Re: [TCLCORE] Tcl 9.0.0 RELEASED

[Torsten B. <be...@ty...>]

Hi,

wow, what an achievement! I am deeply grateful and thank all people having been involved in this marvelous major update of Tcl!

Nearly four years after the first alpha version of Tcl 9, and after a long journey with three alpha and three beta versions, Tcl is now ready for a bright future!

Spread the news!


Best wishes, Torsten

> Am 26.09.2024 um 20:20 schrieb Donald G Porter via Tcl-Core <tcl...@li...>:
> 
> 
> Tcl 9.0.0 Release Announcement
> ==============================
> 
> September 26, 2024
> 
> The Tcl Core Team is pleased to announce the release of Tcl 9.0.0.
> This is the first stable release of Tcl 9.0.  This should replace all
> prior alpha or beta releases.
> 
> Tcl is the Tool Command Language originated by John Ousterhout and his
> team at U.C. Berkeley in the late 1980s.  Its development is continued
> by the efforts of a global network of volunteers guided by the Tcl Core Team.
> 
> We would like to express our gratitude to all those who submit bug
> reports and patches.  This information is invaluable in enabling us
> to identify and eliminate problems. Such reports can be submitted here.
> 
> > [Tcl Ticket Tracker](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/ticket)
> 
> We ask that you log in (anonymous if you wish) to create tickets.
> This deters abuse of the ticketing system:
> 
> > [Tcl Contributor Login](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/login)
> 
> Where to get the new releases
> =============================
> 
> Tcl 9.0.0 sources are freely available as open source from the Tcl
> SourceForge project's file distribution area:
> 
> > [Tcl Source Distribution](https://sourceforge.net/projects/tcl/files/)
> 
> The Tcl 9.0.0 distribution is source code only.  We keep links to some
> third parties offering pre-built binaries for various systems here:
> 
> > [Tcl Binary Distribution](https://www.tcl-lang.org/software/tcltk/bindist.html)
> 
> Tcl Summary
> ===========
> 
> The Tcl distribution delivers C source code that builds into a C library
> providing interpreters and related supports to execute programs written
> in the Tcl programming language.  Source code for the application program
> `tclsh` is also included.  `tclsh` provides a shell for either interactive
> execution of Tcl commands, or execution of files containing Tcl programs.
> 
> Tcl is an extensible language, and the Tcl C library provides interfaces
> for the creation of extension libraries adding new commands and features
> to the core Tcl command set.  Tcl 9 debuts the full feature set needed to
> package an application written in C and Tcl into a single file executable
> exploiting virtual filesystem archives.
> 
> Tcl 9 Release Summary
> =====================
> 
> This is a new major version of Tcl.  When compared with the prior release
> Tcl 8.6, there are new features to be enjoyed.  There are incompatibilities
> to be considered.  A summary of the most noteworthy changes is found below.
> 
> We believe many Tcl programs written for Tcl 8 will run unchanged in Tcl 9.
> We believe many more Tcl programs can be modified in small and simple ways
> to produce a new program that runs in both Tcl 8 and Tcl 9.  We expect that
> extensions and applications using Tcl's public C APIs will involve more
> effort, but that it is still within reasonable reach to produce source code
> supporting both Tcl 8 and Tcl 9 while both releases remain in widespread use.
> 
> The experiences of Tcl 8 users adapting their code to Tcl 9 will determine
> the need for possible Tcl 8.7 releases that might supply additional lifecycle
> and migration support.  Please use the Ticket Tracker to share your experiences
> and difficulties.
> 
> See the following links for an accumulation of migration advice:
> 
> [Migrating C extensions to Tcl 9]
> (https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/wiki?name=Migrating+C+extensions+to+Tcl+9)
> 
> [Migrating scripts to Tcl 9]
> (https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/wiki?name=Migrating+scripts+to+Tcl+9)
> 
> There has been much progress already porting many known applications,
> extensions, and packages in the Tcl world to compatibility with Tcl/Tk 9:
> 
> [Apps confirmed to work with Tcl 9]
> (https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Apps+confirmed+to+work+with+Tcl+9)
> 
> [Porting extensions to Tcl 9]
> (https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/page/Porting+extensions+to+Tcl+9)
> 
> Tcl Improvement Proposals (TIPs)
> ================================
> 
> Each new user-visible feature in Tcl should find its origins in a Tcl
> Improvement Proposal (TIP).  TIPs are published, edited, considered and
> voted in public, and should contain valuable information about how a
> feature came to be the way it is.  See the full collection here:
> 
> > [TIP Index](https://tip.tcl-lang.org/)
> 
> Tcl Changes Summary
> ===================
> 
> (from changes.md in the source code distribution)
> 
> The source code for Tcl is managed by fossil.  Tcl developers coordinate all
> changes to the Tcl source code at
> 
> > [Tcl Source Code](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/timeline)
> 
> Release Tcl 9.0.0 arises from the check-in with tag `core-9-0-0`.
> 
> Highlighted differences between Tcl 9.0 and Tcl 8.6 are summarized below,
> with focus on changes important to programmers using the Tcl library and
> writing Tcl scripts.
> 
> # Major Features
> 
> ## 64-bit capacity: Data values larger than 2 GB
>  - Strings can be any length (that fits in your available memory)
>  - Lists and dictionaries can have very large numbers of elements
> 
> ## Internationalization of text
>  - Full Unicode range of codepoints
>  - New encodings: `utf-16`/`utf-32`/`ucs-2`(`le`|`be`), `CESU-8`, etc.
>  - `encoding` options `-profile`, `-failindex` manage encoding of I/O.
>  - `msgcat` supports custom locale search list
>  - `source` defaults to `-encoding utf-8`
> 
> ## Zip filesystems and attached archives
>  - Packaging of the Tcl script library with the Tcl binary library,
>    meaning that the `TCL_LIBRARY` environment variable is usually not required.
>  - Packaging of an application into a virtual filesystem is now a supported
>    core Tcl feature.
> 
> ## Unix notifiers available using `epoll()` or `kqueue()`
>  - This relieves limits on file descriptors imposed by legacy `select()` and fixes a performance bottleneck.
> 
> # Incompatibilities
> 
> ## Notable incompatibilities
>  - Unqualified varnames resolved in current namespace, not global.
>    Note that in almost all cases where this causes a change, the change is actually the removal of a latent bug.
>  - No `--disable-threads` build option.  Always thread-enabled.
>  - I/O malencoding default response: raise error (`-profile strict`)
>  - Windows platform needs Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 or later
>  - Ended interpretation of `~` as home directory in pathnames.
>    (See `file home` and `file tildeexpand` for replacements when you need them.)
>  - Removed the `identity` encoding.
>    (There were only ever very few valid use cases for this; almost all uses
>    were systematically wrong.)
>  - Removed the encoding alias `binary` to `iso8859-1`.
>  - `$::tcl_precision` no longer controls string generation of doubles.
>    (If you need a particular precision, use `format`.)
>  - Removed pre-Tcl 8 legacies: `case`, `puts` and `read` variant syntaxes.
>  - Removed subcommands [`trace variable`|`vdelete`|`vinfo`]
>  - Removed `-eofchar` option for write channels.
>  - On Windows 10+ (Version 1903 or higher), system encoding is always utf-8.
>  - `%b`/`%d`/`%o`/`%x` format modifiers (without size modifier) for `format`
>    and `scan` always truncate to 32-bits on all platforms.
>  - `%L` size modifier for `scan` no longer truncates to 64-bit.
>  - Removed command `::tcl::unsupported::inject`.
>    (See `coroinject` and `coroprobe` for supported commands with significantly
>    more comprehensible semantics.)
> 
> ## Incompatibilities in C public interface
>  - Extensions built against Tcl 8.6 and before will not work with Tcl 9.0;
>    ABI compatibility was a non-goal for 9.0.  In _most_ cases, rebuilding
>    against Tcl 9.0 should work except when a removed API function is used.
>  - Many arguments expanded type from `int` to `Tcl_Size`, a signed integer type
>    large enough to support 64-bit sized memory objects.
>    The constant `TCL_AUTO_LENGTH` is a value of that type that indicates that
>    the length should be obtained using an appropriate function (typically `strlen()` for `char *` values).
>  - Ended support for `Tcl_ChannelTypeVersion` less than 5
>  - Introduced versioning of the `Tcl_ObjType` struct
>  - Removed macros `CONST*`: Tcl 9 support means dropping Tcl 8.3 support.
>    (Replaced with standard C `const` keyword going forward.)
>  - Removed registration of several `Tcl_ObjType`s.
>  - Removed API functions:
>     - `Tcl_Backslash()`
>     - `Tcl_*VA()`
>     - `Tcl_*MathFunc*()`
>     - `Tcl_MakeSafe()`
>     - `Tcl_(Save|Restore|Discard|Free)Result()`
>     - `Tcl_EvalTokens()`
>     - `Tcl_(Get|Set)DefaultEncodingDir()`
>     - `Tcl_UniCharN(case)cmp()`
>     - `Tcl_UniCharCaseMatch()`
>  - Revised many internals; beware reliance on undocumented behaviors.
> 
> # New Features
> 
> ## New commands
>  - `array default` — Specify default values for arrays (note that this alters the behaviour of `append`, `incr`, `lappend`).
>  - `array for` — Cheap iteration over an array's contents.
>  - `chan isbinary` — Test if a channel is configured to work with binary data.
>  - `coroinject`, `coroprobe` — Interact with paused coroutines.
>  - `clock add weekdays` — Clock arithmetic with week days.
>  - `const`, `info const*` — Commands for defining constants (variables that can't be modified).
>  - `dict getwithdefault` — Define a fallback value to use when `dict get` would otherwise fail.
>  - `file home` — Get the user home directory.
>  - `file tempdir` — Create a temporary directory.
>  - `file tildeexpand` — Expand a file path containing a `~`.
>  - `info commandtype` — Introspection for the kinds of commands.
>  - `ledit` — Equivalent to `lreplace` but on a list in a variable.
>  - `lpop` — Remove an item from a list in a variable.
>  - `lremove` — Remove a sublist from a list in a variable.
>  - `lseq` — Generate a list of numbers in a sequence.
>  - `package files` — Describe the contents of a package.
>  - `string insert` — Insert a string as a substring of another string.
>  - `string is dict` — Test whether a string is a dictionary.
>  - `tcl::process` — Commands for working with subprocesses.
>  - `*::build-info` — Obtain information about the build of Tcl.
>  - `readFile`, `writeFile`, `foreachLine` — Simple procedures for basic working with files.
>  - `tcl::idna::*` — Commands for working with encoded DNS names.
> 
> ## New command options
>  - `chan configure ... -inputmode ...` — Support for raw terminal input and reading passwords.
>  - `clock scan ... -validate ...`
>  - `info loaded ... ?prefix?`
>  - `lsearch ... -stride ...` — Search a list by groups of items.
>  - `regsub ... -command ...` — Generate the replacement for a regular expression by calling a command.
>  - `socket ... -nodelay ... -keepalive ...`
>  - `vwait` controlled by several new options
>  - `expr` string comparators `lt`, `gt`, `le`, `ge`
>  - `expr` supports comments inside expressions
> 
> ## Numbers
>  - <code>0<i>NNN</i></code> format is no longer octal interpretation. Use <code>0o<i>NNN</i></code>.
>  - <code>0d<i>NNNN</i></code> format to compel decimal interpretation.
>  - <code>NN_NNN_NNN</code>, underscores in numbers for optional readability
>  - Functions: `isinf()`, `isnan()`, `isnormal()`, `issubnormal()`, `isunordered()`
>  - Command: `fpclassify`
>  - Function `int()` no longer truncates to word size
> 
> ## TclOO facilities
>  - private variables and methods
>  - class variables and methods
>  - abstract and singleton classes
>  - configurable properties
>  - `method -export`, `method -unexport`
> 
> # Known bugs
>  - [changed behaviour wrt command names, namespaces and resolution](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/tktview/f14b33)
>  - [windows dos device paths inconsistencies and missing functionality](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/tktview/d8f121)
>  - [zlib-8.8, zlib-8.16 fail on Fedora 40, gcc 14.1.1](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/tktview/73d5cb)
>  - [Temporary folder with file "tcl9registry13.dll" remains after "exit"](https://core.tcl-lang.org/tcl/tktview/6ce3c0)
> 
> For additional information:
> ===========================
> 
> Please visit the Tcl Developer Xchange web site:
> 
> > [Tcl Developer Xchange](https://www.tcl-lang.org/)
> 
> This site contains a variety of information about Tcl/Tk in general, the
> core Tcl and Tk distributions, Tcl development tools, and much more.
> 
> --
> Tcl Core Team and Maintainers
> Don Porter, Tcl Core Release Manager
> 
> -- 
> | Don Porter            Applied and Computational Mathematics Division |
> | don...@ni...             Information Technology Laboratory |
> | http://math.nist.gov/~DPorter/                                  NIST |
> |______________________________________________________________________|
> 
> 
> 
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