(Changes that can break existing programs are marked with a "*" )
Language features:
- Addition of lazy patterns: "lazy <pat>" matches suspensions whose values,
after forcing, match the pattern <pat>.
- Introduction of private abbreviation types "type t = private <type-expr>",
for abstracting the actual manifest type in type abbreviations.
- Subtyping is now allowed between a private abbreviation and its definition,
and between a polymorphic method and its monomorphic instance.
Compilers:
- The file name for a compilation unit should correspond to a valid
identifier (Otherwise dynamic linking and other things can fail, and
a warning is emitted.)
* Revised -output-obj: the output name must now be provided; its
extension must be one of .o/.obj, .so/.dll, or .c for the
bytecode compiler. The compilers can now produce a shared library
(with all the needed -ccopts/-ccobjs options) directly.
- -dtypes renamed to -annot, records (in .annot files) which function calls
are tail calls.
- All compiler error messages now include a file name and location, for
better interaction with Emacs' compilation mode.
- Optimized compilation of "lazy e" when the argument "e" is
already evaluated.
- Optimized compilation of equality tests with a variant constant constructor.
- The -dllib options recorded in libraries are no longer ignored when
-use_runtime or -use_prims is used (unless -no_auto_link is
explicitly used).
- Check that at most one of -pack, -a, -shared, -c, -output-obj is
given on the command line.
- Optimized compilation of private types as regular manifest types
(e.g. abbreviation to float, float array or record types with only
float fields).
Native-code compiler:
- New port: Mac OS X / Intel in 64-bit mode (configure with -cc "gcc -m64").
- A new option "-shared" to produce a plugin that can be dynamically
loaded with the native version of Dynlink.
- A new option "-nodynlink" to enable optimizations valid only for code
that is never dynlinked (no-op except for AMD64).
- More aggressive unboxing of floats and boxed integers.
- Can select which assembler and asm options to use at configuration time.
Run-time system:
- New implementation of the page table describing the heap (two-level
array in 32 bits, sparse hashtable in 64 bits), fixes issues with address
space randomization on 64-bit OS (PR#4448).
- New "generational" API for registering global memory roots with the GC,
enables faster scanning of global roots.
(The functions are caml_*_generational_global_root in <caml/memory.h>.)
- New function "caml_raise_with_args" to raise an exception with several
arguments from C.
- Changes in implementation of dynamic linking of C code:
under Win32, use Alain Frisch's flexdll implementation of the dlopen
API; under MacOSX, use dlopen API instead of MacOSX bundle API.
- Programs may now choose a first-fit allocation policy instead of
the default next-fit. First-fit reduces fragmentation but is
slightly slower in some cases.
Standard library:
- Parsing library: new function "set_trace" to programmatically turn
on or off the printing of a trace during parsing.
- Printexc library: new functions "print_backtrace" and "get_backtrace"
to obtain a stack backtrace of the most recently raised exception.
New function "record_backtrace" to turn the exception backtrace mechanism
on or off from within a program.
- Scanf library: fine-tuning of meta format implementation;
fscanf behaviour revisited: only one input buffer is allocated for any
given input channel;
the %n conversion does not count a lookahead character as read.
Other libraries:
- Dynlink: on some platforms, the Dynlink library is now available in
native code. The boolean Dynlink.is_native allows the program to
know whether it has been compiled in bytecode or in native code.
- Bigarrays: added "unsafe_get" and "unsafe_set"
(non-bound-checking versions of "get" and "set").
- Bigarrays: removed limitation "array dimension < 2^31".
- Labltk: added support for TK 8.5.
- Num: added conversions between big_int and int32, nativeint, int64.
More efficient implementation of Num.quo_num and Num.mod_num.
- Threads: improved efficiency of mutex and condition variable operations;
improved interaction with Unix.fork (PR#4577).
- Unix: added getsockopt_error returning type Unix.error.
Added support for TCP_NODELAY and IPV6_ONLY socket options.
- Win32 Unix: "select" now supports all kinds of file descriptors.
Improved emulation of "lockf" (PR#4609).
Tools:
- ocamldebug now supported under Windows (MSVC and Mingw ports),
but without the replay feature. (Contributed by Dmitry Bely
and Sylvain Le Gall at OCamlCore with support from Lexifi.)
- ocamldoc: new option -no-module-constraint-filter to include functions
hidden by signature constraint in documentation.
- ocamlmklib and ocamldep.opt now available under Windows ports.
- ocamlmklib no longer supports the -implib option.
- ocamlnat: an experimental native toplevel (not built by default).
Camlp4:
* programs linked with camlp4lib.cma now also need dynlink.cma.
* Bug fixes
* New features:
- otherlibs/labltk: browser uses menu bars instead of menu buttons
Changes 3.09.0:
Language features:
- Introduction of private row types, for abstracting the row in object
and variant types.
Type checking:
- Polymorphic variants with at most one constructor [< `A of t] are no
longer systematically promoted to the exact type [`A of t]. This was
more confusing than useful, and created problems with private row
types.
Native-code compiler (ocamlopt):
* Revised implementation of the -pack option (packing of several compilation
units into one). The .cmx files that are to be packed with
"ocamlopt -pack -o P.cmx" must be compiled with "ocamlopt -for-pack P".
In exchange for this additional constraint, ocamlopt -pack is now
available on all platforms (no need for binutils).
* Fixed wrong evaluation order for arguments to certain inlined functions.
* Other (see 'Changes')
New features:
- support for ocamlopt -pack under Mac OS X (PR#2634, PR#3320)
- ignore unknown warning options for forward and backward compatibility
- runtime: export caml_compare_unordered (PR#3479)
- camlp4: install argl.* files (PR#3439)
- ocamldoc: add -man-section option
- labltk: add the "solid" relief option (PR#3343)
- compiler: ocamlc -i now prints variance annotations
Bug fixes:
- typing: fix unsoundness in type declaration variance inference.
Type parameters which are constrained must now have an explicit variant
annotation, otherwise they are invariant. This is not backward
compatible, so this might break code which either uses subtyping or
uses the relaxed value restriction (i.e. was not typable before 3.07)
- typing: erroneous partial match warning for polymorphic variants (PR#3424)
- runtime: handle the case of an empty command line (PR#3409, PR#3444)
- stdlib: make Sys.executable_name an absolute path in native code (PR#3303)
- runtime: fix memory leak in finalise.c
- runtime: auto-trigger compaction even if gc is called manually (PR#3392)
- stdlib: fix segfault in Obj.dup on zero-sized values (PR#3406)
- camlp4: correct parsing of the $ identifier (PR#3310, PR#3469)
- windows (MS tools): use link /lib instead of lib (PR#3333)
- windows (MS tools): change default install destination
- autoconf: better checking of SSE2 instructions (PR#3329, PR#3330)
- graphics: make close_graph close the X display as well as the window (PR#3312)
- num: fix big_int_of_string (empty string) (PR#3483)
- num: fix big bug on 64-bit architecture (PR#3299)
- str: better documentation of string_match and string_partial_match (PR#3395)
- unix: fix file descriptor leak in Unix.accept (PR#3423)
- unix: miscellaneous clean-ups
- unix: fix documentation of Unix.tm (PR#3341)
- graphics: fix problem when allocating lots of images under Windows (PR#3433)
- compiler: fix error message with -pack when .cmi is missing (PR#3028)
- cygwin: fix problem with compilation of camlheader (PR#3485)
- stdlib: Filename.basename doesn't return an empty string any more (PR#3451)
- stdlib: better documentation of Open_excl flag (PR#3450)
- ocamlcp: accept -thread option (PR#3511)
- ocamldep: handle spaces in file names (PR#3370)
- compiler: remove spurious warning in pattern-matching on variants (PR#3424)
- windows: better handling of InterpreterPath registry entry (PR#3334, PR#3432)
- split patches files
- always enable threading which has various advantages
- it fixes the build of the Tk library
- it greatly simplifies the package list handling
- it provides threading support under NetBSD 1.6/1.6.x
- correct default dependence in "buildlink2.mk" to "build"
Bump package revision because of all these changes.
tonio
adam
tron