On Mar 7, 2007, at 5:10 AM, Xavier Leroy wrote:

> Hello,
>
> The long-awaited release 3.10 of Objective Caml is making good
> progress and is now ready for beta-testing.  A source-only
> beta distribution can be downloaded from
>
>     http://caml.inria.fr/pub/distrib/ocaml-3.10/ocaml-3.10.0 
> +beta.tar.gz
>
> We would be grateful if some of you could compile it, give it a
> good workout on your favorite Caml programs, and report any problems
> you might encounter via the Caml bug tracker.
>
> The main novelties in 3.10 are:
>
> - A new tool: ocamlbuild, a compilation manager for OCaml projects.
> - Much work on Camlp4, including a new API.
> - A long-awaited feature: stack backtraces on uncaught exceptions
>   that work for native-code as well as for bytecode.
> - Two new 64-bit ports: to Windows 64/AMD64 and MacOS X/PowerPC 64.
>
> Other changes are listed below.
>
> The documentation is not up to date yet, but some preliminary
> documentation on ocamlbuild and the new Camlp4 can be found on
> Nicolas Pouillard's Web page, http://gallium.inria.fr/~pouillar/
>
> Enjoy,
>
> - Xavier Leroy, for the Caml development team
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Objective Caml 3.10.0:
> ----------------------
>
> (Changes that can break existing programs are marked with a "*"  )
>
> Language features:
> - Added virtual instance variables in classes "val virtual v : t"
> * Changed the behaviour of instance variable overriding; the new
>   definition replaces the old one, rather than creating a new
>   variable.
>
> New tools:
> - ocamlbuild: compilation manager for OCaml applications and  
> libraries.
>   See draft documentation at http://gallium.inria.fr/~pouillar/
> * Camlp4: heavily revised implementation, new API.
>
> New ports:
> - MacOS X PowerPC 64 bits.
> - MS Windows 64 bits (x64) using the Microsoft PSDK toolchain.
> - MS Windows 32 bits using the Visual Studio 2005 toolchain.
>
> Compilers:
> - Faster type-checking of functor applications.
> - Referencing an interface compiled with -rectypes from a module
>     not compiled with -rectypes is now an error.
> - Revised the "fragile matching" warning.
>
> Native-code compiler:
> - Print a stack backtrace on an uncaught exception.
>   (Compile and link with ocamlopt -g; execute with OCAMLRUNPARAM=b.)
>   Supported on Intel/AMD in 32 and 64 bits, PPC in 32 and 64 bits.
> - Stack overflow detection on MS Windows 32 bits (courtesy O.  
> Andrieu).
> - Stack overflow detection on MacOS X PPC and Intel.
> - Intel/AMD 64 bits: generate position-independent code by default.
> - Fixed bug involving -for-pack and missing .cmx files (PR#4124).
> - Fixed bug causing duplication of literals  (PR#4152).
>
> Run-time system:
> - C/Caml interface functions take "char const *" arguments
>   instead of "char *" when appropriate.
> - Faster string comparisons (fast case if strings are ==).
>
> Standard library:
> - Refined typing of format strings (type format6).
> - Printf, Format: new function ifprintf that consumes its arguments
>     and prints nothing (useful to print conditionally).
> - Scanf:
>     new function format_from_string to convert a string to a format  
> string;
>     new %r conversion to accomodate user defined scanners.
> - Filename: improved Win32 implementation of Filename.quote.
> - List: List.nth now tail-recursive.
> - Sys: added Sys.is_directory.  Some functions (e.g. Sys.command) that
>     could incorrectly raise Sys_io_blocked now raise Sys_error as  
> intended.
>
> Other libraries:
> - Bigarray: mmap_file takes an optional argument specifying
>     the start position of the data in the mapped file.
> - Dynlink: now defines only two modules, Dynlink and Dynlinkaux  
> (internal),
>     reducing risks of name conflicts with user modules.
> - Labltk under Win32: now uses Tcl/Tk 8.4 instead of 8.3 by default.
> - VM threads: improved performance of I/O operations (less polling).
> - Unix: new function Unix.isatty.
> - Unix emulation under Win32:
>     fixed incorrect error reporting in several functions (PR#4097);
>     better handling of channels opened on sockets (PR#4098);
>     fixed GC bug in Unix.system (PR#4112).
>
> Documentation generator (OCamldoc):
> - correctly handle '?' in value names (PR#4215)
> - new option -hide-warnings not to print ocamldoc warnings
>
> Lexer generator (ocamllex): improved error reporting.
>
> License: fixed a typo in the "special exception" to the LGPL.
>
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