# $Id: NEWS 24045 2007-12-18 17:33:55Z particle $ New in 0.5.1 - Documentation + PDD19 (PIR) - reflect state on the ground; incorporate old IMCC docs + PDD25 (Concurrency) - launch out of draft + Improve documentation of deprecated parrot features. - Compilers + PCT: Parrot Compiler Toolkit redesigned and updated + NQP: major updates, including support for namespaces, module/class declarations, methods + IMCC: remove .sym as alias for .local. Remove .pcc_ prefix for calling directives (.pcc_begin became .begin_call). + PIRC: creates an AST during the parse. + PGE: more updates to match S05 syntax. - Languages + perl6: re-implemented using PCT and NQP, new object subsystem + abc: re-implemented using PCT and NQP + eclectus: initial implementation + plumhead: add PCT variant + punie: re-implemented using PCT and NQP, extended to handle subroutines Happy 20th Birthday, Perl! + pynie: re-implemented using PCT and NQP + PIR: start conversion to NQP (under construction) - Implementation + new opcodes: 'die', 'addhandler', 'copy' + Initial implementation of Concurrency PDD + Add 'arity' method to Sub and NCI PMCs - Miscellaneous + Bug cleanup + consting, attribute marking, warnings cleanup, memory leaks, GC... + dead code removal (includes some defunct languages) New in 0.5.0 - Implementation + PDD15 (OO) branch merged with trunk; this release contains a working, tested implementation of the latest OO model + Added pop_eh/push_eh_p/count_eh opcodes + Add --runcore command line option + Add gcdebug runcore to help track down GC bugs + minor improvements to IA-32 JIT - Documentation + PDD19 (PIR): updates to macros, .pcc* directives + PDD25 (Concurrency): updated + PDD26 (AST): draft approved + PDD23 (Exceptions): draft approved + Copyright cleanups - Languages/Compilers + languages/APL: minor updates, PDD15 conformance + languages/dotnet: minor updates + languages/lua: minor updates, PDD15 conformance + languages/lisp: minor updates + languages/perl6: minor updates, PDD15 conformance + languages/plumhead: minor updates + languages/punie: minor updates, PDD15 conformance + languages/nqp: minor updates + languages/scheme: many updates, PDD15 conformance, improved tests, use PMCs instead of primitive registers to represent values + languages/tcl: bugfixes, PDD15 conformance + languages/WMLScript: minor updates + compilers/pirc: updates from PDD19, PDD06 + compilers/pct: minor updates, PDD15 conformance + compilers/pge: PDD15 conformance + compilers/tge: PDD15 conformance - Configuration + Improve test coverage + Improve reporting when a step fails; allow abort on failure - Miscellaneous + More coding standard conformance, tests, cleanup, speedups, warnings cleanup + Bug cleanup, esp. GC bugs + Eliminate .imc extension (use .pir) + Simplify some core config steps to not allow interactive prompting - Removed + clear_eh opcode New in 0.4.17 - Implementation + Bug fixes (including Coverity IDs 20, 22, 30, 119-122, 124-126, 129-131) Also various GC, memory, and segfault issues + Fix & reenable CGP core + Parrot's -r flag now works again (compile to and execute bytecode) + Updates to pmc2c & PIR syntaxes + Fix Complex PMC + Minor performance improvements, especially in PGE - Documentation + PDD02 "Vtables" - superceded by PDD17 + PDD06 "PASM" - minor updates + PDD17 "PMC" - add VTABLE syntax, update core PMC struct, restore UnionVal + PDD19 "PIR" - early review started + PDD21 "Namespaces" - cleanup + PDD24 "Events" - draft approved + PDD25 "Concurrency" - minor updates + PDD26 "AST" - draft version begun + PIR tutorials updated - Languages/Compilers + Make scheme work with the current calling conventions, other major work. + Updates to m4, lua, compilers/pirc, languages/PIR, dotnet, tcl - Miscellaneous: + make -j functional again + Code cleanup (refactoring, optimizations) New in 0.4.16 - Implementation: + Performed code review on every PMC + Modified PMC code generation to use Storable, reducing compile times + Added a makefile target to generate test coverage data of C sources - Languages: + NQP: added lists, for loops, operators, comparison and multiplicative operators + Announced Kea-CL, Kea Common Lisp, an ANSI Common Lisp implementation The repository is available at https://rgrjr.dyndns.org/svn/kea-cl/trunk/ - Documentation + PDD17 "PMCs" - draft approved, the design is complete + Added more PIR tutorials, see examples/tutorial/00_README.pod - Miscellaneous: + Many bugfixes, enhancements, documentation, and coding standard updates + Deprecated PMC constants and other crufty syntax, see DEPRECATED.pod + Improved icc compiler compatibility for error line reporting New in 0.4.15 - Implementation: + Lots of code review, many bugs fixed + Many more code cleanups and compiler warning levels + Started a new jit engine for 64-bit processors + Refactored configure process, with tests and new diagnostic options + Added new CodeString PMC for dynamic generation of PIR code + More pdd15 support for object metamodel. - Languages: + Added NQP ("Not Quite Perl"), a very lightweight Perl 6-like language + Significant improvements and refactors to PCT (Parrot Compiler Toolkit) + perl6 passes more spec tests + Lua works now with a PGE/TGE/PAST-pm based compiler, lives in one pbc, and the interpreter has same behavior as original. - Documentation + Added a committers' HOWTO + More PIR tutorial examples + Added PAUSE guide New in 0.4.14 - Now, with Seat Belts! + added makefile targets for Sun lint, BSD lint, and splint + corrected many errors picked up by these tools + decorated source code with compiler hints, assertions, and attribute macros + automated creation of function declarations to prevent common errors + increased compiler warnings levels + converted more exceptions to a recoverable form - Languages: + updated Lisp, Lua, Perl 6, tcl, regex, Scheme ("Pheme") + Perl 6 now fetches selected tests from pugs, and even passes some + PGE modified to handle {*} action subs for top-down and bottom-up parsers, and to allow grammar subclassing + HLLCompiler now has better exception, eval, and exit support + Introduced PCT, a refactor of HLLCompiler and PAST-pm - Design: + PDD15 "Objects" - details added to 'new' and 'getattribute' opcodes + PDD17 "PMCs" - notes added on instantiation and dynamic extention in PIR - Documentation: + added Parrot-related text from "Perl6 and Parrot Essentials" book, tutorial examples from "Learning PIR" talk, and PDD15 metamodel diagrams - Implementation: + reduced memory footprint when using named registers + implemented overridding of vtable methods by PDD15 classes + improved PDD15 support for 'new', 'instantiate', and others + added makefile targets to ease core and HLL makefile regeneration + updated parrot dubugger, "pdb", to allow loading of commands from file - Misc: + many bugfixes, enhancements, documentation, and coding standard updates New in 0.4.13 - Languages: + Updated Lisp, Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Python ("Pynie"), ABC, WMLScript, and Tcl ("ParTcl"). + Perl 6 passes all of the sanity tests. + PGE supports latest Perl 6 grammar syntax. Perl 6, Python ("Pynie"), and ABC parsers updated to match. + Updated PHP ("Plumhead") to Antlr 3.0. + Lua added the beginnings of a PGE/TGE based compiler (not yet replacing the Perl/Yapp compiler). + Lisp updated for current features, added a test suite. - Core Implementation: + Filled in features and backward compatibility for PDD 15 objects. New object metamodel passes 85% of old test suite. + GCC API symbols are visible externally only when explicitly exported. + Added generated GCC compiler attributes to increase warnings, and cleaned up resulting warnings. + Code cleanup efforts and fixed memory leaks by the cage cleaners, resulting in notable speed increases. - Misc: + Updated Parrot distribution to Artistic License 2.0, from dual Artistic 1/GPL license. + SDL examples brought up-to-date with current features. New in 0.4.12 - Build: + even more refactorings and improvements in configuration system + improved tests and documentation for configuration system - Languages: + Updated abc, PHP ("Plumhead"), Lua, Tcl + Reclaimed Lisp - Design: + new PMC PDD draft partially completed - Implementation: + continued implementation of PDD 15 (Objects) + minor garbage collector and memory management improvements + several memory leaks resolved + extended support for compilers other than GCC + improved C++ compiler compatibility + enhanced support for Solaris, non-MSVC Win32, and other platforms New in 0.4.11 - Compilers: + IMCC: added documentation for C-based Parrot Calling Conventions, refactorings and bug fixes + PGE: new perl6regex front end reflecting recent S05 syntax changes + PIRC: new prototype PIR parser - Languages: + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), BASIC, pynie + Lua implements environment - Design: + PDD15 "Objects" - details added, and draft approved - Documentation: + Added guidelines for PMC documentation - Implementation: + PDD15 implementation is largely complete, including role-based composition, introspection, and C3 method resolution order + new Exporter PMC for importing globals between namespaces + new string utilities for radix conversion + PCCINVOKE and Parrot_PCCINVOKE allow calling using the full Parrot Calling Conventions from PMCs and C code respectively - Build: + Refactorings and improvements in test coverage for 'Configure.pl' - Misc: + many bugfixes, enhancements, and code cleanup + added example subversion config file + extended support for gcc, icc, and other compilers + extended support for Solaris and other platforms New in 0.4.10 - Compilers: + IMCC: Parrot calling conventions now available between two C PMCs (PMINVOKE) + PGE: Match object improvements + smop: added Attribute and Class PMCs + HLLCompiler: improvements for interactive mode - PAST: + extended binding to a list of variables - Languages: + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"), Ruby ("Cardinal") + Update PIR, regex, Zcode + New language: Pynie - a Python compiler for Parrot + Lua implements require and many other ops, improved regex support + Remove parakeet - Design: + PDD01 "Overview" - updated architecture and platform information + PDD15 "Objects" - details on roles, objects, and classes added + PDD22 "I/O" - added async ops and Status PMC details - Documentation: + Added guides for Metacommitter, Relase Manager, and Cage Cleaner roles - Implementation: + Object, Class, Role, and Attribute PMC implementation has begun + Perl 5 module "Parrot::Embed" now compiles and links on all platforms - Build: + Major improvements in test coverage for 'ops2c.pl' - Misc: + New utility: Crow, a template processor + New library module: Config/JSON for reading/writing JSON files + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates, code cleanup New in 0.4.9 - Compilers: + IMCC: Parrot calling conventions now available in C PMCs, allowing named, optional, slurpy, and flat parameter passing + PGE: extended support for Perl 5 Regexes + smop: prototype object model implementation + hllcompiler: refactored to run a configurable set of compilation stages - PAST: + redesigned assign/binding to support Perl 6 binding semantics - Languages: + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"), perl6, perl5 + New language: PIR - a PGE-based implementation of Parrot PIR + perl6 now supports binding (':=') and 'join' + lua generates tail calls, and supports its own regex flavor (PGE-based) + Pheme still works, huzzah! - Design: + PDD21 "Objects" - rewritten + PDD22 "I/O" - updated and 'TODO' tests added - Documentation: + Interface stability classification standards approved + Roles and Responsibilities documented approved + Official 'drafts' directory created (was 'clip') - Implementation: + More NameSpace and OS PMC methods implemented + Parrot executable fullname and basename now available in PIR/PASM code + new 'chomp' library function - Build: + Major improvements in test coverage for 'ops2pm.pl' - Misc: + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates + extended support for Sun Workshop Compilers + Parrot now builds on PocketPC platform New in 0.4.8 - Compilers: + HLLCompiler: added tracing options, modified api + PGE & TGE bugfixes and updates - PAST: + added global and lexical variable support + added looping constructs, arrays, hashes - Languages: + Updated PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"), forth, perl6, lua, abc, APL, WMLScript, punie + ParTcl is passing > 24.9% of Tcl cvs-latest test suite + perl6 now supports hashes, arrays, method calls, arity-based multisubs, quoted terms, ranges (non-lazy), try blocks, $! - Design: + PDD01 "Overview" - updated + PDD22 "I/O" - rewritten and approved - Test Suite: + Converted Perl 5 Regex tests to PIR, with notable speedup + Added tests for opcodes, compilers, languages, and coding standards - Build: + Major improvements in test coverage for 'pmc2c.pl' - Misc: + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates + extended support for non-core platforms including Cygwin, Tru64 New in 0.4.7 - New languages: PHP ("Plumhead"), Forth - Updated languages: Ruby ("Cardinal"), Tcl, Lua - Remove old Python implementation from Parrot repository; the new Python language code is hosted at http://pirate.tangentcode.com - Compilers: + PGE updated with more expressions, latest changes to S05 + new Perl6 grammar compiler - Integration: + Perl 5 module "Parrot::Embed" allows easy embedding of a Parrot runtime into a Perl 5 program - PIR: + new :init pragma for subs that must run before the main function + new :vtable pragma to identify subs that override PMC vtable methods, eliminating the need for special subroutine names + PIR parser/compiler does not stop on first syntax error + Vanilla register allocator ("register alligator") greatly improves performance compiling large functions + Eliminated limit on number of PIR macros - PMCs: + hash lookups return null instead of None for missing keys - Design: + PDD13 "Bytecode files: format and manipulation" - new + PDD10 "Embedding" - new + PDD25 "Concurrency" - rewritten + PDD15 "Objects" - new section on redesign requirements + PDD07 "Coding standards" - significant updates and automated tests - Test Suite: + Many many more new tests - Build Process: + autoconf compatible install options - Misc: + Namespace refinements + Coroutine improvements + An impressive swarm of other bugfixes and enhancements New in 0.4.6 - New languages: Ruby ("Cardinal"), Javascript ("ecmascript") - Updated languages: Tcl, dotnet, bc, Pheme, Punie, WMLScript - Updated compilers: PGE, TGE - IMCC updates: + ".loadlib" directive expresses dependencies + ".namespace" with no parameter goes to HLL root + lexer is reentrant (reentrant grammar in progress) - Namespace improvements: + new suite of opcodes to access namespaces and globals ("find_global" and "store_global" will be phased out) + namespace '' no longer means HLL root - Design document updates: namespaces (pdd23), basic types (pdd17), embedding - Updated tool requirements for developers: flex 2.5.33, bison 2.1, perl 5.6.1 - New to-do list for people new to Parrot: cage/todo.pod - The usual plethora of bugfixes and enhancements New in 0.4.5 - unicode subroutine names - hierarchical class names finished including MMD support - new dotnet CLI to PIR translator - improved TGE code and compiler - APL: vector handling - new STM branch in the svn repository - the usual bugfixes and enhancements New in 0.4.4 - hierarchical class names - APL compiler - under development - understands simple vector ops, strings - demonstrates use of Unicode in Parrot - pgc, a compiler for rules and operator precedence parsers - Major redesign and improvements for PGE - compilers understand named parameter options - :ratchet option implemented to support non-backtracking quantifiers - TGE (tree grammar engine) for tree transformations - tgc, tree grammar compiler - perl6 compiler - support for many operators, lexical scalars, regex matches - new pheme (Parrot scheme) compiler New in 0.4.3 - namespaces partially implemented - rulec, Perl6 rule compiler - PGE improvements including return values for closure - parts of a Perl6 parser based on PGE - complex trigonometric methods - type of Sub PMC is now overridable by HLL - NetBSD support - many bug fixes and improvements New in 0.4.2 - improved PPC and x86 JIT support including JIT compilation of very simple PASM/PIR subroutines - preliminary libreadline support - better trace and debug features - pkgconfig support - META.yml to support proper indexing on CPAN - new opcode: hcf (in "my_ops" in dynamic op library) - new File pmc for file specific ops (is_dir, is_file, copy, rename...) - named arguments and parameters (both :named("") and => syntaxes) - ongoing config improvements - tons of bug fixes and other small improvements - too much to list all New in 0.4.1 - Installation: 'make install' is using standard locations now (/usr/local is the default --prefix) - Produce static and shared libraries on some systems - Configure system rearragement - OS pmc started (mkdir,cd,cwd,rm,umask,stat) - Shootout examples - Test files are now testable with 'prove' - Smoke (and smokej) outputs progress - PIR supports: I = A < B (>,<=,>=,==,!=) - Add support for octal number constants - partcl updates: - almost finish [string]; start [file] - add build tool for generating inline'd tcl builtins from templates. - Jako updates: NCI, subroutines, global variables and constants all work. (Gregor) New in 0.4.0 - New lexical handling and closure support including better introspection for caller and outer - PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) provides now compilers for P6Rule, P6Grammar, P5Regexp, and Glob - ca. 1000 new tests including 800 for Perl5 regexp - Improved unicode charset and encoding support - Calling conventions for exception handlers - Punie (Perl 1) uses TGE (Tree Grammar Engine) to convert from PGE match objects to AST via two steps of tree transformation grammars - New languages: amber and lua - The usual code fixes, cleanup, and improvements, including an overhaul of the config and test framework New in 0.3.1 - Variable sized register frames are finished. Each subroutine gets the amount of registers that it actually needs. No more spilling. - Vastly improved PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) including shift-reduce, precedence-based expression parser and support for matching of bracketed text delimited by e.g. ()[]{}'" - uniccode character classification (is_upper ...) - support for heredoc syntax in assembler - improved examples, basic JSON support - debian packaging support - the usual improvements, bug fixes, and cleanup - test count exceeds 3000 New in 0.3.0 - New calling conventions implemented: see PDD03 for details - Merge multiple Parrot bytecode (PBC) files into a singe PBC file - 'make smoke' target going beta - bc now supports if statements, comparison ops, prefix inc/dec - ParTcl adds [lassign], [switch] (partially); [expr] converted to a compiler - Many exciting doc updates, tests, and bugfixes, too numerous to mention New in 0.2.3 - Dynamic classes now compile on Windows (including ParTcl) - New Super PMC allows easy access to superclass methods - Implement C3 method resolution order (just like Perl6 & Python) - ParTcl has new PIR-based parser and passes more Tcl tests - added character class support in Globs to PGE - added language implementations of unlambda, Lazy-k - many bugfixes, including GC and memory leaks - the new calling scheme continued to evolve in branches/leo-ctx5 New in 0.2.2 - new call scheme: docs/pdds/pdd03_calling_conventions.pod - partial implementation of the new calling conventions PASM only, don't mix PIR foo() call syntax with the new scheme - grammar and rule support in PGE - the Parrot Grammar Engine - TCL passes >10% of the tcl test suite - the usual bugfixes and improvements New in 0.2.1 - better HLL support (short names for object attributes, and .HLL and n_operators pragmas) - string encoding and charset can now be set independently - experimental mmap IO layer for slurping files - distinct debug and trace flag settings - glob support in PGE - new character classification opcodes and interfaces New in 0.2.0 - parrot repository is now under subversion - MMD (Multi Method Dispatch) enhanced - new unary and infix opcodes that return new result PMCs - dynamic scalar PMCs inherit now almost all from Parrot core PMCs - more unification of PMCs and ParrotObjects - tailcalls for functions and methods - PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) reworked - Pugs creates Parrot code and Pugs is a registered compiler now - new languages/lisp - the usual bug fixes and improvements New in 0.1.2 - New string handling code. Strings now have charset and encoding - Parts of a generation garbage collector - Better Python code, separated in dynclasses - Parrot Grammar Engine - Improved test coverage and documentation New in 0.1.1 Parrot 0.1.1 is an intermediate release with tons of updates and fixes. - Python support: Parrot runs 4/7 of the pie-thon test suite - Better OS support: more platforms, compiler, OS functions - Improved PIR syntax for method calls and = assignment - Dynamic loading reworked including a "make install" target - MMD - multi method dispatch for binary vtable methods - Library improvement and cleanup - BigInt, Complex, *Array, Slice, Enumerate, None PMC classes - IA64 and hppa JIT support - Tons of fixes, improvements, new tests, and documentation updates. A lot is unfinished and keeps changing. Nethertheless Parrot is stable and usable at the surface, while internals are moving. New in 0.1.0 - "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... objects!" - Huge documentation overhaul - More supported platforms, s. PLATFORMS - Basic thread support for pthread based architectures - Basic event handling for timers and signals including: - PASM callbacks for NCI (native C) functions. - Improved platform configuration - COW stacks now working, stacks code redone - Structure handling vastly improved - Random PMC and rand primitives - Better subroutine call syntax in PIR - Make PIR subroutines compliant with pdd03 - Improved profiling (DOD, GC timings) - Hash code improvements, incl. random key order support - Experimental freeze/thaw code for some PMC types - IO improvements for buffered layer and Win32 - String iterators - String bitwise vtables - Many new opcodes - Support for JIT, where malloced memory isn't executable - Priority DOD scheme for objects that need timely destruction - Improved byte code loading (e.g. onLoad functions) - Language updates: forth, Perl6/P6C, m4 - Libraries: Getopt_Long, SDL, Dumper, Sort - new JAPH examples - Unified imcc and parrot test handling - Many new tests (make test reports 1386 tests) - Numerous bug fixes New in 0.0.13 - The Big Move: Parrot source and build files rearranged into sub dirs - Build imcc as parrot - Objects more finished - Delegate vtable methods to byte code - Binary multi-method dispatching - Isa and does methods for PMCs - Call byte code from C - Start of extension interface - Experimental struct handling - Catch access to NULL PMCs - Experimental network socket interface code and opcodes - IO fixes and improvements - Dynamic opcode libraries - Fix-assigned opcode numbers - Argument flattening for function calls - More native call interface (NCI) signatures - Ncurses, postgres, and pcre interface libraries - Forth language is vastly improved - BSD and Win32 build improvements - Many new tests and fixes New in 0.0.12 - This number intentionally left blank New in 0.0.11 - Executable output - Dynamic PMC registration - Trial exception system - Beginnings of object system - Iterators - Ordered hashes - I/O system improvements - References - Documentation for basic PMC types - IMCC support of Parrot Calling Conventions - Runtime loading of chartypes (and other string improvements) - Conditional breakpoints - Dramatically accelerated sweeps for finalizable objects - Small PMCs (PMCs split into core and extensions) - Loadable bytecode packfiles - Constant PMCs - Sub variants that deal with the stack correctly - Switched runops core - Line numbers in warnings - Environment access - Many documentation cleanups - Conversion to CPS style! - BASIC debugger and many other wacky features - Filename, line number parsing support in IMCC New in 0.0.10 - IMCC integration - eval - some more benchmarking - cgp core - optimized math ops - intersegment branches - more complete use of PObjs - beefed up packfiles - sub/continuation/coroutine fixes - better NCI (native calling interface) - many imcc improvements - jako improvements New in 0.0.9 - Native function calling interface (Dan) - Stack/list aggregate rewrite (Leo) - Scratchpads (Jonathan Sillito) - Preliminary DotGNU support -- type conversion ops (Gopal V + Leo) - Buffer/PMC unification (Leo) - stabs debugging support for JIT (Leo) - Jako overhaul (Gregor) - Optional Lea allocator (Leo) - Parrot sprintf (Brent) - Miniparrot (Josh) - PMC Properties (Dan) - Various JIT improvements (D. Grunblatt + Leo) - Extensible packfiles (Juergen) - Restructured PMC hierarchy (Leo) - Real Scheme (Juergen) New in 0.0.8 - Several new grammars and a BNF -> perl5 and perl6 converter (Jeff) - Working Perl6 REs (Sean) - Keyed Access (Tom Hughes et al) - New PMCs (Alberto et al) - Better Documentation - New COW semantics - GC acceleration (Mike Lambert) - Lexical scope (Jonathan Sillito) - IMCC patches - JIT for the ARM New in 0.0.7 - Perl 6 Grammar and Compiler (Sean) - Subroutines, coroutines, and continuations (Melvin) - GC improvements (Peter Gibbs, Mike Lambert) - Global variables (Melvin) - Intermediate bytecode compiler (Melvin, Angel) - And much, much more. New in 0.0.6 - New assembler that support keyed types (Jeff) - New macro layer, allowing constants (Jeff) - New Configure.pl (Brent) - Changes to bytecode format, endian issues resolved (Melvin) - GC improvements and bug fixes (Peter Gibbs, Mike Lambert) - JIT compiler rewrite (Jason and Daniel) - Parrot assembler in Parrot (Daniel) - Parrot debugger (Daniel) - BASIC polished, Eliza.bas is new (Clint) - Cola compiler committed and working, with limited OOP (Melvin) - Keyed aggregates (Steve Fink) - Global ops (Melvin) - Compile-time speedup (Melvin) - Much documentation - New PDDs (Dan) - Contributed tetris and lzw files - And many more, from the cast of thousands New in 0.0.5 - Full GC - Perl Scalar support in PMCs - Array and Hash types almost ready for prime-time - Internal support for keyed types - EMACS editing mode - New PDDs - New Language - BASIC - Regular expression compiler - More tests - Many, many bug fixes, enhancements, and speedups New in 0.0.4 - Arena-based memory allocation system - Copying GC - New IO subsystem - "Predereferencing" mode - ./parrot -P - 22% speedup - JIT compiler - ./parrot -j - Parrot now builds warnings-clean on many platforms - Many more PMC methods implemented - Regular expression operations - Added a FAQ - Basic support for embedding Parrot in other programs - Warnings support - Added PDDs to distribution - Bignum library - PMC inheritance - Added an assembly optimizer - Improved string encoding/type support - Many more tests - Source reformatting - Major refactoring in packfile library - More Miniperl functionality - New PMC "clone" operator - Beginnings of key-based access to PMCs - arrays and hashes - MOPS comparisons in examples/mops/ New in 0.0.3 - PMCs! - Perl base scalar types implemented - A new minilanguage, Scheme - Much improved documentation - Register stacks pushing and popping - User stack pushing, popping and rotating - Jako updates: subroutines, more example programs, optimizations - test_prog renamed to 'parrot' - Added features to the assembler: @ for current location, and global labels - Build tweaks for VMS - Bytecode typing clean-ups - More platforms: OS X, HPUX, OS/2 - The proliferation of runops cores reduced to one fast and one slow one - Opcode tracing, bounds checking, profiling - Vastly improved string support, with separation of encoding and charset - Lots more tests - Multiple interpreter creation support - the beginnings of threading - Much better resource handling - the beginnings of GC New in 0.0.2 - Parrot now works on all core platforms - A large number of tests, in the standard Perl testing framework - A new minilanguage (Jako) which compiles to Parrot assembly - Documentation about the assembly language (docs/parrot_assembly.pod) - Separate modules for assembly (Parrot::Assemble) and bytecode manipulation (Parrot::PackFile::*, packfile.c) - Assembler completely rewritten - Better operand-type guessing in the assembler - Assembler support for '\n' etc. in string constants - Code reformatted to match the coding standards - New ops for register-constant INTEGER comparisons - Macro expansion in the assembler - IVs and NVs renamed to more friendly INTVAL and NUMVAL - Hard-coded pack("") formats removed - Better handling of floating-point numbers in assembler - Moved floats to constant table (fixing many alignment issues)