.g. /usr/lib), which meant that the names of Guile extensions had to
be globally unique. Installing them to a Guile-specific extensions
-directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensionsdir
+directory is cleaner. Use `pkg-config --variable=extensiondir
guile-2.0' to get the location of the extensions directory.
** New dependency: libgc
See http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/, for more information. Our
Unicode support uses routines from libunistring.
+** New dependency: libffi
+
+See http://sourceware.org/libffi/, for more information.
+
\f
Changes in 1.8.8 (since 1.8.7)
HCoop / bpt / guile.git / blobdiff