Releases¶

v1.5¶

Available here: locic-1.5.src.tar.xz

Released on 24th September 2016, version 1.5 provides:

Compiler

• Added more links between AST and SEM for efficiency and future merge
• Added SEM::Statement::For() to (in future) avoid generating loops in Semantic Analysis
• Fixed various error messages to be more consistent (e.g. start with a lowercase letter)
• Added size_t and ssize_t to valid vararg types
• Added error for non-type arguments to capability test (A : B)
• Fixed duplicate type errors to handle clashes with non-type objects
• Print ‘previously defined here’ message for function name clash
• Moved more code generation to use IREmitter rather than using LLVM’s IRBuilder directly

Test

• Added check target that builds and tests the compiler
• Various improvements to duplicate object tests
• Added tests for covariant/contravariant casts
• Moved ‘CheckSuccess’ tests into library-specific directories (e.g. test/SemanticAnalysis)
• Added currently-disabled tests for class inheritance
• Added test for std::string length() and empty()
• Added test for destroying temporary in ternary value
• Added tests for std::path
• Added test for unichar literal

Language features

• Added override and inherit keywords to lexer and parser; class inheritance is not yet implemented
• Character literals now use new unichar type

Primitives

• Added unichar type (full type name is unichar_t)
• Added hash() methods for all integer primitives and typename_t
• Added more cast methods for various primitive types
• Implemented copy methods for null_t

Standard library

• Added std::filesystem::file_stream and std::filesystem::path
• Added empty() method for std::string
• std::hash<> now works for int; not yet extended to work with all types
• Fixed std::varray to use reverse_range<> rather than reverse_counter<>

Documentation

• Added documentation for hashing support

Dependencies

• Tested to build and work with LLVM versions 3.3 to 3.9
• llvm-abi is now a Git submodule rather than being fetched from a URL by CMake

v1.4¶

Available here: locic-1.4.src.tar.xz

Released on 25th April 2016, version 1.4 provides:

Compiler

• New and vastly better compiler diagnostics system.
• Rewritten lexer and parser to provide improved diagnostics (see http://scross.co.uk/2016/01/30/glr-vs-recursive-descent-parsing/ ).

Test

• All tests have now been moved to Lit (from CTest).
• Many more tests for diagnostics (tests added as diagnostics were converted to new system).
• New unit tests for lexer/parser.

Language features

• Renamed __empty lifetime method to __dead.

Primitives

• Added min() and max() built-in functions.
• Added built-in value generators range(), range_incl(), reverse_range() and reverse_range_incl().
• Removed is_ prefix from built-in predicates (e.g. is_movable is now just movable).
• Renamed ptr_lval to ptr_lval_t for consistency with other primitives.
• Added initial code for allowing hashable types.

Standard library

• Added initial code for hashing types (to be used in hash set/map implementations in next version).

v1.3¶

Available here: locic-1.3.src.tar.xz

Released on 8th November 2015, version 1.3 provides:

Language features

• Added named predicates (or ‘predicate aliases’)
• Added __sizeof and __alignmask methods.
• Added support for opaque structs.
• Added Lifetime Methods
• Clarified Object Memory States (enables moving with all lvalues)
• Added static assert statement.
• Fixed various aspects of value templates support.
• Constrained operator combinations to avoid precedence confusion (see Operator Overloading).
• Allowed require to be both before and after function declaration for templated functions.
• Fixed noexcept predicates value inference.
• Added syntax support for comparisons in function parameters without needing parentheses.
• Fixed method call and assignment evaluation order.

Primitives

• Added primitive function/method/interface-method pointer types.
• Added primitive static array type.

Standard library

• Fixed std.concurrency implementation to be more stable and portable.
• Modified std.container to use named predicates.
• Fixed std.memory in respect to Lifetime Methods.

Compiler

• Substantially improved llvm-abi API and backend (lots of code brought in from Clang) and integrated this into compiler.
• Moved default method generation (for ‘implicitcopy’, ‘copy’ etc.) into CodeGen.
• Modified CodeGen to emit opaque pointer types and typed pointer operations to faciliate upstream LLVM opaque pointer changes.
• Refactored CodeGen primitives into separate classes.

Test

• Added tests using LLVM’s ‘lit’ to verify compiler’s IR output.
• Added lit-based tests to check ABI correctness.
• Added new tests for all new/improved features mentioned above.
• Added many new syntax tests to check parser.
• Added tests for std.concurrency.
• Added tests for primitives.
• Added tests for sizes of empty objects.
• Added tests for destroying temporary objects.
• Added tests for evaluation order.

Other

• Documentation now automatically uploaded to website.
• Build artifacts now automatically uploaded to website (/travis).

Dependencies

• Tested to build and work with LLVM versions 3.3 to 3.7
• nest LLVM ARM and AArch64 patches accepted into LLVM 3.7 in preparation for fast virtual call implementation.

v1.2¶

Available here: locic-1.2.src.tar.xz

Released on 28th March 2015, version 1.2 provides:

Language features

• const, noexcept and require predicates
• Boolean template values (for use in predicates)
• __moveto methods
• Fixing Const rules (in particular adding transitive const)
• C enums and unions
• Unused variables and values (replacing void cast syntax)
• Assert noexcept

Standard library

• UTF-8 support for Standard library strings
• Threads
• Events
• Networking (just IPv4 and TCP for this release)

Compiler

• Much easier for end users to build (now builds against LLVM Debian packages)
• Added ‘Array’, ‘StableSet’ and other containers for improved performance
• Added ‘String’ class for uniquifying strings
• Refactored support code into ‘support’ library
• Substantially improved Semantic Analysis performance
• Eliminated unnecessary generation of vtables and template generators for primitive cast/implicit_cast methods
• Fixed various CodeGen issues by enforcing stricter rules in SEM for binding references
• Fixed ownership semantics for various SEM types
• Added pre-compiled header for LLVM

Examples

• Added ‘Simulations’ example
• Removed ‘General’ example

Documentation

• Re-focused various pages to provide most important/relevant information at the start
• Added Predicates page
• Re-wrote much of Const page
• Re-wrote much of Modules page, with a new diagram of the compilation model

Test

• Larger set of tests (e.g. for C enums and unions)
• New ‘Check Success’ tests ensure code compiles without having to run JIT
• Added some initial unit tests

Other

• Continuous Integration

Dependencies

• Tested to build and work with LLVM 3.3/3.4/3.5/3.6

v1.1¶

Available here: locic-1.1.src_.tar.gz

Released on 27th August 2014, version 1.1 provides:

Language features

• Switching from C++-like template expansion to use Template Generators (to allow templated APIs across module boundaries)
• Module imports and exports
• scope(success), scope(failure) and scope(exit)
• noexcept
• Type-templated functions/methods
• Type aliases
• assert and unreachable statements
• Implicit and explicit casts between types using templated methods

Standard library

• Standard library memory allocators and smart pointers
• Standard library containers
• Standard library strings

Other

• Vastly improved performance, particularly for Code Generation.
• A larger set of examples and updates to examples to demonstrate newly implemented features.
• Significantly improved documentation in reStructuredText using Sphinx, which can generate multiple output formats including HTML and PDF.
• A much larger set of integrated tests to check both accept and reject cases, as well as testing the standard library.

Dependencies

• Tested to build and work with LLVM 3.3/3.4/3.5

v1.0¶

Available here: locic-1.0.src_.tar.gz

Released on 6th April 2014, version 1.0 provides:

• Standard integer/floating point primitives
• C structs
• Functions (C-compatible)
• Multi-pass compilation, allowing symbols declarations and uses to appear in any order
• Class declarations and definitions
• Static and dynamic methods
• Default constructors (using ‘= default’ syntax)
• Type deduction for local variables (using ‘auto’ keyword)
• Exceptions, including exception hierarchies and try-catch
• Destructors (exception-safe)
• Interfaces, including polymorphic casts and virtual calls
• Algebraic datatypes, including union datatypes
• Type switch on datatypes
• Pattern matching datatypes
• Class and interface templates
• lval and ref support, including implicit lval dissolve
• Implicit lval generation (value_lval for local variables, member_lval for member variables)
• lval operations, including address, assign, dissolve and move
• const methods and cast const-correctness
• null, including null constructors for user-defined types
• Integer, floating point and C string literals
• Method name canonicalization