FPC 2.6.0 released

                        Free Pascal Compiler

                            Version 2.6.0

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                          What's New in 2.6.0

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Free Pascal 2.6.0 is a new major version of the Free Pascal compiler.

Please also see http://wiki.freepascal.org/User_Changes_2.6.0 for a list
of changes that may affect the behaviour of previously working code, and
how to cope with these changes.

Some highlights are:

Platforms:

• iPhoneSimulator target

Compiler:

• Many new language features:
  • Objective-Pascal dialect, supported on all Mac OS X and iOS targets
  • constref parameter modifier for "const by reference"
  • Pascal boolean types with multiple sizes (boolean16/32/64)
  • ISO 7185 language mode (except for I/O). Features amongst others:
    • nested procedure variables
    • non-local goto's
  • Mac Pascal mode improvements
    • nested procedure variables
    • univ modifier
  • Intrinsics
    • sar (shift arithmetic right)
    • bsf/bsr (bitscan forward/reverse)
  • Delphi compatibility mode improvements
    • Nested types, class variables and class local constants
    • Advanced records syntax (no constructors yet)
    • (for..in) Enumerators in records
    • Class and record helpers
    • Generic records, arrays and procedural types
    • Delphi-compatibility of generics improved
    • Scoped enumerations
    • Custom messages for "deprecated" directive
    • Ability to use "&" for escaping keywords
• New ARM code generator features
  • ARM VFPv2 and VFPv3 floating point unit support
  • Thumb-2 support

Packages:

• Many improvements to the rtl
• Many improvements to the database units (fcl-db)
• Objective-Pascal interfaces to Foundation, AppKit, CoreData and WebCore
• OpenGL headers updated to OpenGL 4.0

Details about these new features can be found at
http://wiki.freepascal.org/FPC_New_Features_2.6.0

See http://bugs.freepascal.org/changelog_page.php for the list of reported
bugs that have been fixed in this release.