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 1.9.10 (since the 1.9.9 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.
+
+
+Changes in 1.9.12 (since the 1.9.11 prerelease):
+
+** Many R6RS bugfixes
+
+`(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.
+
+** Documentation for standard R6RS libraries
+
+See "R6RS Standard Libraries" in the manual, for more details.
+
+** Support for `letrec*'
+
+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.
+
+** Internal definitions now expand to `letrec*'
+
+Following the R6RS, internal definitions now expand to letrec* instead
+of letrec. The following program is invalid for R5RS, but valid for
+R6RS:
+
+ (define (foo)
+ (define bar 10)
+ (define baz (+ bar 20))
+ baz)
+
+ ;; R5RS and Guile <= 1.8:
+ (foo) => Unbound variable: bar
+ ;; R6RS and Guile >= 2.0:
+ (foo) => 30
+
+This change should not affect correct R5RS programs, or programs written
+in earlier Guile dialects.
+
+** Recursive debugging REPL on error
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+For example, one may access a backtrace with `,backtrace' (or
+`,bt'). See "Interactive Debugging" in the manual, for more
+information.
+
+** Readline tab completion for arguments
+
+When readline is enabled, tab completion works for arguments too, not
+just for the operator position.
+
+** Various REPL robustness fixes
+
+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'.
+
+Finally, Ctrl-d can now be used to exit a recursive REPL, dropping the
+user back to the parent REPL.
+
+** Better procedure name and source location propagation
+
+There was a bug in 1.9.11 which would leave most procedures un-named;
+this and other previous deficiencies have been fixed.
+
+** New macro: `current-source-location'
+
+See FIXME in the manual, for more information.
+
+** module-filename field and accessor
+
+Modules now record the file in which they are defined. This field may be
+accessed with the new `module-filename' procedure.
+
+** call-with-error-handling / with-error-handling
+
+FIXME: document?
+
+** Deprecate the old scm-style-repl
+
+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',
+
+The following bindings have been deprecated, with no replacement:
+`pre-unwind-handler-dispatch'.
+
+The following bindings have been totally removed:
+`before-signal-stack'.
+
+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
+
+`apply-to-args', `has-suffix?', `scheme-file-suffix'
+`get-option', `for-next-option', `display-usage-report',
+`transform-usage-lambda', `collect', `set-batch-mode?!'
+
+** All core defmacros reimplemented hygienically
+
+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".
+
+** Random generator state may be serialized to a datum
+
+`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.
+
+** New primitive: `tmpfile'.
+
+See "File System" in the manual.
+
+** Modules load within a known environment
+
+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.
+
+** Remove encoding of versions into the file system
+
+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'.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+** Better debugging for psyntax
+
+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
+
+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
+
+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'.
+
+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.
+
+** `*unspecified*' is identifier syntax
+
+`*unspecified*' is no longer a variable, so it is optimized properly by
+the compiler, and is not `set!'-able.
+
+** `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.
+
+** Support for settable identifier syntax
+
+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
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
** Guile now can compile Scheme to bytecode for a custom virtual machine.
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
The reader supports a new option (changeable via `read-options'),
`square-brackets', which instructs it to interpret square brackets as
-parenthesis. This option is on by default.
+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.
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
own metacircular evaluator. It will probably be as fast as Guile's
anyway.
-** Files loaded with `primitive-load-path' will now be compiled
- automatically.
+** 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.
-** 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
** 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
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.
+** 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.
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: #' #` #, #,@
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!'
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.
-** Documentation of `syntax-rules' and `syntax-case' macros
-
-The documentation of macros in the manual is now separate from that of
-procedures. A new section on hygienic macros has been added.
-
** Tail patterns in syntax-case
Guile has pulled in some more recent changes from the psyntax portable
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
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,
-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.
-
** Applicable struct support
One may now make structs from Scheme that may be applied as procedures.
`<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
+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
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)'.
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
`SCM_DEFINE1', `SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC_1', `SCM_PROC1, and `SCM_GPROC1'
are no more. Use SCM_DEFINE or SCM_PRIMITIVE_GENERIC instead.
-** Add foreign value wrapper
-
-Guile now has a datatype for aliasing "foreign" values, such as native
-long values. This should be useful for making a proper foreign function
-interface. Interested hackers should see libguile/foreign.h.
-
** New functions: `scm_call_n', `scm_c_run_hookn'
`scm_call_n' applies to apply a function to an array of arguments.
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.
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
HCoop / bpt / guile.git / blobdiff