Beta 0.0.5 Released!

[mertcandav]

Beta 0.0.5 Release

Warning
This is a later update. Beta 0.0.5 may have major bugs. It has been observed that it generates code in a way that may cause problems with binary eval. Use IR distributions for the latest and most stable version.

With beta 0.0.5 the compiler receives significant improvements and optimizations. A significant gain in memory usage and compilation time was observed. In addition, the compiler receives typical bug fixes.

The compiler's code generation has been improved and can make a significant performance difference for executables in existing codes. It is very possible that your old standard libraries and codes are incompatible with Jule Beta 0.0.5.

As a beta release, we are releasing this without any issues left unresolved, just like we did with Beta 0.0.4. All known issues have been resolved. Of course, since it is a beta release, there are still possible problems. However, we expect this release to be more stable compared to older versions.

Featured Improvements

Disable Shadowing by Default

One of the important changes that may cause your old codes to stop working is that shadowing is turned off by default. We've configured this as optional, so you can tell your compiler to enable shadowing with the newly added --shadowing flag.

Ternary Operator

The classic ternary operator is now supported in Jule. It cannot be said that it is a new syntax. Just use if-else syntax. Ternary operator is included in constant eval optimization whenever possible. In this way, you can get a wider chance of constant eval optimization.

See manual for more information.

For example:

const RATE = 60

fn rate_delta(): int {
    const r = if RATE >= 50 { 1000 } else { 100 }
    ret r + 20
}

Static Constant Fields for Structures

Structures can now have constant fields that are statically accessible. This gives you a more structured code structure. Of course, as with other constant variables, there is no real variable involved. Constant fields are not actual variables contained in structures and are evaluated at compile-time.

See manual for more information.

For example:

struct Number {}

impl Number {
    const PI = 3.14159
    const E  = 2.71828
}

fn main() {
    outln(Number.PI)
    outln(Number.E)
}

Pointer Arithmetic

More low-level power. Pointers now have better arithmetic support.

For example:

fn main() {
    let s = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    let mut p = &s[0]
    let end = p + s.len
    for p != end; p++ {
        unsafe { outln(*p) }
    }
}

Type-Match for Generics

An important feature for generics: compile-time type matching. Determine the code according to the type by checking the type of the generics in compile-time. Only the codes provided for the matched type are used. However, you can prevent the types you want from being used and throw a compile-time error with compile-time panic calls. No safety risks, no runtime costs.

See manual for more information.

For example:

fn println[T](x: T) {
    match type T {
    | str:  out("Str: ")
    | bool: out("Bool: ")
    | f64:  out("64-bit float: ")
    | int:  out("Integer: ")
    |:      out("Unkown: ")
    }
    outln(x)
}

fn main() {
    println(10)
    println(true)
    println(20.5)
    println("MyString")
    println(any(nil))
}

Reimplement Reference Types

We have completely renewed the reference types (now known as smart pointer). Although it is used as the default type for RC as before, it behaves exactly like a pointer. There are corresponding changes and improvements to the syntax. They can now point to any type without any restrictions and can be used nested.

Thanks to the casting support between raw pointer and smart pointer, you can further strengthen the communication between Safe Jule and Unsafe Jule and achieve optimizations such as obtaining Smart Pointers without RC cost.

See manual for more information.

Changes

• jule: add ternary operator
• jule: add constant static fields for structures
• jule: add pointer arithmetic
• jule: add type-match support for generics
• jule: update recover function error handling method
• jule: add support for >, <, >=, and <= operators to numerical enums
• jule: add responsive immutability
• jule: accept dots as contiguous expression point
• jule: reimplement reference types
• jule: remove mandatory type annotations of static variables
• compiler: writes UTC time to IR instead of local time
• compiler: add the —shadowing flag
• compiler: disable variable shadowing by default
• compiler: fix code generation for static struct methods
• compiler: minor fixes for define ordering
• compiler: improve code generation for iterations
• compiler: fix define ordering
• compiler: the julenv command shows default compiler and default C++ standard
• compiler: improvements for —opt-access optimization flag
• compiler: add —opt-inline, —opt-ptr optimization flags
• compiler: reimplement flag parsing with std::flag
• compiler: error message improvements
• compiler: improve reference safety
  • built-in defines cannot pass to references
  • improve dangling reference catching
  • references can no longer point to functions
  • references accepts exactly same-types only

Compiler Packages

• parser: fix function multi-return type parsing
• parser: catch missed case expressions for match statement
• parser: control default case is last-case or not
• parser: improve block expression parsing such as if expressions
• parser: fix function call statement parsing
• sema: fix namespace lookup of type builder
• sema: fix constant expression checking for constant variables
• sema: fix error collecting
• sema: fix type compatibility checking for type-annotated variables
• sema: fix type compatibility checking for functions (do not ignore reference parameters)
• sema: fix type equality checking of the Prim struct
• sema: fix and improve dynamic type annotation
• sema: do not cast cpp-linked types implicitly
• sema: improve constant evaluation and make more reliable
• sema: fix access modifier safety of static methods of structures
• sema: fix ASCII safety of rune literals
• sema: fix and optimize goto/label safety checking
• sema: fix unique instance detection algorithm of functions
• sema: fix unique instance detection algorithm of structures
• sema: fix recover call processing
• sema: add type alias support for referene structure literals
• sema: fix unary amper operator evaluation
• sema: fix type compatibility checking for functions
• sema: add reference type support for conditionals
• sema: add reference type support for unary operators
• sema: fix type safety of built-in string and map type methods
• sema: fix and optimize type compatibility checking
• sema: check bounds of slice literal indexing in compile-time
• sema: add constant optimization support for slice literal indexing with constant expression
• sema: fix constant optimization of string literal slicing
• sema: fix scope goto and label checking
• sema: fix lvalue processing
• sema: fix allowing reference parameters in anonymous functions with Safe Jule
• constant::lit: fix string literal processing

API

• environment: reimplement setup_command_line_args function as set_argv function
• environment: reimplement setup_environment_variables function as set_envp function
• environment: add argc, argv, and envp globals
• slice: use length as maximum length instead of capacity for slicing
• ref: reimplement as jule::Ptr

Standard Library

• add: std::time
• add: std::math::rand
• add: std::encoding
• add: std::encoding::binary
• add: std::encoding::base32
• add: std::encoding::base64
• add: std::flag
• reimplement: std::fs
• reimplement: std::sync::atomic
• reimplement: std::vector as std::vec
• reimplement: memory functionality of std::jule::integrated
• std::sync: add Mutex, and Once structs
• std::io: use functions for stdin, stdout, and stderr instead of static globals
• std::jule::build: remove OS, and ARCH globals
• std::jule::build: remove is_pass_file_annotation function
• std::jule::build: add BuiltinUsedForRed, RefPointsToInvalidType to the LogMsg enum
• std:: thread: add the sleep static method to the Thread struct
• std::jule::constant::lit: remove is_byte_lit function
• std::jule::constant::lit: add is_ascii function
• std::jule::env: reimplement ARGS global as args function
• std::jule::env: reimplement ENV global as env function
• std::jule::sema: add has_ref_accessible method to the Struct struct
• std::jule::sema: add same method to the FnIns struct
• std::jule::sema: add same method to the StructIns struct
• std::jule::lex: rename Iter field as For of TokenKind and TokenId enums