History of Changes

Latest version first.

Release 1.2r7 (transitional) - Sunday April 2nd, 2006

- Added export checks for calls of the form Current.r
- Detection of usage of some features in GENERAL that have been removed in 2.x
- Detection of case sensitivity problems that may appear when migrating to 2.2
- Several features marked as obsolete (to be removed or renamed in 2.x)
- Some C code generation modified to work with MSVC++ 2005
- Other minor bugfixes (at the parser, and false warnings)

Release 1.2r6 (transitional) - Wednesday March 1st, 2006

- The optimization for once routines that was disabled in previous release to avoid a bug has been reenabled with the bug fixed.
- Detection of conformance problems related to new INTEGER/REAL conversion rules.
- Small code cleanups (to make the compiler code itself more 2.x compatible)
- FIXED_ARRAY is now called FAST_ARRAY (FIXED_ARRAY still there for compatibility)
- STRING.clear is now obsolete (replaced by clear_count, clear_count_and_capacity)
- A warning is emitted when using features from ARGUMENTS without inheriting ARGUMENTS
- Small library bugfixes

Release 1.2r5 (transitional) - Thursday December 1st, 2005

- Bugfix in the warning about use of INTEGER and REAL types in external calls.
- Bugfix to allow inheriting REFERENCE
- Lots of bugfixes in BIT_STRING (it was very broken in r4)
- Added a "box" feature to GENERAL to make explicit boxing easier
- An optimization bug present in 1.1 was fixed; code generation is even more stable now.

Release 1.2r4 (transitional) - Thursday November 3rd, 2005

- Some fixes for windows. A precompiled windows installer will be provided soon
- Automatic boxing (not supported in SE2) generates a warning.
- Other code generation, library fixes
- Tested also with FreeBSD

Release 1.2r3 (transitional) - Saturday October 1st, 2005

- Minor fixes: Some library updates to avoid some of the new warnings and removed used of some obsolete features/classes
- The class BIT was marked as obsolete, and related features from other classes were obsoleted too.
- Uses of the balancing rule that will change the semantic in SE2 now emit a warning.

Release 1.2r2 (transitional) - Thursday September 1st, 2005

- Lots of code generation fixes:
  - Several fixes related to the optimizer (boost mode)
  - Fixed an issue that generated bad code in some programs with agents.
- The classes REAL_32 and REAL_64 were added. Code using REAL or DOUBLE in external routines is marked with a warning.
- Some library routines not available in SE2 were marked as obsolete, and the new routines added.
- The compiler got a lot of polish, removing redundant code, or fixed some pieces of invalid code that were not being marked as errors

Release 1.2r1 (transitional) - Monday August 1st, 2005

- New replacement classes (obsoleting or emitting warnings for old ones):
  - HASHED_DICTIONARY and HASHED_SET (replacing DICTIONARY and SET). Note that this generates a special warning message (old ones are not obsolete, because they still exist in 2.1)
  - REFERENCE (replacing MEMO). Note that some slight grammar changes where made to accomodate the REFERENCE class name and the reference keyword. Details...
  - MICROSECOND_TIME was modified to improve compatibility with SmartEiffel 2.x
- The reverse assignment rule was relaxed for compatibility with other compilers: Details...
- Parallel installation with other SmartEiffel versions is now easier (The configuration file is renamed).
- Warnings for obsolete `expanded X` and `reference X` Notation
- Some installer and library fixes that came from 1.1

Release 1.2r0 (transitional) - Friday July 1st, 2005

- Updated documentation to note that this is a non-official branch
- Public revision control repository, including release scripts and test suite (not included inside the package, check documentation for links)
- Otherwise, identical to 1.1

Release 1.1 [Charlemagne] - Monday June 16th, 2003

- Thoroughly changed the configuration handling. The new scheme is more complete, and much more flexible.
  - Along with the configuration, wrote a new-generation installer. This tool is also more complete, but also really user-oriented: the simplest way to use it is to keep your finger on the <Enter> key. For more informations about installation and all new configuration capabilities, please have a look to install page.
  - Added the `-c_mode` option, in conjunction with the new configuration handling.
  - Added a `-loadpath` flag to read an extra loadpath.
- A new tool, class_check, allows to check the syntax and local semantics of one or many classes. The whole class is staticaly checked whereas compilation using a test program does not fully check unused features. Note that checking many files at a time is much faster than checking all the files separately.
- Added a small expression evaluator to sedb. One can now display the attributes of the objects on the stack. Be sure to read the "more-help" section on data display (for once functions, the result is unavailable if it has not yet been called).
- The optimizer was rewritten to be more thorough. It now works with both C and Java backends, and does a far better job than the old optimizer.
- Implemented inspect on STRINGs.
- Added require clause to operators in integer_general. We can now do safe computing with integers, just like we do safe access to arrays with bound checking!
- Pretty significantly updated.
- The C files produced by the compiler now should work on any platform, even with the GC turned on.
- Added Unicode support in STRINGs (see the `SmartEiffel/tutorial/unicode` and `SmartEiffel/lib/unicode` directories).
- Added new abstract class FILE and new features in class DIRECTORY.
- Added hexadecimal notation for INTEGER constants, CHARACTER constants and inside manifest STRINGs as well. See the example in file `SmartEiffel/tutorial/hexadecimal.e` for more information.
- Added agent facilities on STRING and UNICODE_STRING (warning, those facilities are non-standard extensions).
- Visitor pattern support was added (yes, the design pattern). Beware, it's currently alpha code. You can play with it, but don't use it for production code yet. Expect it to change somewhat in the next releases. There will be examples (later!) of how to use this pattern to add new plugin tools in SmartEiffel.
- Moved the `bin_c` directory to `install/germ`.
- Reorganized the `SmartEiffel/sys/runtime` directory:
  - Clearly separated C and Java backend helpers
  - Split `SmartEiffelRuntime.java` in smaller chunks. To use programs built with compile_to_jvm, add the `SmartEiffel/sys/runtime/java/smarteiffel.jar` file to your CLASSPATH
- Added the `-compact` option which produces much more compact C code.
- `same_type` from GENERAL is now obsolete. Use `same_dynamic_type` instead.
- Obsoleted operators `"and"`, `"or"`, `"xor"` and `"not"` for INTEGERs, and added prefix operator `"~"`.
- MEMORY.allocated_bytes is more accurate.
- Generated object files are now removed before calling C compiler.
- Various bug fixes and improvements (see details in the SmartZilla bug tracker).

Release 1.0 - Friday December 6th, 2002

This is the very first release with the name SmartEiffel!
(Previous releases were named SmallEiffel.)

The main changes between SmallEiffel -0.74 and SmartEiffel 1.0 are:

- Name changed from SmallEiffel to SmartEiffel!
- Version numbering: now, versions are numbered from 1.0 beta 1 upward
- The new and significantly updated web site for SmartEiffel is `http://SmartEiffel.loria.fr`. (The web site for the former SmallEiffel remains, but is not updated any more).
- The new Reference keyword is now implemented. Use `reference INTEGER` instead of `INTEGER_REF`. `INTEGER_REF` will become obsolete.
- The new INTEGER_GENERAL, INTEGER_8, INTEGER_16, INTEGER_32, INTEGER_64 types are now implemented.
- After long discussions, we have decided to stick to our decision for the type of integer constants (as an example, 127 is of type INTEGER_8 and 128 is of type INTEGER_16 and so on). Actually, we think that this is the most consistent choice. We also noticed that it does not break a lot of code. The only one exception seems to be the manifest array <<>> notation. For this latest point, we are going to propose to ECMA a new notation which allows the creation of any kind of collection and which removes this INTEGER_* problem. Sorry for the inconvenience and stay tuned :)
- 64-bit architectures supported.
- Internal improvements in the type system (better C code produced)
- Buffered I/O. You may get big improvements on programs performing lots of file reading or writing (STD_INPUT and STD_OUTPUT are also buffered).
- The `short` command now has the "-client" option (see short command manual for more details).
- The "tcc" C compiler is now supported, use release 0.9.14 or better (see `http://www.tinycc.org`). Always using `-no_split` is probably a good choice.
- New bug reporting tool. Now you can see all known bugs and their state. Allways refers to the bug report page on SmartEiffel site.
- As suggested on our mailing list, there are now two new classes in order to remove some definitions from GENERAL (see class MATH_CONSTANTS and class CHARACTER_CONSTANTS).
- As asked recently on our mailing list, the new notation for free operators is now implemented. Even if our implementation is quite close to the new and upcoming ETL, it does not follow it exactely. Sorry. In order to avoid parsing problems we decided for example to reject >> as a possible free operator. We also decided to accept more free operators to remain compatible with the old syntax (as an example, there are a lot of such operators in gobo). Note: free operators must not include letters nor digits.
- Type mark must now follow the `Precursor` keyword.
- Fixed the bug recently reported by Wolfgang Jansen. (Well isolated bug report, thanks!) This bug was related to expanded objects and the twin feature.
- Fixed the -manifest_string_trace bug recently reported by Alexis Saettler. (Well isolated bug as well, thanks!)
- Relaxed the redefinition rule for like Current (a brand new decision just made during the very last 18th Nov. 2002 ECMA meeting). In a few words, the new rules now allow you to redefine a "like Current" type mark into some hard-coded type mark (e.g. "FOO"). Note that we think this new rule significantly improves things for is_equal (which should be of interest for the NICE group members). So we applied it in our NUMBER library implementation of is_equal (like Current is now changed to NUMBER) and changed the postcondition of is_equal in GENERAL (ensure assertion relaxed to no longer call standard_is_equal).
- If you're using lcc-win32 as a C compiler with SmartEiffel, a bug was present in lcc that caused problems with our new release. Jacob Navia was kind enough to fix it and provide a new version dated Friday, 29-Nov-2002. So please use the most recent version of lcc-win32 from `http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32/`
- New Cygwin directory notation is now supported. Recent Cygwin systems will be automatically detected while install.
- Other "secret" goodies maturing in the source code, which should be available in a future release. If you're curious, you may want to hunt them down to see what's going on.
- Improved internal lab process to more easily provide professional support contracts (see premium support for more details).
- New functions in COLLECTION_SORTER classes using dichotomic search.
- GC support for the Elate system updated.
- Various bug fixes and improvements.

SmallEiffel History of Changes

From this point, history is relative to the previous SmallEiffel project. Here, version numbering is negative (from -0.99 to -0.74). Changes are listed in reverse chronological order, the oldest one being at the bottom of the page.
Release - 0.74 - Tuesday May 7th, 2002

- The new agent mechanism is now implemented. See `tutorial/agent` directory for examples.
- Added agent based features in class COLLECTION, ARRAY, FIXED_ARRAY, LINKED_LIST, TWO_WAY_LINKED_LIST, DICTIONARY, and SET. Names and signatures comes from ETL: actually, `do_all`, `for_all` and `exists`.
- The new create instruction/expression is now fully implemented and correctly pretty-printed. The new `default_create` feature mechanism is also implemented.
- The new manifest string notation for verbatim manifest string is now implemented as well as the new optional once keyword which may precede the manifest string itself. See also the new `-manifest_string_trace` flag documentation to track non-once manifest strings creations.
- Added examples for the new TUPLE type in directory `tutorial/tuple`.
- Added many new features in class MEMORY to tune the garbage collector. Those features may be useful for embedded applications. (See `tutorial/memory` for examples.)
- The external C interface is now compatible with the new ETL definition. (See directory `tutorial/external/C` for examples.)
- Added flag `-high_memory_compiler` to `compile_to_c`.
- The new name of class BASIC_TIME is now simply TIME (the old class is still there and tagged with the obsolete keyword). Added two new classes in SmallEiffel/lib/time: CLOCK and MICROSECOND_TIME. (See `tutorial/time` for examples.)
- Added class BINARY_FILE_READ, class BINARY_FILE_WRITE and class BINARY_FILE_READ_WRITE. Class STD_FILE_READ is renamed TEXT_FILE_READ. Class STD_FILE_WRITE is renamed TEXT_FILE_WRITE. Class STD_FILE_READ_WRITE is renamed TEXT_FILE_READ_WRITE. Old class are obsoleted.
- Added feature `connect_append_to` both in class TEXT_FILE_WRITE and BINARY_FILE_WRITE.
- Added a new class called SYSTEM which contains various system features: `execute_command`, `get_environment_variable`, `set_environment_variable`, etc. By the way, the old `system` feature of class GENERAL as well as the old `get_environment_variable` of class GENERAL are now obsolete.
- Added feature `size_of` and feature `last_change_of` in class FILE_TOOLS (see also `tutorial/basic_time` for examples).
- Added feature `append_decimal_in` and feature `to_decimal` in class NUMBER as well as a new example the `tutorial/number` directory.
- Added feature `add` both in class COLLECTION_SORTER and in class REVERSE_COLLECTION_SORTER.
- Added feature `reference_at` in class DICTIONARY.
- Added feature `infix "+"` in class POINTER.
- Various bug fixes and improvements.

Release - 0.75 - Thursday July 16th, 2001

- Added ACE file support (ACE stands for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel). The most important advantage is that assertion level checking can now be selected differently for each class. This is also true for the runtime trace mechanism (`-trace`). In ACE file mode you have to provide a special *.ace file to drive the compiler. See `tutorial/ace` directory for examples. Note that the traditional command line mode will continue to be supported.
- There is now a powerful Eiffel level debugger with on-line help documentation. This debugger features step by step execution, navigation into the run-time stack, multi-conditions breakpoints, garbage collector invocation, profiling support, etc.. To use sedb (SmallEiffel DeBugger), just add the `-trace` flag in your traditional command line of compilation or activate the `trace` mode in your ACE file.
- Added a traditional `-help` flag for all commands to print a summary of available options.
- In ACE files as well as in "`loadpath.se`" files the `${SmallEiffelDirectory}` environment variable is automatically defined using the value of the `${SmallEiffel}` environment variable.
- Full compatibility with the new ELKS'2001 STRING class. Most modifications are simple renamings which are automatically pointed out by `obsolete` warnings. For obvious uniformity reasons, some other classes of the library have also been modified (ARRAY, LINKED_LIST, DICTIONARY, etc.). As an example, `nb_occurrences` of ARRAY is now obsolete and the `obsolete` warning tells you that `occurrences` is the new name to be used. This work is still a work in progress. Please, contact Arno Wagner (in charge of the STRING class modification) on our mailing list.
- The new TUPLE type is now implemented.
- Added class TIME_IN_GERMAN to handle date and time in German. See `tutorial/basic_time` for examples.
- Feature `is_equal` of class COMPARABLE is now ELKS compatible.
- Added feature `internal_key` in class DICTIONARY.
- Various bug fixes and improvements.

Release - 0.76 - Saturday November 11th, 2000

- Full compatibility with the new ELKS'2000 ARRAY class. Most modifications are simple renamings which are automatically pointed out by `obsolete` warnings. For obvious uniformity reasons, some other classes of the library have also been modified. As an example, `empty` is always replaced with `is_empty` in all classes. The name `all_cleared` is always replaced with `all_default`. The most difficult problem is due to the fact that `is_equal` in ARRAY no longer uses the elements `is_equal` to compare them, but the basic '=' infix operator. For uniformity reasons, this has also been done for all COLLECTIONs as well as class DICTIONARY.
- Added feature `is_equal_map` for all COLLECTIONs (ARRAY, FIXED_ARRAY, LINKED_LIST, TWO_WAY_LINKED_LIST) and for class DICTIONARY. This is the replacement for the old implementation of `is_equal` (ie. `is_equal_map` use `is_equal` to compare elements).
- Added feature `reindex` in class ARRAY.
- Added a brand new class SET[E->HASHABLE].
- Added support for the Elate (Amiga) system as well as the vpcc C compiler.
- Added support for the QNX real time operating system.
- For feature `dispose` of class MEMORY (as well as redefinitions), the class invariant is no longer triggered.
- Added features `atan2` and `pow` both in class REAL and DOUBLE.
- Internal implementation of BASIC_TIME revisited (using now a double for memorization).
- Implementation of class DICTIONARY completely revisited. Also added features `add`, `item_map_in` and `key_map_in` in the new class DICTIONARY.
- Added feature `reverse` in class COLLECTION (thus, this feature is available for all subclasses of COLLECTION (i.e. ARRAY, FIXED_ARRAY, LINKED_LIST and TWO_WAY_LINKED_LIST).
- Various bug fixes and improvements.

Release - 0.77 - Saturday February 12th, 2000

- Added in directory SmallEiffel the new `install` command (class `install.e` with a precompiled `install.exe` for Windows). This `install.e` class is the code for the installer of the SmallEiffel distribution it comes with, and is designed to be as portable as possible. This automatic installation program has already been tested for Windows/lcc-win32, Windows/bcc32, Linux/gcc, Solaris/gcc, DEC-Alpha/gcc and FreeBSD/gcc, ...
  To install SmallEiffel under some UNIX like system, just type `make` in the SmallEiffel directory.
  To install SmallEiffel under Windows, just run `install.exe`.
  On other systems, C compile and run the `install.c` file.
- Added C++ externals support (creation of C++ objects, deletion of C++ objects, member function calls, static function calls etc.). See `tutorial/external/C++` for examples.
- Added NUMBER library, for infinite precision and infinitely large numbers. See `tutorial/number` for examples.
- Added ITERATOR library, for external iterators on data structures. See `tutorial/iterator` for examples.
- Added class BASIC_DIRECTORY and class DIRECTORY to handle in a portable way directories as well as system path notations. See `tutorial/basic_directory` for examples. This class is also implemented for Java bytecode (command `compile_to_jvm`).
- Added class BASIC_TIME, TIME_IN_FRENCH TIME_IN_ENGLISH and TIME_IN_ITALIAN to handle date and time. See `tutorial/basic_time` for examples. Low level routines for Java byte-code are not yet implemented If you have some time to do this, you just have to add the missing Java code in `sys/runtime/SmallEiffelRuntime.java` (please contribute your work on the SmallEiffel mailing list).
- Added class BIT_STRING for very large bit sequences, with reference semantics.
- Features `deep_clone` and `deep_equal` of class GENERAL are now implemented for the C compilation mode (does not work yet with `compile_to_jvm`).
- Added feature `skip_remainder_of_line` and feature `reach_and_skip` in class INPUT_STREAM. Warning: in order to be consistent with other features, the behavior of features `skip_separators` and `skip_separators_using` has changed.
- Added feature `to_hexadecimal` and feature `to_hexadecimal_in` in class INTEGER.
- Improved incremental recompilation of the generated C code (also fixed a very old bug in incrementality).
- Exceptions handling: the `default_rescue` feature is now supported.
- Various bug fixes and improvements (type inference score increased, ...).

Release - 0.78 - Saturday June 05th, 1999.

- New `-html2` flag for command `short` generates a colorized HTML short form for classes.
- The garbage collector now takes into account feature `dispose` of class MEMORY for reference objects.
- Obsolete classes (`obsolete` keyword) now supported.
- Assertion tags are now displayed when an assertion fails.
- Added environment variable in loadpath files. Syntax: `${SOME_VAR}`
- Added the `-no_style_warning` flag to suppress warnings when the recommended styles guidelines for Eiffel are not strictly followed.
- Added the `-version` flag to show SmallEiffel's version.
- Enhanced ease of use with and adaptability to various C compilers (SYSTEM_TOOLS). Files `compiler.system`, `linker.system` and `o_suffix.system` are now obsolete and replaced by a unique file `compiler.se` common to all systems. See the System configuration page for more information.
- Class LINKED_LIST now replaces obsolete class LINK_LIST (simple renaming).
  Class TWO_WAY_LINKED_LIST now replaces obsolete class LINK2_LIST (simple renaming).
- Fixed "implicit renaming" bug.
- Cleaned all source code of tabulations at beginning of line (made code look ugly when using an editor whose tabs were not 8).
- Some new ELKS'95 features implemented.
- Validity rule VEEN fixed.
- Added class COLLECTION_SORTER and REVERSE_COLLECTION_SORTER to the library.
- Fixed file renaming portability bug (".d files bug").
- Validity rule VCFG.1 is now enforced.
- Validity rule VAPE is now enforced.
- Classes mentioned in a cecil.se file are now automatically made live. Makes it easier to link with external libraries.
- Various other bug fixes.

Release - 0.79 - Tuesday December 22nd, 1998.

- The new Eiffel construct `Precursor` as described OOSC2 is now implemented.
- The Eiffel expression `strip` is now implemented.
- Nested loadpath files now allowed.
- Extended anchored definition to accept infix and prefix feature names. For example, this kind of declaration is now accepted : `foo: like infix "+"`.
- Classes COLLECTION2, ARRAY2 and FIXED_ARRAY2 of `lib/base` completely revisited.
- Fixed a bug related to calls of the form f.g.h; on expanded objects.
- Fixed a bug related to inheritance of generic classes.
- Fixed bugs related to assertions checking in case of exceptions (rescue clause, retry). Improved cycle detection in assertions.
- Fixed bug in GC related to recycling of "monsters" (very large resizable objets).
- Fixed an incredible bug in the implementation of the `like Current` type mark. ;-).
- Fixed many others bugs (`$` operator, GC for alpha DEC, ...).
- System customization file for the BeOS system added in the `"sys"` sub-directory (more on system customization).
- Contents of the environment variable SmallEiffel must be now set with the absolute path of the file `"system.se"` which is in the sub-directory `"sys"` of the installation directory.
  Under a UNIX-like system, the value of the SmallEiffel environment variable may be for example: `/usr/lib/SmallEiffel/sys/system.se`
  Commands are also more robust when this environment variable contains non-alphanumeric characters.
- No more ensure assertion in GENERAL.`get_environment_variable`.
- Commands `compile_to_jvm` and `print_jvm_class` completely revisited. Java byte-code can be now used with the `-verify` Java option).
- Validity rule VDRD.6 is now enforced.
- Balancing rule (automatic promotion) for INTEGER, DOUBLE and REAL is now implemented.
- Recursive once routines now work correctly.
- Unmodified generated C files are not touched anymore.
- Assertions correctly checked for all external C routines.
- Exception handling now works when an exception occurs in external C code.
- Cleaned the compiler and decreased its memory footprint.

Release - 0.80 - Thursday July 9th, 1998.

- Exception handling implemented. Class EXCEPTIONS added in `lib/kernel`.
- Execution trace stack implementation completely revisited: more comprehensive information is now available, and the overhead incurred by this stack is greatly reduced (executables are about 3 times faster when running in `-all_check` mode).
- Added option `-no_main` in command `compile_to_c` to avoid generation of the C main function. This is useful when one wants to start execution from outside before calling some Eiffel routines via the `cecil` interface.
- Behavior of compilation flag `-trace` of command `compile_to_c` changed to allow step-by-step execution (embryo of Eiffel source code debugger).
- Feature ARRAY.`resize` completely revisited (added two features in class NATIVE_ARRAY: `clear` and `move`).
- Garbage Collector optimized (the GC should be more agressive and some benchmarks are included in directory `SmallEiffel/misc/benchmarks/gc/*/bench.e`).
- Associativity of infix operator "^" is now correctly handled.
- Fixed bugs in PLATFORM for `Minimum_double`, `Minimum_real` and `Minimum_character_code`.
- Fixed some others bugs about export rules, about expanded objects with expanded attributes.
- Fixed bugs in `pretty`.

Release - 0.81 - Thursday April 9th, 1998

- First finalized version of the garbage collector. Currently supported architectures are SPARC Solaris, HP-UX, Linux, MacOS, Windows 95 and NT (see file `SmallEiffel/sys/gc` for details). Added flag `-no_gc` to suppress the GC (see `man/compile_to_c`).
- Changed the default for the generation of C code. Now, the C code and object files are kept by default. (This previously required using option `-c_code`, which becomes obsolete.)
  Added flag `-clean` which removes all the C and object files of the system. (This corresponds to the old default behavior.)
- Fixed a bug related to buffered input under Windows/MS VC.
- Fixed a bug in `misc/INSTALL.SH` script.
- Added require `is_connected` for all features `put_*` of class OUTPUT_STREAM.
- Fixed a bug in command `short` (require/ensure assertion of deferred routines are now printed).
- Added one useful hook for mode -html1 in command `short` (see hook `Mcn`).
- Added directory `SmallEiffel/sys/runtime` which contains the C runtime.
- Fixed a bug about instanciation of class ANY itself (not so common !).
- Fixed a bug about inlining of operator `$`.
- Fixed a bug about cyclic anchored definitions.

Release - 0.82 - Friday January 16th, 1998

- Became the official GNU Eiffel compiler.
- Added first HTML mode to command `short`. Flag `-html1`. Thanks to Matthias Klause.
- Fixed bugs in command `pretty`.
- It is now possible to rename/redefine `external` "SmallEiffel" features.
- Files `*.hlp` of directory SmallEiffel/man no longer exists. All the documentation is now in `*.html` files plus corresponding automatically generated `*.txt` files.
- Manifest arrays creation has been optimized.
- Validity rule VHRC.2 is now enforced.
- Fixed bugs about `export` clause.
- Feature GENERAL.`hash_code` no longer exists. Added ELKS class HASHABLE in order to be compatible with others compilers/libraries.
- Fixed a bug in pre-computed once functions.
- Fixed a bug in REAL/DOUBLE keybord input.
- Reintroduced left hand side cast in C code for better performances (allowed by the C ANSI standard).
- Obsolete features (obsolete keyword) now generate a Warning.

Release - 0.83 - Friday September 19th, 1997

- Added command `short` to the distribution.
- Added directory `contrib` in the distribution. This directory contains some scripts to use `gdb` as source level debugger for SmallEiffel.
- Added flag `-no_warning` to commands: `compile_to_c`, `pretty`, and `compile_to_jvm`.
- Added flag `-case_insensitive` to command `compile_to_c`.
- Fixed a bug for inherit/select.
- Fixed a bug for some pre-computed once function.

Release - 0.84 - Monday August 18th, 1997

- Class BIT is now implemented in Java bytecode (command `compile_to_jvm`).
- Added external specification to call Java code (when using `compile_to_jvm`).
- To fit on a single 3.5 inches disk, unsplitted C code for large commands (`compile_to_c` and `compile_to_jvm`) is no longer in the distribution as well as the old `lib_test` directory.
- Changed the algorithm to load classes in order to allow upper case letters in files names (priority is always given to lower case file names).
- Added STRING.`substring_index` (from ELKS written by Fridtjof SIEBERT).
- Added one more file in SmallEiffel/sys/ directory in order to customize object files suffix (thus, using Borland C compiler on Windows is now possible).
- Changed the behavior of `end_of_input` of INPUT_STREAM (this flag is true _after_ last character has been read).
- Fixed a bug in manifest arrays (mixed objects including Void).
- Fixed a bug dealing with some statically computed expressions.
- Fixed a bug in repeated inheritance.

Release - 0.85 - Thursday July 3rd, 1997

- First beta-release of commands `compile_to_jvm` and `print_jvm_class`!
- The new name for class C_ARRAY is now NATIVE_ARRAY (because it works both with Java and C). The old C_ARRAY name is temporarily accepted with a warning from the compiler.
- For readability and to avoid confusion with Java names, external tags have changed (see for new names in `man/external` file). Old names are temporarily accepted with a warning giving the new name to use.
- Added feature `to_hexadecimal` and feature `to_hexadecimal_in` in class CHARACTER.
- Feature `io`, `std_input`, `std_output` and `std_error` of class GENERAL are no longer frozen.
- Some changes in STD_FILE_READ for features `read_integer`, `read_double` and `read_real` (added comments, precondition and solved the problem with the trailing separator).
- Feature `die_with_code` of GENERAL now accepts any INTEGER code (not just predefined `exit_success_code` and `exit_failure_code`).
- Fixed a bug in STRING. The following expression is now true: `("a%/0/b").count = 3`
  Just try this on your favorite Eiffel compiler ;-)
- Many changes in basic input/output in order to be compatible with Java: No more class STD_FILE (the name is now free for an ELKS implementation). Two new classes: INPUT_STREAM and OUTPUT_STREAM.
- Feature `unread_character` of class INPUT_STREAM is now implemented in Eiffel.
- Added OUTPUT_STREAM.`put_pointer` to view a POINTER.

Release - 0.86 - Sunday April 13th, 1997

- All reported bugs at this time have been fixed.
- Added flag `-verbose` to commands: `compile`, `compile_to_c` and `clean`. When this new flag is not present, commands now work silently unless some error (or warning) occurs.
- Features BOOLEAN.`infix "or"` and BOOLEAN.`infix "and"` are now written in pure Eiffel. As a consequence, it is very important for the SmallEiffel programmer to make the distinction between BOOLEAN.`infix "and then"` and BOOLEAN.`infix "and"` (respectively for BOOLEAN.`infix "or else"` and BOOLEAN.`infix "or"`). When left-hand-side argument produces no side effect, the semi-strict operator (BOOLEAN.`infix"and then"/"or else"`) may run faster.
- Fixed REAL.`sin` (the old one was calling `sqrt` :-).
- Fixed a bug in INTEGER.`append_in` (you can now print `Minimum_integer`).
- Added feature `in_range` in class COMPARABLE.
- Result type of REAL.`infix "^"` is now DOUBLE for ELKS compatibility.
- Feature `remove` is now implemented in all subclasses of COLLECTION (i.e. ARRAY, FIXED_ARRAY, LINK_LIST and LINK2_LIST).
- Added feature `add` for all subclasses of COLLECTION.
- Conversion DOUBLE/STRING : ANSI C `sscanf` and `sprintf` is now used to avoid loss of precision.
- Added some more class invariant code generation when compiling in `-invariant_check mode`. Class invariant is now also checked before exit of a routine.
- Added feature `file_tools` in class GENERAL to ease access to class FILE_TOOLS.
- Changed printing format for basic *_REF classes. For example, instruction `print(1);` now prints `1`.
- Feature `truncated_to_integer` of DOUBLE is now ELKS compatible (added feature `rounded` in class DOUBLE to replace the old `truncated_to_integer`). Same changes in class REAL.

Release - 0.87 - Tuesday January 7th, 1997

- Added a new flag `-trace` to ease debug (see `man/compile_to_c` file).
- More inlining at Eiffel level (`-boost` mode only).
- Class BIT_N completely revisited. It may be as fast as C.
- Added class C_ARRAY[E] to deal directly with C arrays at Eiffel level. Thus there are no more external "CSE" or c_inline_c in classes STRING/ARRAY/FIXED_ARRAY (only full Eiffel). Eiffel code is nice and STRING/ARRAY/FIXED_ARRAY may run faster.
- Fixed a bug in STD_FILE_READ.read_double.
- Ordering of C output to increase gcc inlining.
- According to `man/compile_to_c`) , flag `-debug_check` now works (debug instructions are no longer generated in mode `-all_check`).
- Unused local variables removed at Eiffel level (warning added for `-debug_check` mode only).
- Default class ANY now inherits PLATFORM (as in ETL).
- Fixed a bug in floating-point constants.
- Added directory `sys` to customize default C compiler, default C linker and default loading path.
- Fixed some bugs with outside expanded types.
- Fixed a bug with rename/select.
- Redefinition of once routine is now allowed.
- Feature GENERAL.`conforms_to` is now implemented.
- Rule VFFD.7 is now enforced.
- Feature `force` implemented for all COLLECTION.
- Added conversions features CHARACTER.`to_bit`, INTEGER.`to_bit`, BIT_N.`to_character` and BIT_N.`to_integer`.

Release - 0.88 - Wednesday October 30th, 1996

- Fixed bugs dealing with inherit/rename/select.
- Added warning for missing colon in actual arguments list.
- Warning : INSTALL procedure has changed and you have to set manually the default loading path (see misc/INSTALL for details).
- Added some VMS customization.
- Fixed bugs when printing run-time stack.
- Warning added for missing colon in actual parameter list.
- Added `flush` in class STD_FILE_WRITE.
- No more left hand side cast in C code (because some C compilers don't like them).

Release - 0.89 - Sunday September 15th, 1996

- Calling Eiffel from C is now implemented (see `man/cecil`) file).
- Object creation uses C `calloc` instead `malloc`+`memset`.
- Object creation is inlined.
- ARRAY/FIXED_ARRAY `put` and `item` are now inlined (`-boost` only).
- Added feature `capacity` and `resize` in FIXED_ARRAY.
- Added some classes in std_lib: LINK2_LIST (two way linked list), COLLECTION2 (deferred), ARRAYED_COLLECTION (deferred), LINKED_COLLECTION (deferred) and FIXED_ARRAY2 in std_lib.
- More user's routines are inlined (`-boost` only).

Release - 0.90 - Friday August 23rd, 1996

- Added random number generator library (SmallEiffel/lib_rand).
- Added checking of assertions for external "CSE" features.
- Anchoring on expanded types are now allowed.
- Multiple level of anchoring definition allowed.
- Fixed a bug in STRING.`from_external`.
- Fixed a bug with mixed rename/redefine.
- Inheritance loop detection.
- Anchoring loop detection.
- Fixed a bug with renaming infix/prefix.
- Command `clean` also use the make suffix.
- Added ELKS95 `sign` in INTEGER/REAL/DOUBLE.
- Feature `make` is the default root feature name for `compile`.
- Optimized ARRAY.`add_last` and STRING.`extend`.
- Changed STRING.`out` (no more enclosing %" printed).
- Remove warning gcc messages for 64 bit machines (alpha/DEC).
- Added option `-no_split` for a better finalization (see `man/compile_to_c`) file).

Release - 0.91 - Wednesday July 24th, 1996

- Incremental C compiling mode implemented (see option `-c_code` in help file `man/compile`) .
- Added command `clean` in help file `man/clean`.
- Added class FILE_TOOLS.
- No more empty C struct in generated C code (to avoid problems with Microsoft Windows C compiler).
- Fixed one more bug with conformance rule VNCG.

Release - 0.92 - Saturday July 20th, 1996

- Fixed some more bugs with conformance rule VNCG.
- Added math functions in DOUBLE/REAL (`sin`, `cos`, `tan`, `asin`, `acos`, `atan`, ... ANSI C names).

Release - 0.93 - Thursday July 18th, 1996

- Fixed some more bugs with conformance rule VNCG.
- Type BIT is now implemented.
- Added ELKS 95 STRING.`left_adjust` and STRING.`right_adjust`.

Release - 0.94 - Friday July 5th, 1996

- Fixed some bugs with conformance rule VNCG.
- Static expressions are used to detect pre-computable once routines.
- Added features `to_external` and `from_external` both in classes ARRAY and FIXED_ARRAY.
- Fixed a bug for inheritance of ARRAY or FIXED_ARRAY.
- Contents of end of class comment checked.
- Added documentation file for external calls (see help file `man/external` ).

Release - 0.95 - Thursday May 30th, 1996

- It is now possible to inherit ARRAY.
- It is now possible to inherit STRING.
- Flag `-cc` of `compile_to_c` has changed.
- The PLATFORM class is now conform to ELKS95.
- Added feature `twin` (like the one of TowerEiffel) in GENERAL.
- Added features `to_external` and `from_external` in class STRING.
- Fixed some bugs in once pre-computed routines.

Release - 0.96 - Friday May 10th, 1996

- Internal renaming to suppress some warning messages and for a smooth integration with C++ software.
- DOS and Macintosh better portability.

Release - 0.97 - Thursday May 2nd, 1996

- Inside of compiler cleaned.
- Pre-Computing of some once functions.
- Added class COLLECTION, LINK_LIST and FIXED_ARRAY in `lib/base`.

Release - 0.98 - Friday March 15th, 1996

- Command `pretty` added.
- Implements Eiffel `expanded` clause.

Release - 0.99 - Saturday February 17th, 1996

- The first version available on the net. Before being made available, the very first SmallEiffel had been tested since September 1995 by students of the University Henri Poincaré

Release - 1.00 - July 1995

- The very first bootstrap. SmallEiffel is born.

Copyright © Dominique COLNET and Suzanne COLLIN - <SmartEiffel@loria.fr>
Last modified: Mon Jun 16 11:30:54 CEST 2003