Changelog for zeolite-lang-0.24.1.0

Revision history for zeolite-lang

0.24.1.0 -- 2024-01-07

Language

[fix] Fixes parsing of < expressions when the left side is an explicit type conversion, e.g., "123"?String < "456". Previously, the < was assumed to be the start of a param substitution.

Note that this shouldn't ever be needed because < only supports built-in concrete types. (Any value with a union/intersection type convertible to one of those types already simplifies to that type, making the union/intersection superfluous.)
[new] Adds the <|| operator to use the left value unless it's empty.

optional Int value <- empty
// value is preferred, but 123 is used because value is empty.
Int other <- value <|| 123

[behavior] Adds source context to traces for crashes during initialization of @category members.

Libraries

[fix] Fixes CheckSequence:using (in lib/testing) when using an empty list.
[new] Adds AppendH helpers to lib/util.

Examples

Adds example/highlighter, as both a code example and a highlighted-HTML generator for Zeolite source files.

0.24.0.1 -- 2023-12-10

Language

[fix] Fixes parsing of &. with prefix/infix function notation, e.g., a `foo&.bar` b.

Compiler CLI

[fix] Fixes static linking of binaries for C++ compilers that don't handle weak symbols. Previously, static linking would fail for some compilers with an error message related to functions that handle unboxed types.

0.24.0.0 -- 2023-12-09

Language

[breaking] In testcase, renames crash to failure.
[breaking] Adds the visibility keyword to limit calling of @value/@type functions to specific type contexts. This is breaking because visibility is now reserved.
```
concrete Foo {
  visibility Bar, Baz  // Functions below here are only visible from Bar or Baz.

  @type call () -> ()
}
```

[breaking] Adds function delegation with delegate keyword.

concrete Foo {
  @type new1 (Int) -> (Foo)
  @type new2 (Int) -> (Foo)
}

define Foo {
  @value Int value

  new1 (value) {
    // Same as Foo{ value }.
    return delegate -> Foo
  }

  new2 (value) {
    // Same as new1(value).
    return delegate -> `new1`
  }
}

This is a breaking change because delegate is now reserved.

[breaking] In testcase, you can now optionally include a type name that defines Testcase after success/failure. The test will automatically call start() and finish(), which is meant to allow custom checks upon test exit. This is breaking because Testcase is now reserved.
[breaking] Adds instance identification with the identify keyword. This is breaking because identify is now reserved.
[fix] Fixes parsing of comments that immediately follow operators, e.g., the /*b+*/ in a+/*b+*/c.
[fix] Fixes checking that a @type function isn't called on a @value.
[fix] Fixes cross-module visibility checks with $TestsOnly$ in .0rp without $ModuleOnly$ . This is primarily to detect if there's usage of a $TestsOnly$ category from a private_dep in a .0rp.
[fix] Updates parsing of empty to allow explicit type conversion, e.g., empty?String.
[new] Adds the option to provide enforced labels for function args.
```
concrete Foo {
  // First arg has the label value:.
  @type bar (Int value:) -> ()
}

// ...

// Callers _must_ use the label value:.
\ Foo.bar(value: 1)
```
Unlike with languages like C++, where the argument name in the function declaration is irrelevant, this is primarily meant to clarify calls to functions with arguments whose purposes are ambiguous.

Note that this doesn't make arguments optional, nor does it allow reordering of arguments. Additionally, there's no requirement that the labels match the argument names, nor that the labels are even unique.

[new] Adds the <-| operator to conditionally overwrite an optional variable if it's empty.

optional Int value <- empty
value <-| 123  // Assigned, because value was empty.
value <-| 456  // Not assigned, because value wasn't empty.

[new] Adds the &. operator to conditionally call a function on an optional value.

optional Int value <- 123
optional Formatted formatted <- value&.formatted()

[new] Updates the return type of inline <- to use the type on the right side of the expression, rather than the variable's type.

optional Formatted value <- empty
// Previously, the return type would've been optional Formatted.
Int value2 <- (value <- 123)

[new] Updates type inference to arbitrarily choose the lower bound when a param is bounded above and below with different types. Previously, the compiler would require specifying the param explicitly. This will make param inference succeed in more situations than it did previously.
[new] Adds the <-> operator to swap variable values. This can be used to swap the values of writable variables of the same type, i.e., not marked as read-only via a pragma and not a function argument.
```
Int foo <- 123
Int bar <- 456
foo <-> bar
```
[new] Allows hex, octal, and binary floating-point literals. (Exponents not allowed due to ambiguity during hex parsing.)
```
Float value1 <- \xFED.CBA
Float value2 <- \o765.432
Float value3 <- \b101.010
```
[new] Adds the $CallTrace$ macro to get a call trace for testing purposes.

Libraries

[breaking] Removes Testing from lib/testing entirely. Use the new testing approach instead. (More details in items further down.)

// Old way.

testcase "my tests" {
  success
}

unittest test {
  \ Testing.checkEquals("something", "other")
  \ Testing.checkBetween(3, 2, 7)
}

// New way.

testcase "my tests" {
  success TestChecker  // <- allows lib/testing to manage test results
}

unittest test {
  \ "something" `Matches:with` CheckValue:equals("other")
  \ 3 `Matches:with` CheckValue:betweenEquals(2, 7)
}

Also see the .0rp files in lib/testing.

[breaking] Removes UtilTesting from lib/util entirely. Use the new testing approach instead.
[new] Adds the TestChecker testcase checker (see previous section) to lib/testing to help support custom matchers.
[new] Adds support for custom value matchers in tests to lib/testing, as well as matchers for value comparisons, substring checks, floating-point epsilon, and container comparisons in lib/testing, lib/util, and lib/container. User-defined matchers can compose other matchers to customize matching of more complex value types.
[new] Implements SetReader<#k> for HashedMap<#k, #v> and SortedMap<#k, #v> in lib/container.
[new] Adds tryValue to ErrorOr in lib/util.
[fix] Updates BarrierWait C++ implementation to compile for MacOS by adding runtime failures if the functionality is used. MacOS doesn't support thread barriers, so lib/thread previously didn't compile for MacOS.

Compiler CLI

[new] Allows single-- CLI options to be clustered, e.g., -rfj8, which is expanded to -r, -f, and -j 8.
[behavior] Clearer error messages for categories hidden by $ModuleOnly$ , $TestsOnly$ , and private_deps. Previously, the compiler would just say that the category wasn't found.

0.23.0.0 -- 2022-10-08

Language

[breaking] Adds the exit builtin to terminate the program with an exit code, with the usual semantics, i.e., 0 means success. This is breaking because exit is now a reserved name.
[breaking] Adds the Pointer<#x> builtin concrete category, for use in C++ extensions. (This is breaking because Pointer is now reserved.)

Compiler CLI

[new] Adds general pointer storage to BoxedValue to allow C++ extensions to pass data to each other without marshaling.
```
// Create a value that can be returned/passed in Zeolite function calls.
BoxedValue boxed = Box_Pointer<Foo>(&value);

// Access the pointer stored in the value.
Foo* unboxed = boxed.AsPointer<Foo>();
```
This is only type-safe if the Zeolite code uses a different #x in Pointer<#x> for each different type used with Box_Pointer/AsPointer. For example, the code above uses Foo, so Pointer<Foo> should be used everywhere such values are passed around in the Zeolite code. (#x is arbitrary, but it's more clear if the name used in Zeolite corresponds to the name of the C++ type.)
[new] Adds % code coverage in output of zeolite --missed-lines.

Libraries

[new] Moves Realtime from lib/thread to lib/util since it doesn't inherently require threads. (This isn't breaking because lib/util was already a public dependency of lib/thread.)
[new] Adds the Counter.builder() function to lib/util to build Int counters with more flexibile limits and increments.

0.22.1.0 -- 2022-04-18

Language

[fix] Fixes checking of parameter variances in the context of internal inheritance.
[fix] Fixes regression in inheritance of interfaces where the specified params contain unions or intersections, e.g., refines Foo<[Bar&Baz]>.
[new] Adds the $ReadOnlyExcept[...]$ define pragma to protect all members except those specified.

Libraries

[new] Adds the AlwaysEmpty empty container to lib/util.
[new] Adds the Queue<#x> @value interface and the SimpleQueue<#x> container to lib/container.

Compiler CLI

[fix] Fixes bug where extra_files listed in .zeolite-module would fail to compile if the module contained no public categories.
[new] Adds the -j [# parallel] flag to zeolite to execute compilation of C++ files in parallel.

[new] Allows C++ extensions to specify internal inheritance in .zeolite-module. This is necessary if the implementation needs to pass PARAM_SELF or VAR_SELF as a parent type that is not publicly visible.

// Assumes that Foo is also mentioned in extra_files:.
extension_specs: [
  category {
    // For Foo<#x>. Do not include the params here.
    name: Foo
    refines: [Bar<#x>]
    defines: [Baz<#x>]
  }
]

0.22.0.0 -- 2021-12-11

Libraries

[breaking] Revises basic input and output provided by lib/util:
- [breaking] Renames SimpleInput to BasicInput.
- [breaking] Renames SimpleOutput to BasicOutput.
- [breaking] Removes LazyStream. To construct and write output, there are a few options:
```
// Incrementally.
\ BasicOutput.stderr()
    .write(someValue)
    .write("\n")
    .flush()
```
```
// Preformatted.
\ BasicOutput.stderr().writeNow(String.builder()
    .append(someValue)
    .append("\n")
    .build())
```
[breaking] Renames SearchTree to SortedMap in lib/container.
[breaking] Renames TreeSet to SortedSet in lib/container.
[breaking] Vector changes (lib/container):
- [breaking] Replaces Vector:create<#x>() with Vector<#x>.new() for consistency with other @value construction.
- [breaking] Removes Vector:copyFrom since it was too specific.
[breaking] Removes set and remove from AutoBinaryTree, and adds the swap function, which can handle both set and remove operations.
[breaking] Removes void from Void in lib/util. Use Void.default() instead.
[new] New categories:
- [new] Adds the HashedMap and HashedSet containers to lib/container.
- [new] Adds CategoricalReader, RandomCategorical, and GenerateConstant to lib/math.
- [new] Adds FormattedH:try to lib/util for formatting values during debugging and logging.
- [new] Adds the LessThan2 @value interface to lib/util.
- [new] Adds the KVExchange, KeyOrder, and ValueOrder @value interfaces in lib/container for additional map operations.
[new] New functionality for existing categories:
- [new] Implements the new KVExchange, KeyOrder, and ValueOrder interfaces for SortedMap (previously SearchTree) in lib/container.
- [new] Adds copyTo and duplicateTo to OrderH and ReadAtH in lib/util for general container duplication.
- [new] Adds forwardOrder, reverseOrder, and iterateWith to ReadAtH in lib/util for iterating over ReadAt containers.
- [new] Implements Default for containers in lib/container and lib/math.
- [new] Implements Default, Duplicate, and Hashed for Void in lib/util.
- [new] Implements Sorting functions in lib/container that use the new LessThan2 interface.
- [new] Implements Append<Formatted> for BasicOutput (previously SimpleOutput) in lib/util.
- [new] Adds permuteFromWeight to Randomize in lib/math.
- [new] Adds probability to RandomUniform in lib/math.
- [new] Adds checkNotEquals to Testing in lib/testing.

Language

[breaking] Makes the Duplicate @value interface from lib/util a builtin and implements it for Bool, Char, Float, Int, and String.
[breaking] Adds the Hashed builtin @value interface and implements it for Bool, Char, Float, Int, and String.
[breaking] Replaces @value conversion for function calls (e.g., foo.Base.call() to choose call from Base) with general type conversions using value?Type syntax.
```
// Explicitly converts foo to Base.
\ foo?Base.call()
```
The primary use-case is still to convert a union or interesection value to a specific type to resolve an ambiguity in function selection. Conversions can also be used to influence type inference in function calls by changing the type of a passed argument.
```
// Convert the argument when using type inference.
\ call<?>(foo?[Container&ReadAt<#x>])
\ call<?>(foo?any)
```
This can also be used to convert the underlying types of optional and weak values, while still preserving the optional/weak storage modifier.
[fix] Fixes checking of defer in in blocks of scoped. Previously, a deferred variable was only marked as set if the cleanup set it, even if all paths through the in actually set it.
```
Int value <- defer
scoped {
  // ...
} in if (true) {
  value <- 1
} else {
  value <- 2
}
// Previously, value appeared to be unintialized here.
\ foo(value)
```

[fix] Fixes a bug in type checking of conversions to a parent @value interface when the refines contains #self.

concrete Foo {
  // Previously, there would have been an error converting Foo -> Bar<Foo>.
  refines Bar<#self>
}

[fix] Fixes bug in validation of internal @category functions with a param that has the same name as a category param, where the @category function has a filter that the category does not have.
[new] Allows present, require, strong, and reduce<#x,#y> builtin functions to have unary notation, e.g., y <- `require` x.
[new] Compiler now does more work attempting to resolve function calls for @values with union types. Previously, explicit type conversions were always required to make calls from unions.
[new] Allows requires and allows filters to use unions and intersections on the right side, e.g., #x allows [Foo&Bar].
[new] Allows defer to be used with @value and @category members. This is primarily because the restriction was somewhat arbitrary.
[new] Implements LessThan for Bool.

Compiler CLI

[fix] Makes PARAM_SELF work when used in @value implementations in C++ extensions.

0.21.0.0 -- 2021-11-19

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Combines params and args in function calls into a single object. This breaks all C++ extensions.
- Call_foo for function foo must now take const ParamsArgs& params_args as its only argument.
  - Access param n using params_args.GetParam(n).
  - Access arg n using params_args.GetArg(n).
- Function calls must group params and args with PassParamsArgs(params..., args...) rather than with ParamTuple(params...) and ArgTuple(args...).
- To directly pass the returns from another function call, use that function call in place of args..., e.g. PassParamsArgs(params..., TypeValue::Call(Var_foo, Function_Foo_bar, ...)).
- Value initialization should be changed to take ParamsArgs instead of ValueTuple, since the latter has been removed. (Alternatively, just pass a custom set of arguments.)
- ReturnTuple usage for returns remains unchanged.
[new] Updates dependency check to skip checking the modification times of $ModuleOnly$ .0rp source files when determining if the target module needs to be recompiled.
[new] Adds --clean mode to zeolite to clear cached data for a module.
[new] Allows specifying a root path with -p in special zeolite execution modes, e.g., --missed-lines.

Libraries

[breaking] Makes LinkedNode in lib/container weak in the reverse direction to avoid reference cycles.
[new] Adds Token to lib/math, for more efficient comparison of strings when used in algorithms.
[new] Gives Testing.checkEmpty in lib/testing a parameter to allow values that do not refine Formatted. (This is not breaking because of the new language feature that infers params by default.)
[new] Adds getAll to TypeMap in lib/container to read all values of a specified type.
[new] Adds checkTrue and checkFalse to Testing in lib/testing.

Language

[new] Makes param inference the default when no params are specified in a function call. For example, call<?>(foo) can now be call(foo).

[new] Adds syntax to select a single return value from a function that returns multiple values.

// Previous method:
scoped {
  Foo foo, _ <- call()
} in \ foo.bar()

// New method:
\ call(){0}.bar()

[new] Adds the $FlatCleanup[memberName]$ pragma to enable non-recursive cleanup for deeply-recursive types like linked lists.
[behavior] Removes all dynamic allocation when passing params and arguments in function calls.
[behavior] Improves efficiency of returning values from function calls.
[behavior] Improves efficiency of Bool, Char, Float, and Int values when used in function calls and containers.

0.20.0.1 -- 2021-11-14

Language

[fix] Fixes a regression where arguments ignored with _ were not skipped over when generating C++. For example, call (_,x) { ... } would result in x being assigned the value that should have been ignored.

0.20.0.0 -- 2021-11-13

Language

[breaking] Adds the immutable category property. This makes all @value members read-only, and requires their types to also be immutable. (This is breaking because immutable is now reserved.)
[breaking] Allows temporarily postponing variable initialization using the defer keyword. (This is breaking because defer is now reserved.)
[breaking] Adds compilation error if multiple functions match the name of a function used in a call. This can happen when multiple requires or defines types have a function with the same name.

[fix] Fixes merging of multiple functions with the same name inherited internally multiple times.

@value interface Base0 {
  call (Int) -> ()
}

@value interface Base1 {
  call (String) -> ()
}

concrete Type {}

define Type {
  refines Base0
  refines Base1

  // This was previously missed when checking for an explicit merge of call.
  @value call (Formatted) -> ()
  call (_) {}
}

[fix] Removes the types reserved word, which was previously used for internal types.
[fix] Fixes update calls in traverse. Previously, the update was not called for continue.
[new] Adds $DisableCoverage$ unittest pragma, to disable trace collection in --log-traces when the unittest is executed.
[new] Updates String.builder() to accept Formatted values, rather than just accepting String.
[new] Updates param inference to infer a param that is only used in filters for another param, if that other param occurs as a top-level argument.
```
// The caller can infer both #x and #y, even though there is no arg with #y.
@type call<#x,#y>
  #x requires Foo<#y>
(#x) -> ()
```
[behavior] Reduces memory size of Bool, Char, Float, Int, and references to all other value objects.
[behavior] Efficiency improvements for passing values in function calls.

[behavior] Skips calling get in traverse if the value is discarded.

// The _ suppresses the call to get() on the returned Order<Int> value.
traverse (Counter.zeroIndexed(100) -> _) {
  // ...
}

[behavior] Makes dispatching of function calls quite a bit more efficient.

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Updates caching of TypeInstance (i.e., @type) implementations in C++.
- The argument type for CreateType_Foo for extension Foo must now be a const &. For types with params, the InstanceCache should be made global and static.
- A new function void RemoveType_Foo taking the same params argument as the above must be added, which will be called when the TypeInstance is destructed. For types with params, call Remove on the InstanceCache. Otherwise, it can be a no-op {}.
(You can also just rerun in --templates mode and copy the updated Create and Remove functions.)

Example for concrete Foo<#x>:
```
static auto& Foo_instance_cache = *new InstanceCache<1, Type_Foo>([](const Params<1>::Type& params) {
    return S_get(new ExtType_Foo(CreateCategory_Foo(), params));
  });

S<const Type_Foo> CreateType_Foo(const Params<1>::Type& params) {
  return Foo_instance_cache.GetOrCreate(params);
}

void RemoveType_Foo(const Params<1>::Type& params) {
  Foo_instance_cache.Remove(params);
}
```
[breaking] Removes all passing of Param_self in C++ extensions. Use PARAM_SELF where Param_self was previously used, and delete the Param_self argument from function signatures. This breaks all existing extensions that have @type functions.
[breaking] Makes all references to TypeInstance const in C++, since Zeolite prohibits @type members in concrete categories.

All extensions with @type functions need to be updated:
- Make all Call_foo overrides const for @type functions.
- Update @value constructors to take S<const Type_Foo> instead of S<Type_Foo>.
- Update local params (e.g., Param_foo) to have type S<const TypeInstance>.
- Update CreateType_Foo to return S<const Type_Foo> instead of S<Type_Foo>.
[breaking] Removes AnonymousOrder C++ class, previously used for creating iterators for C++ extensions.
[new] Adds --show-traces mode to zeolite to output a list of possible trace contexts when --log-traces is used in -t mode.
[new] Adds --missed-lines mode to zeolite to output all code lines for a module that are not in a provided file that was created by --log-traces in -t mode.
[new] @value function implementations for immutable categories are marked as const in C++ extensions.
[new] Allows modules to have additional subdirectories, specified in .zeolite-module with the extra_paths: list section. This allows modules to separate .0rx and .0rt files from public .0rp files.

Libraries

[breaking] Removes iterators from lib/util (iterator.0rp) because they were awkward, inefficient, and had no current intended use-cases.
[breaking] Requires the key param in SearchTree and AutoBinaryTree in lib/container to be immutable.
[breaking] Requires the value param in TreeSet in lib/container to be immutable.
[breaking] Requires the value param in CategoricalTree in lib/math to be immutable.
[new] Adds the LinkedNode and ForwardNode linked-list types to lib/container, and adds the sortList, sortListWith, and reverseList functions to Sorting.

0.19.0.0 -- 2021-10-25

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Changes how BoxedValue is created for new TypeValue instances in C++ extensions. Rather than BoxedValue(new Foo(...)), you must now use BoxedValue::New<Foo>(...). This breaks all existing extensions that instantiate new values.
[breaking] Removes all passing of Var_self in C++ extensions. Use VAR_SELF where Var_self was previously used, and delete the Var_self argument from function signatures. This breaks all existing extensions.

Language

[fix] Fixes obscure memory leak in weak values, triggered by a very specific sequence of events between three threads. This leak was unlikely to affect any programs that did not specifically attempt to trigger it.
[new] Allows update blocks for traverse loops.

Libraries

[new] Adds SpinlockMutex to lib/util, for more efficient locking when lockouts are rare or extremely short.

0.18.1.0 -- 2021-10-19

Language

[fix] Fixes issue with explicit return discards skipping generation of function calls. Previously, _ <- foo() skipped generating the call to foo.

Libraries

[new] Adds RandomExponential, RandomGaussian, and RandomUniform to lib/math for generating random Float values.
[new] Adds Realtime.sleepSecondsPrecise function to allow sleeps that are more precise than the kernel's latency.
[new] Adds checkGreaterThan and checkLessThan to Testing in lib/testing.

0.18.0.0 -- 2021-08-01

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Creates a single shared library per Zeolite module, and uses dynamic linking as the default for binaries and testcases. --fast mode still uses static linking, and static linking can be enabled for a binary using the link_mode: field in .zeolite-module:
```
root: "../.."
path: "your/module"
private_deps: [
  "lib/util"
]
mode: binary {
  category: YourProgram
  function: run
  link_mode: static
}
```
[breaking] Eliminates dynamic memory allocation for Bool, Char, Float, and Int, including optional and weak variants. This improves the efficiency of code that makes a lot of function calls using those types.

Note that when used as variable types, those types already avoided dynamic allocation. This therefore only applies to passing them in function calls, and using them with optional and weak.

This breaks all existing C++ extensions:
- S<TypeValue> must be replaced with BoxedValue.
- Calls to S_get (only for ValueType) must be replaced with calls to the BoxedValue constructor.
- W<TypeValue> must be replaced with WeakValue.
- Calls to W_get must be replaced with calls to the WeakValue constructor.
- Calls to ->AsBool(), ->AsChar(), ->AsFloat(), ->AsInt(), ->AsCharBuffer(), and ->AsString() must now use . instead of ->.
- Present, Require, and Strong are now in BoxedValue:: instead of in TypeValue::.
(Running zeolite --templates again will provide the correct type signatures and local argument aliasing.)
[breaking] Updates zeolite -c (library mode) and zeolite -m (binary mode) to generate a new .zeolite-module and exit. Previously, both modes would create .zeolite-module and then attempt to compile it. The purpose of this change is to make users more aware that .zeolite-module can/should be edited, rather than attempting to generate a "correct" config entirely from CLI flags.
[new] Updates recompile mode (zeolite -r) to reorder modules explicitly specified in the command based on dependencies. For example, in the command zeolite -r foo bar, if foo depends on bar, bar will be compiled first. Previously, modules would be compiled in the order they were specified.

Note that this will not account for indirect dependencies unless recursive mode (-R) is used. This is because dealing with the intermediate dependency would be ambiguous when not recompiling recursively.
[behavior] Even more optimization for function calls using 4 or fewer arguments, returns, or function params.
[behavior] Updates the fail built-in to use SIGTERM instead of SIGABRT to terminate the process, to prevent core dumps when fail is used to signal an unhandled error.

Language

[breaking] Adds the Bounded @type interface for getting the minBound() and maxBound() of a type, and implements it for Int and Char. (This is breaking because Bounded is now reserved.)
[breaking] Makes Char unsigned when converting to Int using asInt(). Previously, the value was signed, i.e., between -128 and 127. This change makes the Int values line up better with hex and oct Char escapes. The conversion from Int to Char (with asChar()) is not affected.
[new] Updates param inference (e.g., call<?>(foo)) to handle param filters containing multiple inferred params. Previously, if a function had a filter such as #x requires #y and both #x and #y were inferred, inference would fail because params were inferred one at a time.
[new] Adds the timeout field to testcase, to specify the number of seconds to allow each unittest to run. The default is 30, which should be more than enough for most individual tests. The primary purpose of setting a default is to prevent a deadlock or infinite loop from blocking continuous integration (CI) runners.
[new] Updates parsing to allow calling functions on value intializers, and Bool, Char, and String literals without needing (). For example, Type{ foo }.bar(), true.asInt(), '0'.asInt(), "abc".defaultOrder(). Int and Float literals still require (); otherwise, the use of . would be ambiguous.

Libraries

[new] Adds ParseChars helper to lib/util, to parse Float and Int from Strings.
[new] Adds monoSeconds() to Realtime in lib/util, to get a monotonic wall time in seconds.

0.17.0.0 -- 2021-04-06

Language

[breaking] Adds CharBuffer, as a random-access, mutable Char buffer, and makes WriteAt a built-in type. (This is breaking because CharBuffer and WriteAt are now reserved.)
[fix] Fixes reduce<String,Container>, which previously failed.
[fix] Fixes a race condition in function dispatching that was thought to be fixed previously.
[behavior] Improves the memory efficiency of function calls that use 4 or fewer arguments, returns, or function params by reusing memory previously allocated for function calls.

Libraries

[new] Additions to lib/util:
- [new] Adds Ranges, for simple min/max determinations.
- [new] Adds revZeroIndexed to Counter, to create a reversed sequence of zero-indexed container indices.
- [new] Adds Reversed, BySize, and AlwaysEqual comparators, to modify LessThan and Equals behaviors for objects.
- [new] Adds OrderH and ReadAtH, to extend LessThan and Equals comparisons to simple containers.
[new] Additions to lib/container:
- [new] Adds Sorting, to support sorting of random-access containers.
- [new] Adds TreeSet, to manage set membership of any sortable type.
- [new] Adds AutoBinaryTree, to provide binary search tree (BST) functionality to custom containers that need to augment each node with additional data.
- [new] Implements Container.size() in SearchTree.
- [new] Adds KeyValueH, to extend LessThan and Equals comparisons to KeyValue.
[new] Adds CategoricalTree to lib/math, as a dynamic representation of a categorical distribution over objects of any sortable type.

0.16.1.0 -- 2021-04-02

Language

[fix] Fixes a regression where a race condition in function dispatching would cause an error saying that a category does not implement the function that was being called.
[behavior] Optimizes calls to @type functions when made from @value functions of the same type.
[behavior] Optimizes @value initialization (e.g., Type{ }) when done from @type functions of the same type.

Libraries

[new] Moves Mutex, SimpleMutex, and MutexLock from lib/thread to lib/util. This is because they provide basic concurrency protection to objects that should not need to depend on -lpthread.

Note that this change is not breaking because lib/util was already a public dependency of lib/thread. In other words, if a module already used lib/thread then it got lib/util for free. This means that modules only needing mutex functionality from lib/thread can instead use lib/util.
[new] Adds getForward and getReverse to SearchTree, to allow the caller to iterate after looking up an entry.
[new] Adds checkEmpty, checkPresent, and checkOptional to Testing in lib/testing.

0.16.0.0 -- 2021-04-01

Language

[breaking] Disallows param filters in @value interface and @type interface. Param filters are only used to allow procedures to call @type and @value functions. Previously, they were enforced in all situations where param substitution occurred, but this is no longer the case. (See further down in this list.)
[breaking] Removes support for internal type params for values. This was an obscure feature that was never documented and was only used in some integration tests that had not been touched in over 2 years. This breaks most hand-written C++ extensions, but they can be fixed by removing the ParamTuple argument passed to the base-class constructor in ExtValue_Foo for C++ extension Foo.
[breaking] Adds the traverse built-in syntax, which automatically iterates over a container that exposes the (new) Order<|#x> @value interface. (This is breaking because traverse, Order, and DefaultOrder are now reserved.)
```
traverse (container.defaultOrder() -> Foo value) {
  // executed once per Foo in the container
}
```
[breaking] Marks @category member variables as read-only when initializing other member variables. Essentially, this just means that you can no longer do something like this:
```
@category Int foo <- 1
@category Int bar <- (foo <- 2)
```
[new] Removes the requirement that type instances (e.g., Type<Int>) satisfy the requirements of the type's parameter filters when not being used in a function call.
```
concrete Type<|#x> {
  #x requires Foo
}
```
In the example above, Type<Bar> was universally disallowed if Bar could not be converted to Foo. The new behavior is to enforce that restriction only when calling @type functions, initializing values (e.g., Type<#x>{ }), and using the type as a param in a function call.

Since #x is covariant in this example, you could convert a Type<Bar> to a Type<any>, even though any is not a child of Foo.
[new] Removes variance checks for category-level param filters. Variance was originally not checked, but then the checks were added prior to version 0.1.0.0 for obscure mathematical reasons that no longer make sense.

In particular, filters such as #x defines Equals<#x> were not previously allowed except when #x was invariant, but now it is allowed for all variances.

The revised perspective is that param filters form a meta-type for param substitutions as inputs, with the constructed type as the output. Once the output is received, the input constraints are no longer recoverable.

Note that category-level param variance is still checked when params are used on the right side of filters for function params. This is because not doing so could result in bad argument and return types when inheriting functions.

Params also still cannot have both upper and lower bounds at the same time.
[new] When inferring type parameters for function calls (e.g., call<?>(foo)), allows all to be a valid lower bound and any to be a valid upper bound. Previously, an inferred type of all in covariant positions and any in contravariant positions would cause inference to fail.
[new] Allows $ReadOnly[...]$ and $Hidden[...]$ for member variables in definitions of concrete categories.
[new] Makes Argv available to all threads. Previously, it was only available to the main thread. (Even though Argv is exposed via lib/util, this change also affects C++ extensions that use Argv from logging.hpp.)
[fix] Fixes regression with function names used in stack traces. Previously, if a function was inherited and the types were not overridden, the category name in the trace would be that of the parent, rather than that of the one defining the procedure.

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Removes the default compiler mode when calling zeolite. The previous default was -c, which creates a new .zeolite-module for incremental library compilation. The default was removed because accidentally typing zeolite -f foo instead of zeolite -t foo would overwrite the .zeolite-module for foo rather than running its tests.
[breaking] Updates how $TraceCreation$ is implemented in C++. This only breaks hand-written C++ extensions that use the CAPTURE_CREATION macro, which now must pass a string-literal category name as a macro argument, e.g., CAPTURE_CREATION("Foo").
[new] Adds the --log-traces option for testing mode (zeolite -t) to capture a record of every line of Zeolite code executed when running tests.
[fix] Fixes dependency resolution for C++ extensions that define $ModuleOnly$ categories.
[behavior] Improves the efficiency of call dispatching and reduce calls for categories that inherit a lot of interfaces. This is unlikely to affect performance when a category has less than 10 direct or indirect parent interfaces.

Libraries

[new] Adds ThreadCondition to lib/thread, which allows threads to wait for an arbitrary condition signaled by another thread. (Similar to pthread_cond_t in POSIX.)
[new] Adds EnumeratedBarrier to lib/thread, which can be use to synchronize a fixed number of threads. (Similar to pthread_barrier_t in POSIX, but with strict validation to help prevent deadlocks.)
[new] Adds Realtime to lib/thread, to allow threads to sleep based on wall time.
[new] Adds Counter and Repeat to lib/util, to help create sequences for use with the new traverse built-in syntax.
[new] Implements forward and reverse iteration to SearchTree in lib/container.

Examples

Adds example/primes, as a demonstration of multithreading.

0.15.0.0 -- 2021-03-24

Language

[breaking] Splits Builder<#x> built-in into Append<#x|> and Build<|#x> to more accurately reflect its semantics.
[breaking] Splits ReadPosition<#x> built-in into ReadAt<|#x>, SubSequence, and Container to be more concise, and to split up reading from subsequencing. This also includes renaming readSize() to just size().
[new] Adds the Default @type interface, to specify a default @value for the type.
[fix] Fixes merging of duplicate inherited categories. Previously, if a category Foo was indirectly inherited multiple times then the compiler would complain about having multiple functions with the same name.
[fix] Adds support for ^ with the Bool built-in type.

Libraries

[breaking] Refactors iterators in lib/util:
- [breaking] Makes ReadIterator a @value interface.
- [breaking] Adds AutoReadIterator, AutoWriteIterator, and AutoIterator helpers to create iterators from ReadAt and WriteAt. (AutoReadIterator replaces the previous ReadIterator.)
- [new] Adds WriteAt, WriteCurrent, WriteIterator, and Iterator @value interfaces.
[new] Adds lib/container:
- [new] Vector, a random-access container.
- [new] SearchTree, a binary search tree.
- [new] TypeMap, a heterogeneous key-value map of different value types.
- [new] Various @value interfaces with container usage patterns.
[new] Adds lib/thread (must be built manually):
- [new] ProcessThread, a basic thread runner.
- [new] SimpleMutex and MutexLock, for basic mutex logic.
- [new] Various @value interfaces with thread usage patterns.

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Removes implicit dependence of C++ extensions on built-in categories Bool, Float, Char, Int, String, and Formatted. Extensions that use these categories without using them in the corresponding concrete declaration will need to add them to the requires: field of the category_source in .zeolite-module.
```
category_source {
  source: "Extension_MyType.cpp"
  categories: [MyType]
  requires: [String,Formatted]
}
```
[breaking] Cleans up TypeInstance caching for C++ extensions with parameters. See lib/container/src/Extension_Vector.cpp for an example of the new semantics, or use --templates to create a new template.

Examples

Removes example/tree. All of the corresponding code has been moved into lib/container.

0.14.0.0 -- 2021-03-19

Language

[breaking] Adds the #self meta-type. This is an implicit type param that is dynamically replaced with the type of the object a function is called on. For example, if a @value interface function has a return type of #self then any implementation must return an object of its own type from that function. (This is a breaking change because it reserves the param name #self.)

Libraries

[breaking] Removes the type parameters from IterateForward and IterateReverse in lib/util. This was made possible by the addition of the #self meta-type.

0.13.0.0 -- 2021-03-17

Language

[new] Adds pragmas for local variable rules:
- [new] $ReadOnly[foo]$ marks foo as read-only in the current context following the line with the pragma.
- [new] $Hidden[foo]$ hides foo in the current context following the line with the pragma.
[fix] Fixes a latent issue with the reduce built-in when converting an intersection type to a union type, when one or both sides contains another nested union or intersection. This was previously fixed for compile-time checks, but reduce was missed.

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Streamlines C++ extensions to cut down on boilerplate code. This is a massive change that breaks all existing C++ extensions; however, hand-written procedure definitions can be copied-and-pasted into a new extension template. Use zeolite --templates to regenerate new templates for C++ extensions.
[breaking] Adds microlens and microlens-th as dependencies, to help clean up the compiler code. This should not change the compiler's behavior.

0.12.0.0 -- 2020-12-11

Language

[breaking] Several more fixes for named returns:
- [new] Allows initialization of named returns in if/elif/while predicates. Although setting a named return in a predicate has always been allowed, it previously did not count as an initialization for the purposes of checking usage in subsequent statements.
- [breaking] Fixes a bug where named returns used in if/elif/while predicates inside of cleanup blocks were not getting checked for initialization. This turns a potential runtime error into a compile-time error, which could break buggy code that was never going to be executed.
- [fix] Fixes a bug where a named return with a primitive type was not getting set in an explicit return statement. This only affected code that used primitive named returns inside of a cleanup block where the corresponding in block used an explicit return statement.
```
@type call () -> (Int)
call () (x) {
  cleanup {
    \ foo(x)     // x was not getting set for this call
  } in return 1  // 1 was still returned from the function as expected
}
```
  This did not affect non-primitive types such as String and user-defined concrete and interface categories.
[breaking] Updates associativity of infix operators:
- [breaking] Makes infix Bool operators && and || right-associative. For example, x && y && z used to be parsed as (x && y) && z, whereas now it is parsed as x && (y && z). This better reflects the intuition of side-effects happening in order, with respect to short-circuiting. (No other operators currently short-circuit.)
- [breaking] Makes comparison operators (e.g., <=) non-associative. This means that expressions such as x < y == true will no longer compile. This is because an equivalent-looking expression true == x < y might have a different interpretation. (Note that order operators such as < are not defined for Bool, so something like x < y < z would have already failed previously.)
All other infix operators (including infix function calls such as x `Math.pow` y) remain left-associative.

Libraries

[new] Adds Math.abs for Int absolute value to lib/math.

0.11.0.0 -- 2020-12-09

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Switches from parsec to megaparsec for parsing, to allow for better structuring of compile-time error messages. This should not affect syntax acceptance, but it has additional transitive dependencies that might prevent installation of zeolite.

Language

[breaking] Several cleanup fixes:
- [fix] Fixes a bug in cleanup that caused the scoped block to be prepended to it when it was inlined in the in block.
- [fix] Fixes a bug where cleanup might use an uninitialized named return when inlined at a break or continue statement in a while loop. Such situations will now cause a compilation error. Previously, this could have allowed an uninitialized value to be passed around, which would only be noticed with a Function called on null value failure at some point.
- [fix] Fixes inlining of cleanup blocks when continue is used inside of the in block. Previously, cleanup was skipped when continue was used inside of the respective in block.
- [breaking] Disallows explicit break and continue inside of cleanup blocks. Previously this was allowed (but return wasn't), which led to ambiguity when the in block contained a return.
- [new] Allows cleanup to refer to variables created at the top level of the in block.
```
cleanup {
  \ foo(bar)                    // bar is created below
} in Type bar <- Type.create()  // cleanup is inlined after this
```

0.10.0.0 -- 2020-12-05

Language

[breaking] Major changes to .0rt syntax:
- [breaking] Removes the expression argument from success and crash testcase types. Use one or more unittest (see next point) instead.
- [new] Adds unittest keyword to allow the user to define multiple tests within a single success testcase.
```
testcase "simple tests" {
  success
}

unittest checkInvariant1 {
  // this is a regular procedure with no return
}

unittest checkInvariant2 {
  // this is a regular procedure with no return
}
```
  This allows multiple tests to use the same setup, while still being able to track multiple test failures. error and crash testcase types are still available.
- [breaking] Allows testcase to statically set Argv (see lib/util) using the args keyword. By default, only the program name is set. Previously, Argv used whatever was passed to the test binary.
```
testcase "with static Argv" {
  success
  args "arg1" "arg2"
}

unittest test {
  // something that requires Argv.global()
}
```
  Note that this isn't a library change; this also affects C++ extensions that use Argv from base/logging.hpp.
- [new] Adds compiles mode for testcase. This is like success except nothing is executed. (success requires at least one unittest, whereas compiles will not execute anything even if unittest are present.)

Libraries

[new] Adds the lib/testing library with basic helpers for unit tests.

Compiler CLI

[new] Updates parsing of .zeolite-module to allow any ordering of the fields. Previously, the fields needed to be in a very specific order.
[fix] Adds compile-time protection against self-referential expression macros defined in expression_map: in .zeolite-module. Previously, the result was infinite recursion that could exhaust system resources.
[breaking] Adds an error when root/path in .zeolite-module differs from the location of the respective .zeolite-module. This is to catch both typos (e.g., copy-and-paste errors) and ambiguities.

0.9.0.0 -- 2020-11-23

Compiler CLI

[breaking] Major changes to C++ extensions:
- [breaking] Corrects hole in $ModuleOnly$ visibility in C++ extensions. Previously, C++ extensions could directly access categories defined in $ModuleOnly$ sources in dependencies.
- [breaking] Randomizes cache paths and namespaces for generated C++ code so that C++ extensions cannot use static #include paths to circumvent the visibility rules of a dependency.
- [breaking] Makes TypeInstances shared in generated C++ and in C++ extensions, to allow for better memory management of @types in the future.
- [breaking] Adds guards to C++ headers for $TestsOnly$ categories, to prevent them from being used in non- $TestsOnly$ C++ extensions.
[fix] Fixes regression where calling zeolite with -p would overwrite an existing .zeolite-module.

Language

[breaking] Syntax changes:
- [breaking] Changes the syntax for calling @category functions from $$ to :, e.g., Foo:create() instead of Foo$$create(). A new error message (to be removed later) will remind the user to stop using $$.
- [breaking] Changes the syntax for calling @type functions from $ to ., e.g., Foo.create() instead of Foo$create(). A new error message (to be removed later) will remind the user to stop using $.
[breaking] Changes to param usage:
- [breaking] Updates param inference to be more accurate. The new algorithm will infer a param type iff the best choice is unambiguous given the expected and actual function arguments.
- [breaking] Disallows bounding a single param both above and below, e.g., having both #x requires Foo and #x allows Bar. This is primarily to prevent cycles and contradictions in the type system.
  
  Previously, the best case for such restrictions was that there are extremely few choices for #x, and the worst case was that it implies Bar converts to Foo when it isn't true, thus making #x unusable. Having either of those requirements likely indicates a design flaw.
[breaking] Prohibits having a $TestsOnly$ definition for a non- $TestsOnly$ category. Previously, a concrete category declared in a non- $TestsOnly$ .0rp could be defined in a $TestsOnly$ .0rx, which creates a loophole that allows binaries to utilize $TestsOnly$ code.
[fix] Fixes a latent type-checking bug that could occur when attempting to assign a value with an intersection type to a variable with a union type, if one or both types has another nested type, e.g., [A&B]→[[A&B]|C] or [[A|B]&C]→[A|B]. This change shouldn't cause new type-checking failures.

Libraries

[fix] Implements subSequence for Argv in lib/util. This is required by ReadPosition but was forgotten. Calling it prior to this would cause a failure.

0.8.0.0 -- 2020-08-07

Language

[breaking] Makes the semantics of cleanup more consistent:
- [breaking] Disallows statements that modify return values within cleanup blocks, i.e., return with values and assigning named returns.
- [new] Allows cleanup to access named returns that are initialized within the corresponding in statement. Previously, access required initialization before the in statement.
- [new] An explicit positional return (e.g., return 1, 2) will assign the values to the respective named returns, if applicable. This will make the actual return values available within cleanup.
```
@type get () -> (Int)
get () (foo) {   // foo is the name of the return variable
  cleanup {
    \ bar(foo)   // foo has been initialized by the time this is called
  } in return 1  // 1 is assigned to foo here
}
```
- [fix] Adds unwinding of cleanup blocks when used with break and continue, respecting loop boundaries. Previously, cleanup was ignored.
[breaking] Skips compilation of unreachable statements. The target use-case is temporary changes to code that circumvent parts of a procedure, e.g., an early return for the purposes of debugging.
[breaking] Marks statements following break and continue as unreachable.

Compiler CLI

[behavior] Adds a compiler warning for public_deps that are not required by public .0rp sources within the same module, since they are potentially just cluttering the public namespace of the module.

0.7.1.0 -- 2020-07-13

Language

[new] Adds the $SourceContext$ macro, which inserts a String with info about source file and code location.
[fix] Adds context to error messages related to inherited functions that have not been overridden.

0.7.0.2 -- 2020-05-21

Language

[fix] Improves the likelihood of successful type inference when unions, intersections, or filters are combined with inheritance and type nesting.

0.7.0.1 -- 2020-05-20

Language

[fix] Fixes an edge-case where type-inference can be influenced by a param filter for a param with the same name in the scope that is calling the function. (For example, having #x requires Foo in scope while calling a function that also happens to have a param named #x.)
[fix] Fixes an edge-case where parameter substitution at the type level can clash with a type parameter scoped to a function. (Related to the above, but actually a separate issue discovered while solving the former.)
[behavior] Shows inferred-type assignments in error messages related to expressions containing inferred types.

0.7.0.0 -- 2020-05-19

Language

[new] Adds limited inference of type parameters in function calls. The new syntax is call<?,Int>(foo,bar), where ? designates that inference is requested for the first position.
[behavior] Reduces the memory cost of $TraceCreation$ by avoiding storing the entire trace text.

Compiler CLI

[behavior] Improves handling of I/O errors when calling zeolite, and allows compilation to continue in -r/-R modes if compilation of one module fails.

0.6.0.0 -- 2020-05-14

Compiler CLI

[behavior] Improves error messages for type mismatches and return-count mismatches.
[behavior] Improves the efficiency of loading metadata for dependencies.
[breaking] Fixes module-staleness check when running tests (-t).
[breaking] Prevents binaries from being created from main categories that are defined in $TestsOnly$ sources. (This was the original intention, but it was missed the first time around.)

Language

[new] Allows @category members in concrete categories to refer to each other during initialization.
[new] Adds the $ExprLookup[MACRO_NAME]$ pragma, which allows the user to define expression substitutions in .zeolite-module.
[new] Adds the $NoTrace$ pragma, which skips generating stack-trace information for specific functions. This is useful for deeply-recursive functions whose full trace would not be useful.
[new] Adds the $TraceCreation$ pragma, which appends a trace for the creation of a value when there is a crash in one of its functions. This is useful when the crash stems from value initialization.
[fix] Fixes parsing of the '"' Char-literal.

Libraries

[new] Adds the ErrorOr<#x> category to lib/util. This allows functions to return either the expected type or an error message.
[new] Adds the Void category to lib/util. This can be used to ignore type parameters when a value still needs to be instantiated.
[new] Adds the readAll function to TextReader (in lib/util) to support reading an entire file at once.
[breaking] Adds crashes when attempting to read RawFileReader or write RawFileWriter if there is a preexisting file error.

0.5.0.0 -- 2020-05-12

[new] Adds compiler support for pragmas, which will allow compiler features that aren't a part of the language:
- [new] $ModuleOnly$ pragma for .0rp files, which limits their visibility to the modules that own them.
- [new] $TestsOnly$ pragma for .0rp files, which limits their visibility to .0rt files, and .0rx files that also use $TestsOnly$ .
[new] Adds support for global seach paths for dependencies via a plain-text file at $(zeolite --get-path)/global-paths. This can be used to set up a separate directory for general-use Zeolite modules.
[breaking] Better handling of symbols from dependencies. This might break code that inavertently relied on broken visibility. In particular, .. in a dependency path precludes it from resolving to a system module.

0.4.1.0 -- 2020-05-05

[new] Adds a compiler mode (--show-deps) to display the symbolic dependencies of a module.
[new] Adds a compiler mode (--fast) to quickly compile a binary from a single source file without needing to create a module.
[new] Adds a compiler mode (-R) to recursively recompile modules.
[new] Improves thread-safety of internal code so that thread support can be safely added later. (Probably via a library.)
[new] Adds the Builder interface to make String concatenation more efficient.
[new] Adds support for basic mathematical Float operations, such as sin, exp, and sqrt.
[new] Adds support for bitwise Int operations.
[fix] Fixes broken --templates mode when builtin types are used.

0.4.0.0 -- 2020-05-05

[new] Allows modules to specify custom linker flags and private include paths in .zeolite-module. This lets categories written in C++ depend on external libraries written in other languages.
[behavior] Adds optimization of dependency inclusion for categories that are defined in C++ sources. This should eliminate linking in object files that are not needed by the binary.
[behavior] Adds checks to prevent a module from defining a category that was declared in another module.
[breaking] Updates the .zeolite-module format to require associating externally-defined categories with the source files that define them. This allows finer-grained linking of binaries and tests.

0.3.0.0 -- 2020-05-03

[breaking] Updates syntax for discarding all returns to use \ instead of ~. This will allow ~ to be used for bitwise-not later on. (Not to mention that ~ was kind of ugly in that context.)
[breaking] Cleans up multiple-return syntax by removing {}. This applies to both the return and the assignment.

0.2.0.0 -- 2020-05-03

[breaking] Requires that concrete categories defined in .cpp files be listed as external in .zeolite-module. This allows the compiler to ensure that all categories have a definition, which helps avoid linker errors.
[breaking] Gives .zeolite-module configs a proper file format.
[new] Adds version checking to cached module data.

0.1.3.0 -- 2020-05-01

[new] Adds support for more versions of GHC.

0.1.2.0 -- 2020-04-28

[fix] Fixes a parser issue with empty {} blocks following scoped.
[behavior] Updates cleanup procedures to allow setting named-return values. Previously, initializing a named return in cleanup was not sufficient.
[behavior] Updates zeolite-setup to unconditionally rebuild supporting libraries. Incidentally, this causes all existing user modules to be out of date.

0.1.1.0 -- 2020-04-27

[behavior] Set the default output path for binaries to the module's path rather than the current directory.
[new] Allows a base path (-p) with recompile mode (-r).

0.1.0.0 -- 2020-04-27

First version. Released on an unsuspecting world.