Chapel Changelog

What's new in Chapel 1.3.0 Pre-Alpha

• Highlights (see below for details)
• split 'def' keyword into 'proc' (for procedures) and 'iter' (for iterators)
• (see '$CHPL_HOME/util/convert-defs --help' for help updating existing codes)
• added 'Replicated' distribution and improved 'Block-Cyclic' distribution
• (see "Standard Distributions" in spec and examples/primers/distributions.chpl)
• added single-locale task layers for Nanos++ (BSC) and Qthreads (Sandia)
• (see doc/README.tasks)
• major reworking of range semantics and implementation
• (see "Semantic Changes / Changes to Chapel Language" below for detail)
• initial support for volatile types: bool, int, uint, real, imag
• (see doc/technotes/README.volatile)
• support for extern consts and classes (pointers-to-structs)
• (see doc/technotes/README.extern)
• improved support for data parallelism on the Cray XMT
• extensive improvements to the sample codes in the examples/ directory
• (see 'Example Codes' below and examples/README)
• added most code examples from the spec to a new examples/ directory
• (see examples/spec/*)
• added a technical note describing the user-defined domain map interface
• (see doc/technotes/README.dsi)
• extensive updates to the language specification
• (see 'Documentation' below)
• several improvements to the runtime tasking and communications layers
• (see "Runtime Library Changes" below)
• Syntactic/Naming Changes
• split 'def' keyword into 'proc' (for procedures) and 'iter' (for iterators)
• (see '$CHPL_HOME/util/convert-defs --help' for help updating existing codes)
• renamed 'arithmetic' domains/arrays to 'rectangular' domains/arrays
• added support for floating point literals of the form '1.e...'
• (previously, only '1e...' and '1.0e...' were supported)
• Semantic Changes / Changes to Chapel Language
• several improvements to ranges (see 'Ranges' chapter in the language spec):
• added a concept of alignment to indicate an alignment modulo |stride|
• added an 'align' operator and query to ranges to specify/query alignment
• (e.g., '1..10 by 3 align 2' => '2, 5, 8' since 2 == 5 == 8, mod 3)
• defined == on ranges in terms of the integer sequences they generate
• defined ident(r1, r2) to say whether r1 and r2 are semantically identical
• defined '# k' for k < 0 as meaning "count from the end of the range"
• added 'first', 'last', 'alignedLow, 'alignedHigh' methods to ranges
• (e.g., '1..10 by -2' => first==10, last==2, alignedLow=2, alignedHigh=10)
• added support for a variety of new range query functions
• (e.g., alignLow(), hasFirst(), hasLowBound(), isAligned(), boundsCheck()...)
• added support for volatile bool, int, uint, real, and imag types
• (see doc/technotes/README.volatile)
• added an end-of-file check to the file type
• (e.g., 'while !infile.eof ...')
• removed support for treating 'return' in iterator as a 'yield'
• (e.g., change 'iter foo() { return x; }' to 'iter foo() { yield x; return; }')
• added support to referencing modules without first 'use'-ing them
• (e.g., module M1 { var x...} module M2 { ...M1.x... } is now legal)
• added a callStackSize query to the locale type
• (e.g., 'here.callStackSize' returns the call stack size on the current locale)
• removed the previously-required semicolon from the end of enum declarations
• (e.g., 'enum colors {red, blue, green}' is now legal; previously needed ';')
• added support for a single trailing comma at the end of enum lists
• (e.g., 'enum colors {red, blue, green, }' is now legal)
• removed support for +/- operators on rectangular domains; use translate()
• Newly Implemented Features
• implemented ==/!= for rectangular, associative, and sparse domains
• Standard Distributions
• added a first-draft 'Replicated' distribution for storing data redundantly
• (see examples/primers/distributions.chpl)
• improved 'Block-Cyclic', sufficient to correctly implement HPCC PTRANS and HPL
• (see examples/hpcc/ptrans.chpl, hpl.chpl; examples/primers/distributions.chpl)
• removed redundancy in specification of leader iterators between domains/arrays
• Standard Modules
• added INFINITY and NAN constants to the Math.chpl module
• (see 'Math' under "Standard Modules" in language spec)
• added isinf() and isfinite() test routines to the Math.chpl module
• (see 'Math' under "Standard Modules" in language spec)
• added a half dozen more routines to the GMP.chpl module
• Documentation
• added a new technical note describing the user-defined domain map interface
• (see doc/technotes/README.dsi)
• made many improvements to the language specification
• major revisions to the Domains chapter to improve clarity/accuracy
• improved and unified structure of Records and Classes chapters
• major revisions to the Domain Maps chapter to improve clarity/accuracy
• named example codes to provide cross-reference to examples/spec/ programs
• clarified the legality of label/break/continue in parallel loops
• updated the descriptions of read[ln]/write[ln]
• fixed some problems in file fields ordering
• reformatted the specification as a 'book' in LaTeX
• various minor fixes of typos/mistakes
• improved definitions/descriptions of several terms
• added documentation of locale.name
• and many other changes...
• updated quick reference document to include def->proc/iter change, align op.
• rewrote/reorganized README.extern to clarify explanations and bring up-to-date
• added a README describing the 'local' statement (doc/technotes/README.local)
• added a README describing volatile types (doc/technotes/README.volatile)
• updated README.comm-diagnostics to mention fast fork statistics
• updated various README files
• Example Codes
• placed most code examples from the language spec. to a new spec/ subdirectory
• improved the primers/ directory:
• added a new primer for using procedures (primers/procedures.chpl)
• added a basic primer for domains (primers/domains.chpl)
• renamed the locales primer to locales.chpl and improved it
• improved the distributions primer and added Block-Cyclic and Replicated uses
• updated the range primer (primers/range.chpl)
• improved the iterators primer (primers/iterators.chpl)
• improved the reductions primer (primers/reductions.chpl)
• added getCurrentTime() to the timers primer (primers/timers.chpl)
• added descriptions of type aliases and config types to variables primer
• (see primers/variables.chpl)
• improved hpcc/ benchmarks directory
• added first version of HPCC PTRANS to hpcc/ directory (ptrans.chpl)
• added cleaner version of HPCC HPL to hpcc/ directory (hpl.chpl)
• added a variants/ subdirectory to examples/hpcc to exhibit other approaches
• added stream-promoted.chpl to show use of promotion in global STREAM Triad
• added ra-cleanloop.chpl to show cleaner (but currently slower) RA kernel
• improved top-level examples:
• renamed existing "hello, world" examples to suggest a logical reading order
• (see examples/hello*.chpl)
• added data parallel and distributed data parallel hello, world examples
• (see examples/hello3-datapar.chpl, examples/hello4-datapar-dist.chpl)
• added comments to the various hello, world examples (examples/hello*.chpl)
• updated all examples to current language semantics
• use 'proc'/'iter' rather than 'def'
• update to reflect new range semantics
• Platform-specific Notes
• for Cray XT/Cray XE, improved the aprun and pbs-aprun launchers
• (see "Launcher-specific notes" below)
• for Cray XMT, added support for parallel loops over ranges
• for Cray XMT, added generation of noalias pragmas to forall loop variables
• added support for BSC's MareNostrum including docs and a special launcher
• (see doc/platforms/README.marenostrum)
• Launcher-specific notes
• added launcher-specific options to --help capability
• improved propagation of exit status codes through launchers
• changed launchers to support exec-based (rather than system-based) commands
• made launchers use 'unlink' rather than system('rm') to remove temporary files
• added a launcher for BSC's MareNostrum
• reduced number of temporary files used to capture output of 'system' commands
• aprun launcher improvements:
• added a --cc flag to specify CPU assignment w/in a node
• added a -q flag to run the launcher in quiet mode
• added debug capability via CHPL_LAUNCHER_DEBUG to keep tmp files around
• pbs-aprun launcher improvements:
• added a --cc flag to specify CPU assignment w/in a node
• added debug capability via CHPL_LAUNCHER_DEBUG to keep tmp files around
• cleaned up output to get rid of some extraneous printing
• made launcher support our testing system
• added --walltime and --queue flags to launcher as alternatives to env. vars.
• Compiler Changes
• made the compiler print 'true'/'false' out in type signatures rather than 1/0
• added config param 'noRefCount' to disable reference counting (may leak memory)
• Compiler Flags
• added a --print-callstack-on-error flag to show what led to a bad call
• added a --no-codegen flag to skip the code-generation and linking phase
• Interoperability Changes
• added support for extern C "classes" (pointer-to-struct types)
• added support for extern consts (see README.extern)
• Error Message Improvements
• added a warning orphaned 'use' statements outside of declared modules
• (e.g., 'use M1; module M2 { }' should typically be 'module M2 { use M1; }')
• made parse-time error message use the standard 'filename:lineno:' format
• generated an error message for referring to a class name in a primary method
• (e.g., 'class C { def C.m() {...} }' now generates an error message)
• Bug Fixes / New Semantic Checks (for old semantics)
• prevented config types from being set using execution time command-line flags
• fixed the compiler's ability to handle unions with no fields
• fixed the minloc/maxloc reductions to handle empty ranges/subranges of values
• fixed a bug in which the 'path' argument to file constructors was ignored
• made empty unions work correctly
• fixed an overflow issue in chunking up ranges for distribution/parallelization
• fixed a bug involving support for empty extern record types
• fixed a bug involving extern functions that return records
• fixed a bug related to copying external records
• fixed implementation of +/- operators on associative/sparse domains
• fixed a bug relating to filename-based module names containing multiple '.'s
• added error messages for expand/exterior/interior on irregular domains
• added an error for constructors/destructors with a specified return type
• fixed a pair of bugs relating to the 'fast on' optimization
• added a check against constructing classes without specifying generic fields
• Packaging Changes
• added syntax highlighter code for GNU source-highlight
• (see etc/source-highlight/README)
• improved emacs coloring support for version 22.x
• (see etc/emacs/README)
• updates to vim syntax coloring to reflect new 'proc'/'iter' keywords
• (see etc/vim/README)
• added a script for converting existing codes' use of 'def' to 'iter'/'proc'
• (see $CHPL_HOME/util/convert-defs)
• removed multirealm examples & documentation for the time being
• Third-Party Software Changes
• updated GASNet to version 1.16.1
• added copies of BSC's Nanos++ and Sandia's Qthreads
• (see third-party/README)
• made a post-install step for GASNet that changes absolute paths to relative
• removed PVM for the time being due to instability
• Runtime Library Changes
• added single-locale task layers for Nanos++ (BSC) and Qthreads (Sandia)
• several improvements to the runtime tasking layer:
• added a new interface for having the tasking layer call chpl_main()
• changed tasking init function to take maxThreadsPerLocale/callStackSize args
• added a task yield capability to the tasking layer interface
• improved runtime code to avoid using sync vars before initializing tasking
• removed macro-ized form of tasking interface; using standard names instead
• unified naming of all task layer routines to chpl_sync_*() and chpl_task_*()
• removed requirement to implement the single variable interface
• moved termination of threads from fifo tasking layer to pthreads threading
• simplified implementation of sync variables in the pthread threading layer
• moved responsibility for thread counts from fifo tasking to pthread threading
• several improvements to the runtime communication layer:
• restructured the communication interface to support length/type arguments
• added an interface for non-blocking get operations to the comm. interface
• unified all remote get operations to use CHPL_COMM_GET() macro
• refactored/renamed the communication interface headers
• Testing System
• vastly improved the performance testing and graphing capabilities
• (see comments at the front of start_test for documentation)
• improved the testing system's support for cleaning up after itself
• added ability to avoid using any indirection of stdin
• added an option to provide a system-wide prediff option
• added ability to use a launcher's native timeout feature rather than Python's
• improved how the testing system kills a test that times out
• fixed a bug in which .preexec files only worked if '.' was in your path
• Internal
• added a --break-on-id compiler flag for developers to locate AST node creates
• improved organization of util/ directory contents
• changed the way version numbers are computed/displayed for SVN-based users
• added support for task-/thread-specific module code
• added a capability to print the AST counts allocated between each pass
• added a new gdb alias to compiler --gdb: 'loc' prints an AST node's location
• greatly improved implementation of pragmas/flags to avoid error cases
• removed several instances of unnecessary string comparisons in the compiler
• removed error-prone use of CHPL_TASKS and CHPL_THREADS as preprocessor symbols
• added bestPractices documentation for developers (not included in release)
• changed internal munging of '=' and '==' to 'ASSIGN' and 'EQUALS' respectively
• added a --print-id-on-error developer flag to print AST ID on errors
• improved the strictness of C++ prototype checking
• added external contributor agreements to the SVN tree (not in release)
• added a notion of internal types used by the compiler but not the user