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[parrot.git] / NEWS

# $Id$

New in 2.3.0
- Features
- Core
  + Allow passing parameters to the dynamic linker ('dlopen' improved)
  + loadlib opcode added
  + Merge of pcc_hackatron branch
  + Recursive make for src/dynpmc removed
- Compilers
- Deprecations
- API
- Platforms
  + Improved handling of new compilers
- Bugfix
- Tests
- Tools
- Documentation
- Miscellaneous

New in 2.2.0
- Core changes
  + Most internal allocations now use the GC
  + RNG non-randomnes fixes
  + Elimination of much dead code
- API changes
  + PMCs can now be initialized from an int
  + Many legacy ops are removed
- Platforms
  + Sun cc and Intel icc support have been restored
  + Compiler invocation no longer goes through a Perl script
- Tools
  + NCI thunks are now generated by self-hosted PIR code

New in 2.1.0
- Core changes
  + GC performance and encapsulation were greatly improved.
  + PMC freeze refactored.
  + More Makefile and build improvements.
- API Changes
  + The Array PMC was removed.
  + Several deprecated vtables were removed.
  + The OrderedHash PMC was substantialy improved.
- Platforms
  + Packaging improvements on some operating systems.
- Tools
  + Some cases in pbc_merge are now handled.
  + Improvements were made to the dependency checker.
  + New tool nativecall.pir added.

New in 2.0.0
- Features
  + Context PMCs now support attribute-based introspection
  + Context and CallSignature PMCs merged into CallContext
  + .lex directive throws exceptions when used with incorrect register types
- Platforms
  + Packaging improved for free OS distributions
  + PPC, PPC64, and ARM now tested when running Linux
- Performance
  + Minor improvements to the profiling runcore
  + Improvements from the CallContext PMC merge
- New deprecations
  + In/out parameters in STRING modification functions
  + Void handling in NCI signatures
  + Parameter passing opcodes order in PBC
- Tests
  + Continued migration of core tests from Perl 5 to PIR
- Tools
  + dependency checker improved
- Miscellaneous
  + Deprecation cycle length changed to three months from six
  + GC accuracy improved
  + PMC freeze improvements; much more reliable
  + Makefile improvements for dependency handling

New in 1.9.0
- Core
  + Made profiling runcore output format configurable and extensible
    options include "pprof" and "none" ("binary" and "callgrind" are planned)
  + Added environment variables to specify profiling output type and filename
    (PARROT_PROFILING_OUTPUT and PARROT_PROFILING_FILENAME)
  + Began merging Freeze/Thaw and Bytecode generator/loader
- Compilers
  + Included latest nqp-rx compiler, with many improvements
    - GLOBAL:: package identifier
    - dynamic variables look in global namespace
    - $obj."$method" syntax
    - :p(os) and :c(ontinue) option on regexes
    - try/CATCH/CONTROL handling
    - support leading & on subroutine declarations
    - allow "category:<symbol>" names (for builtin operators)
    - simple version of smartmatch operator
    - simple regex matches
    - updated HLL::Compiler with new import/export methods
- Miscellaneous
  + Portability updates for RTEMS, and Intel architectures with GNU compilers
  + Completed conversion of ticket tracking system from RT to Trac
  + New draft of PDD31 for HLL export API and import implementation
  + Several (build time, runtime) performance improvements
  + Converted many tests to PIR, reducing test execution time
  + Various bugfixes, code cleanups, and coding standard fixes

New in 1.8.0
- Functionality
  + The FileHandle PMC now exposes the exit code of child process that was run as pipe.
  + Experimental support for overriding VTABLE invoke in PIR objects was added.
  + The method 'type' was added to the PackfileAnnotations PMC.
  + The internals of the parrot calling conventions, PCC, were reworked.
    All call paths now use a CallSignature object for passing arguments and return values.
  + The new API-function  'Parrot_ext_call' was added for calling into C-land.
  + The fixed-size allocator was improved.
  + The files installed by 'make install-dev' are now covered by 'make install' as well.
  + The experimental ops 'fetch' and 'vivify' were added.
  + The -I option to the command 'parrot' now prepends items to the search path.
  + The Context struct was substituted with auto attributes (context_auto_attrs branch).
  + Use the osname determined in auto::arch in subsequent configuration steps (convert_OSNAME branch).
  + Eliminated dependence on Perl 5 '%Config' in auto::format (auto_format_no_Config branch).
  + MultiSub PMCs now stringify to the name of their first candidate,
    instead of the number of candidates.
  + The platform detection at the start of the configuration process was improved.
  + The 'lineof' method on CodeString objects now precomputes line number information
    to be more efficient on variable-width encoded strings.
  + P6object now supports .WHO and .WHERE methods on protoobjects.
- Compilers
  + A shiny new self-hosting implementation of NQP has been added in ext/nqp-rx.
    - New NQP available as nqp-rx.pbc or parrot-nqp fakecutable.
    - NQP includes direct support for grammars and regexes, including protoregexes.
    - NQP has a new PAST-based regex engine (intended to replace PGE).
    - Regexes may contain code assertions, parameters, lexical declarations, and more.
    - Double-quoted strings now interpolate scalar variables and closures.
    - Subroutine declarations are now lexical by default.
  + PCT
    - PAST::Block now supports an 'nsentry' attribute.
    - PAST::Var allows 'contextual' scope.
    - Attribute bindings now return the bound value.
- Platforms
  + Fixes for the port of Parrot to RTEMS were applied. Yay, first port to a real time OS!
  + On NetBSD, shared libs are now used.
- Performance
  + Use the the fixed-sized allocator in the Context and the CallSignature PMC.
  + Many small speed improvements.
- New deprecations
  + MT19937, the Mersenne twisted pseudorandom number generator, is now hosted on github and 
    will be removed from the Parrot core. (eligible in 2.1)
  + The 'Parrot_call_*' functions for invoking a sub/method object from C are
    deprecated. They are replaced by 'Parrot_ext_call'. (eligible in 2.1)
  + All bitwise VTABLE functions are deprecated. (eligible in 2.1)
  + All bitwise ops will become dynops. (eligible in 2.1)
- Realized deprecations
  + The slice VTABLE entry was removed.
  + The last traces of the 'malloc' garbage collector were removed.
  + Parrot_pcc_constants() was renamed to Parrot_pcc_get_constants().
  + The deprecated functions from the Embedding/Extension interface were removed.
  + The library YAML/Parser/Syck.pir was removed.
  + The VTABLE function instantiate_str() was removed.
  + Building of parrot_nqp was removed.
- Tests
  + The test coverage of the time-related ops was much improved.
  + New testing functions in Test::More: lives_ok() and dies_ok().
  + The Perl 5 based test scripts t/op/bitwise.t, t/op/comp.t, t/op/inf_nan.t,
    t/op/literal.t, t/op/number.t, t/op/sprintf2.t, and t/op/00ff-dos.t were converted to PIR.
  + The test scripts t/op/annotate.t and t/op/time.t have begun
    to be translated from Perl 5 to PIR.
  + In some tests the dependency on %Config from Perl 5 was eliminated.
- Documentation
  + The meaning of 'p' means in NCI function call signatures was clarified.
- Tools
  + The stub for a new language, as created by mk_language_shell.pl,
    now relies on the PIR-based tools, which are replacing the Perl 5-based tools.
  + The library Configure.pir was added.
  + The library distutils.pir was added.
- Miscellaneous
  + The mailing list parrot-users and a corresponding google group was created,
    http://groups.google.com/group/parrot-users.
  + Many bugfixes, code cleanups, and coding standard fixes.

New in 1.7.0
- Functionality
  + Parrot_capture_lex has been added to the PARROT_EXPORT API
  + PARROT_MAX_ARGS has been increased from 8 to 16 to allow for ops that take more than 8 args
- Performance
  + The profiling runcore now caches metadata for improved performance
- Maintenance and cleanup
  + Expanded the Parrot debugger documentation
  + Parrot debugger now uses the new Parrot STRING API
  + Continue to port rest of internals to use the STRING API
- Deprecations
  + The JIT subsystem has been removed and is being written from the ground up. More
    information can be found at https://trac.parrot.org/parrot/wiki/JITRewrite
  + Implicit optional named parameters (eligible in 2.1)
  + Continuation-based ExceptionHandlers (eligible in 2.1)
  + Use of undocumented variables in class_init (eligible in 2.1)
  + Parrot_oo_get_namespace (eligible in 2.1)
- Bugfix
  + Improved line number tracking in IMCC
- Tests
  + Converted many more Perl 5 tests to PIR
  + Expanded test coverage of the CallSignature, Namespace, FixedPMCArray,
    ResizeableIntegerArray and ExceptionHandler PMCs

New in 1.6.0
- Functionality
  + Added a fixed-size structure allocator to the Garbage Collector
  + Added a "lazy" mode to the PObj and Fixed-Size memory allocators
  + Added a profiling runcore, which generates Callgrind-compatible output
  + Added lexical subsystem opcodes: find_dynamic_lex, store_dynamic_lex
  + Converted Contexts to garbage-collectable PMC structures
  + Created a new Context API
  + Enhanced the PMC allocator to automatically allocate ATTR structures
- Performance
  + Optimized opcodes to cache the current Context for subsequent lookups
  + Reduced string comparisons in VTABLE_isa
- Maintenance and cleanup
  + Began proper encapsulation of STRING API
  + Unified all PMC destruction functions
  + Unified Continuation PMC and Parrot_cont structure
  + Unified Sub PMC and Parrot_sub structure
  + Removed PMC_EXT structure
  + Removed PMC_Sync from PMC
  + Removed UnionVal from PMC structure
- Bugfix
  + Fixed several stack-walking bugs in Garbage Collector code
  + Fixed bug when copying a NULL STRING, now returns empty STRING struct
- Tests
  + Converted several Perl5 tests to PIR
  + Expanded test coverage of NameSpace PMC
- Compilers
  + Made Parrot Compiler Toolkit available in the base install

New in 1.5.0
- Core
  + Removed several deprecated functions and features
  + Removed bsr, jsr, branch_cs, and ret opcodes
  + Removed global stacks system
  + Changed OPS file format to include explicit preamble
  + Changed all "new 'Iterator'" instructions into 'iter' instructions
  + Removed Configure.pl options for specifying non-working GC cores
  + Removed unexecuting code as found by Coverity
  + Improvements to the Parrot Debugger
  + Added experimental fixed-size structure allocator to the GC
  + Added experimental lazy arena allocation to the GC
  + Refactored hashes, keys, and iterators
  + Added "corevm" make target to build Parrot without all the supporting libraries
  + Removed Random PMC type and added in a "rand" dynop
  + Optimization and Improvements to the NCI thunk generator
  + New include file libpaths.pasm
- Compilers
  + Multiple .local with same name and different type is now an error on IMCC.
- Platforms
  + Improved support for detecting Fink and Macports
  + Updated search directories for libraries
- Documentation
  + "Parrot Developers Guide: PIR" released to publisher and available to purchase
  + Improved documentation about Parrot Debugger
  + Update PGE Documentation
- Miscellaneous
  + Deprecate 'PASM1' compiler object, update to warn instead of segfault
  + Added tests
  + Fixes to code, documentation, and standards

New in 1.4.0
- Core
  + Key and Iterator refactor
  + Major pbc_to_exe generated code speed improvement
  + New "Infinite Memory" GC core for demonstration purposes
  + gc_debug runcore and GC-related heisenbug fixes
  + Elimination of variable expansion in parrot_config
  + CLI arguments are processed as Unicode by default
  + Substantial optimizations in NCI
  + Parrot builds on Win64
  + Hashes can use native types as keys and values
  + Fixed installed pbc_to_exe
  + Simplification of PMC generation code
  + Improved GC encapsulation and API documentation
- Documentation
  + List of candidates for embedding API (docs/embed.pod)
  + PIR book sent to publisher
- Testing
  + Several conversions of Perl test to pure PIR.
  + C indentation coding standards test improvement
  + Improved test coverage of example code
- Deprecations
  + Removal of PGE rules: <null> <fail> <sp> <lt> <gt> <dot>
  + Removal of PGE methods: .text .item .result_object
  + Deprecation of most dynops
+ Miscellaneous
  + Beginnings of OpenGL::Math library; OpenGL bindings and library marked experimental
  + Localizing and consting fixes
  + Many memory and thread-related leaks plugged

New in 1.3.0
- Core
  + Optimized parts of the IO system
  + Fixed inheritance hierarchy of FileHandle and Socket PMC types
  + Fixed leaks involving subroutines and Parrot_Context
  + Cleaned up and refactored GC internals, including fixes and optimizations
  + Optimized PMC class manipulations to use type numbers instead of string names
  + Fixed problems involving hashval calculations in strings
  + Removed unnecessary MULTI dispatches in built-in PMCs
  + Fixed memory leaks involving PMCs that were not properly destroyed
  + Fixed creation of PMCProxy PMCs in correct namespaces
  + Added preliminary Pipe support
  + Fixed cloning of Object PMCs
  + Added root_new opcode
  + Added initial versions of Packfile PMCs with read/write capabilities
- Compilers
  + Fixed several memory leaks in IMCC
  + Updated PCT to use root_new opcode
  + Added support for keyword "self" in NQP
- Documentation
  + Improved and expanded /docs/book
  + Updated project documentation
  + Defined 'experimental' status and procedures in DEPRECATED.pod
- Miscellaneous
  + Cleaned code and improved code-level documentation
  + Various bugfixes, code cleanups, and coding standard fixes
  + Added an experimental compiler library to help use PIR libraries from HLLs
  + Updated OpenGL library and examples to support experimental HLL import

New in 1.2.0
- Core
  + Fixes for pir classes inheriting from core pmcs.
  + Cleaned up headers and reorganized some sources into subsystem directories.
  + Clean up PMCs so libparrot.so exports far fewer vtable/method symbols.
  + Clean up the GC API.
  + Several unicode identifier improvements in IMCC.
- Deprecations
  + Protoobject stringification is gone.
- Documentation
  + Rewrite several core documents.
  + Many reworks, improvements & additions to the Parrot Book.
  + Installation PDD is launched out of draft.
- Tools
  + Fixes for running the language shell generator outside the parrot tree.
  + Several fixes for developing and building HLLs from an installed parrot.
  + Configure.pl now has a --no-line-directives option to ease source level debugging.
- Miscellaneous
  + Portability updates for macports, netbsd, mingw32, hpux.
  + Several (build time, runtime) performance improvements.
  + Lots of updates to examples and tests.
  + Various bugfixes, code cleanups, and coding standard fixes.

New in 1.1.0
- Core
  + Added op: load_language, find_caller_lex
  + Socket IO are back as PMC
  + Refactor some PMC: Hash, ManagedStruct
  + Refactor GC API
- Compiler
  + PGE
    - Allow \x, \c, and \o in enumerated character classes (incl ranges)
    - Add initial greedy-only version of ** <exp> quantifier
  + PCT
    - Add HLL source line bytecode annotations
    - Add another dumper format to assist syntax highlighters
    - Revise mk_language_shell.pl to updated create_language.pl
- Deprecations
  + Removed ops: gcd, exec, classname, need_finalize, runinterp, substr_r
  + Removed dynamic op: mul
  + Removed .HLL_map directive; use interp's .hll_map() instead
  + Removed PMCs: slice, bound_nci, ref
  + Removed Configure.pl option: --pmc
  + Removed PMC union struct
- Documentation
  + Book
    - Reorganization and many improvements & additions
- Tools
  + Add a parrot-fuzzer
- Miscellaneous
  + Improve Debian/Ubuntu package
  + various bugfixes, code cleanups, and coding standard fixes


New in 1.0.0
- Documentation
  + New user documentation for exceptions.
  + Updates to Chapters 4 & 5 of the Parrot book.
  + Improved and expanded generated HTML documentation, as the input for
    http://docs.parrot.org.
  + Added Compiled HTML Help (.chm) version of documentation.
  + Cleanups and fixes.
- Languages
  + Pynie
    - left the nest and is now at http://pynie.googlecode.com/
  + Cardinal
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/cardinal
  + APL
    - left the nest and is now at http://paraplegic.googlecode.com/
  + ABC, Squaak, and Befunge moved to examples/.
  + All remaining languages moved to https://svn.parrot.org/languages/
- Tools
  + Support for language builds from an installed Parrot.
  + Expanded language shell generator for new languages.
  + 'parrotbug' utility repurposed for the Trac interface.
- Deprecations
  + Removed deprecated Tqueue and Closure PMCs.
  + String, Key, NCI, LexPad, Iterator, Sub, Continuation, RetContinuation,
    ExceptionHandler, ParrotLibrary, ParrotInterpreter, ParrotThread,
    ParrotRunningThread, Rational, FixedPMCArray, ResizablePMCArray, and
    GDBMHash PMCs now use declared attributes (ATTR), in place of the
    deprecated UnionVal.


New in 0.9.1
- Implementation
  + Support for portable 'Inf', 'NaN' and -0.0
  + pbc_disassemble prints constants in constants table
  + New experimental BigNum implementation
  + Pair is now a dynamic loadable PMC
  + Various function name sanification
  + New implementation of Strings component
  + Replace various PMC value union access code by VTABLE method invocations
  + Replace various PMC value unions by ATTRibutes
  + Removed SArray PMC. Use FixedPMCArray instead.
- Documentation
  + Book
    - updates to Chapter 2 (getting started)
    - updates to Chapter 3 (PIR basics)
    - updates to Chapter 4 (PIR subroutines)
    - updates to Chapter 10 (HLLs)
    - updates to Chapter 12 (opcodes)
  + Function documentation
  + Pod documentation style modernized; no longer Perl 5 style.
  + PMC has an additional acronym: Poly Morphic Container
  + The DOD (Dead Object Detection) acronym is no longer used;
    use 'GC' to refer to the Garbage Collector component.
- Compilers
  + IMCC
    - :named flag can now take string registers as argument
    - A single '=cut' directive is now ignored (without initial Pod directive)
    - :vtable subs now have proper access to 'self' pseudo variable
- Languages
  + add new 'Pod' documentation parser
  + Pipp (PHP implementation):
    - Pipp is now at http://github.com/bschmalhofer/pipp
    - support for 'print', 'dirname', 'implode', 'str_replace',
    - various grammar fixes
  + ECMAScript
    + add 'quit', 'readline' builtins
    + fix 'Boolean' type and 'print' builtin
  + Lua
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/fperrad/lua/
  + Rakudo
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/rakudo/rakudo/
    - build instructions can be found at http://tinyurl.com/rakudo
  + lazy-k
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/bschmalhofer/lazy-k.git
  + unlambda
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/bschmalhofer/unlambda/
  + WMLScript
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/fperrad/wmlscript.git
  + removed Zcode implementation
- Tools
  + pmc2C
    - ATTRs are now inherited automatically in subclassing PMCs
- Deprecations
  + Parrot_readbc, Parrot_loadbc renamed to Parrot_pbc_read, Parrot_pbc_load.
  + .HLL_map directive in favour of 'hll_map' method on Parrot interpreter
  + Data::Escape library
- Tools
  + pbc_disassemble options added
  + pbc_dump renamed from pdump
- Miscellaneous
  + Parrot is now Copyright Parrot Foundation
  + Parrot's SVN repository is now hosted at https://svn.parrot.org
  + Various code cleanups, consting, 64-bit incompatibilities and other bug fixes


New in January 2009 release (0.9.0)
- Implementation
  + Implemented bytecode annotations
  + Role composition is now aware of multi-subs
  + Unbuffered IO PMCs now autopromote when buffering is necessary
  + Installation parrot binary and libparrot shared library now supported
  + Class registry now respects HLLs
- Compilers
  + IMCC
    - removed keyed string indexing, e.g. $S0[1].
    - removed slice syntax, e.g. $P0[1..2]
    - removed .namespace <ident>/.endnamespace <ident> pair
    - fixed 'new $P0, [classname]' syntax
  + PIRC
    - refactoring of various data structures
    - various bug fixes and updates
    - complete bytecode generation
    - add '-x' commandline option to run compiled code
  + PCT
    - add 'hll' and 'subid' attributes to PAST::Block
    - refactor loop handling code to handle last/redo/next
    - add :pasttype('stmts') and :pasttype('null')
    - improve "scope not found" error message
    - allow PAST::Val nodes to contain block references
  + PGE
    - add "skipkey" option to PGE::OPTable
    - allow spaces before modifiers in regexes
    - add '(' ~ ')' goal matching syntax
    - skip creating a class/grammar if it already exists
- Languages
  + Rakudo
    - improved error mesages in multi dispatch
    - implemented clone method for all objects
    - implemented MAIN sub
    - Unicode versions of infix hyper operators
    - refactored IO.readline
    - basic support for Inf and NaN
    - list and array slices with whatever star
    - hash slices
    - implemented last and redo
    - pointy blocks as terms
    - refactored variable and parameter passing
    - improved assignment semantics
    - improved parsing of type names and subs
    - mostly implemented parametric roles
    - separate types for blocks, subs and methods
    - basic support for submethods
    - implemented Junction autothreading of user code (not builtins yet)
    - eval supports :lang attribute
    - proto makes other subs in scope multis, including in role composition
  + Befunge
    - back to working state
    - ported to pir
  + Pipp
    - add support for predefined constant __CLASS__ and __METHOD__
    - add initial support for static members
    - add support for namespaced constants
    - constants are now handled as package vars
    - variables are now lexical variables
    - add support for superglobals in functions
    - Call the class __constructor when there is one
    - added incomplete support for closures
    - removed support for the alternative parsing strategies
    - added support for 'elsif'
    - added support for 'do-while'
  + HQ9+
    - left the nest and is now at https://github.com/bschmalhofer/hq9plus/
  + Eclectus
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/bschmalhofer/eclectus/
  + m4
    - left the nest and is now at http://github.com/bschmalhofer/m4/
  + Lua:
    - add a minimalist user back trace
  + PIR
    - "does" and "morph" VTABLE interfaces are now overridable from PIR
- Miscellaneous
  + Infrastructure
    - 'make smoke' now generates Smolder reports sent to
      http://smolder.plusthree.com/app/public_projects/smoke_reports/8
  + Improved const and null correctness for C function parameters
  + Sped up STRING manipulation (append, chop), improving PGE about 30%
  + BOOK
    - Added sections about Classes, OO programming, and methods.
    - Added information about Annotations, Exceptions, and Handlers
  + STM
    - Removed non-functional STM subsystem


New in 0.8.2
- Implementation
  + fixed lexical semantics
  + added the 'capture_lex' opcode
  + added automatic resume for nonfatal exceptions
  + added multidispatch cache
  + applied miscellaneous performance improvements, including startup time
  + fixed several bugs and leaks found by Coverity Scan
  + removed race conditions from parallel testing
- Compilers
  + IMCC
    - removed undocumented .param int <stringc> => <ident> syntax
    - .line directive now only takes an integer argument
    - new .file directive to specify the file name being compiled
  + PCT
    - properly handles lexical generation and closure semantics
    - uses :subid instead of name lookups to reference PAST::Block nodes
    - added PAST::Control node type (exception handlers)
  + PGE
    - add support for <?{{...}}> and <!{{...}}> assertions
    - Match objects use Capture PMC instead of Capture_PIR
  + PIRC
    - add macro handling to PASM mode
    - disable vanilla register allocation in PASM mode, but do allow optimization
    - add tests and bug fixes
    - first bits of bytecode generation. No sub calling/returning yet.
- Languages
  + Rakudo
    - fixed lexical handling and recursion
    - refactored subtypes implementation
    - support for quotes with multi-character delimiters
    - implemented list slices (Positional role)
    - list assignment
    - reduction meta operators
    - hyper meta operators
    - cross meta operators
    - more builtin functions
    - added Nil type
    - basic support for protos
    - iterator on filehandle objects
    - basic support for exception handlers
    - warn
  + Lua
    - added complex & mathx libraries
    - merged LuaClosure & LuaFunction PMC
  + Pipp
    - added support for a return value from user defined functions
    - added incomplete implemention of 'require_once'
  + Ecmascript
    - parser fixes, parses spidermonkey's top level test/shell.js
- Deprecations
  + PARROT_API is now PARROT_EXPORT
  + PIR
    - :lexid is now :subid
    - .arg is now .set_arg
    - .result is now .get_result
    - .yield (in .begin/end_yield) is now .set_yield
    - .return (in .begin/end_return) is now .set_return
    - .namespace x / .endnamespace x syntax is removed
  + Capture_PIR (runtime/parrot/library/Parrot/Capture_PIR.pir)

New in 0.8.1
- Implementation
  + added CPAN module Storable 2.12 as a configuration and build dependency
  + removed the pseudo PIR opcode 'addr'
  + added the 'box' opcode
  + fixed 'pop_eh' handling in PIR libraries and examples
  + removed usage of .return for tailcalls (use .tailcall instead)
  + removed 'get_hash' and 'get_array' from Capture PMC and Capture_PIR
  + improved debugger and HLL coordination
  + allowed MMD primitive autoboxing
  + fixed all known memory leaks in PIR "Hello, world!"
  + NCI signatures now JITted on x86-32 platforms (Windows and Linux)
  + made the .const directive take a quoted type name instead of a constant
  + made IMCC more re-entrant
- Languages
  + Rakudo
    - refactored Junctions implementation
    - added "fire and forget" tool to rebase/rebuild/test Parrot and Rakudo
    - updated container/reference semantics
    - added more builtin methods and functions
    - improved support for multilevel namespaces
    - added support for .Str, .succ, .pred in user-defined classes
    - implemented pointy blocks on if/loops
    - increased STD.pm convergence
    - added %*VM hash
    - improved MMD candidate sorting
    - improved integration of Num and Int
    - implemented increment on protoobjects
    - added initial support for MAIN subs
    - added .PARROT method
  + Pipp
    - added some predefined constants
    - added implemention of the function basename()
  + Cardinal (Ruby)
    - Added initial support for the classes Proc, Continuation, Queue, Dir, File, and FileStat
    - fixed various minor bugs
    - fixed broken Regexes
- Compilers
  + PCT
    - added '.isa' method to PCT::Node
    - cleaned up 'immediate block' handling
    - allowed arguments to immediate blocks in loops/conditionals
    - metaclass objects can now 'add_method'
  + PIRC
    - integrated macro processing in PIRC's lexer
    - integrated heredoc lexer in PIRC executable
    - added preprocess and heredoc-preprocess commandline options
    - integrated the PASM grammar into PIRC
    - added a register allocator to optimize the built-in vanilla allocator
    - code cleanups and documentation
    - added 'make test' target
   + TGE
    - updated to work with new namespace/classname syntax
- Deprecations
  + PARROT_API will become PARROT_EXPORT
  + :lexid will become :subid
- Miscellaneous
  + Documentation
    - updates and additions to the Parrot book (see docs/book/)
  + OpenGL
    - minor fixes to Parrot's base OpenGL bindings
    - converted OpenGL PIR examples to Perl 6 (two complete, one WIP)
    - added simplified OpenGL PIR example for NCI JIT testing
  + Tests
    - further improvements to parallel tests
    - tests no longer leave filesystem breadcrumbs
    - more thorough testing of Parrot::Test itself

New in 0.8.0
- Implementation
  + float precision expanded to 15 significant digits from 6
  + large integers autopromoted in PIR so as not to lose precision
  + improved precision of complex square root
  + exception handlers can register types of exceptions they catch
- Languages
  + Cardinal (Ruby)
    - implemented gather, take, and yield builtins
    - Range, Time, Math, GC, Kernel classes
    - many more tests
    - added a new committer
  + Markdown : new lightweight markup language
    - start implementation with PCT/NQP
  + partcl (Tcl 8.5.4)
    - Moved to its own repository: http://code.google.com/p/partcl/
  + Rakudo (Perl 6)
    - split() works with regexes
    - implemented Str.comb
    - ord() and chr() builtins
    - improved parsing of literal numbers
    - support for hyphens and dashes in identifiers
    - next() on for-loops
    - fixed floating point constant precision
    - improved namespace handling, closer to STD.pm model
    - support for exporting symbols
- Compilers
  + P6object
    - now generates classes in nested namespaces instead of :: names
    - supports class creation in caller's HLL namespace
  + PCT / PGE
    - now using true nested namespaces instead of :: names
    - cleaned up HLLCompiler interactive prompts and readline mode
    - updated to use typed exception handler registration
    - added initial support for loop control exceptions
  + PIRC
    - fixed Heredoc preprocessor
    - cleaned up Macro preprocessor
    - many code clean-ups, warning fixes and consting
    - updated Makefile for easier compilation
  + IMCC
    - Added .tailcall syntax to replace .return in tailcall context
- Examples
  + pirric (BASIC)
    - an old style line numbered Basic interpreter able to use parrot objects
    - example connecting to mysql via nci
    - example using classes to write and run an embedded Basic program
- Documentation
  + Book
    - Added chapters for PCT, PMCs, and Opcodes/Runcores
    - Expanded and improved formatting in various chapters
    - Renumbered chapters


New in 0.7.1
- Implementation
  + add -I and -L command line options
  + support for null strings in NCI calls
  + preliminary support for resumable exceptions
  + add '.hll_map' method for dynamic HLL type mapping
  + more parrot_debugger fixes
  + remove obsolete '.past' extension
- Languages
  + Rakudo (Perl 6)
    - now over 3300 passing spectests
    - precompiled modules
    - precompiled scripts  (--target=pir can now be executed standalone)
    - Support for @*INC and %*INC varialbes
    - additional builtin methods and subs
    - added 'fail' function, warnings on use of undefined values
    - m/.../ regexes
    - qq, qw, q quoting forms
    - run tests in parallel
    - gather/take
    - Perl6MultiSub
  + Cardinal (Ruby):
    - 'require' and precompiled modules
    - many new tests
    - all Array tests pass
    - regexes
    - default arguments to functions
    - new committer
- Compilers
  + PCT:
    - add :loadinit attribute for PAST::Block
  + PIRC:
    - major refactoring to allow all PIR keywords as identifiers
    - links to libparrot now, so all Parrot ops are recognized as such
    - implemented .loadlib, .HLL_map, .HLL
- Miscellaneous
  + add Xlib and Mysql modules and test programs to NCI examples
  + many updates and cleanups to PDD documents

New in 0.7.0
- Specification
  + PDD27: add multisub lookup
- Implementation
  + new concurrency implementation (see PDD25)
  + Exception PMC now captures a return continuation
  + improved PMC encapsulation (Iterator, Key, Pair)
- Languages
  + Cardinal (Ruby):
    - class variables
    - parsing improvements
    - minor additions to class builtins
    - add support for block parameters to functions
  + Lua:
    - various language fixes
    - refactor all libraries (namespace, method registration)
    - add a OpenGL binding (still incomplete)
    - lost user back trace (see ppd25 & pushaction)
  + Pipp (PHP):
    - add support for while- and for-loops
    - add support for increment and decrement
    - designate PHP 5.3 as the reference implementation
    - improve support for string literals
  + Pugs (Perl 6):
    - removed due to bit rot
  + Rakudo (Perl 6):
    - now over 2200 passing spectests
    - updated the Rakudo roadmap
    - Perl 6 multi dispatch
    - dispatch with slurpies
    - class attributes ("my $.x")
    - anonymous classes
    - OO and metaclass improvements (.WHAT, .WHICH, .WHENCE)
    - additional builtin methods and subs
    - improved make test targets and harness
  + Tcl:
    - implement [lreverse], [lsort -command]
    - allow [incr] to autovivify
    - update tclsh spec target to 8.5.3
    - fix bug in TclDict PMC, allowing ~200 more [dict] spec tests to pass
    - update 'make spectest' fudging, using TODO instead of SKIP if possible
- Compilers
  + PCT:
    - :scope('register') for PAST::Var nodes
    - allow invocant specification in attribute scope PAST::Var nodes
    - correct ordering of sub generation from POST
    - add 'loadinit' attribute to PAST::Block for block initialization
  + PIRC:
    - PIR registers now use the vanilla register allocator
    - all PASM output now uses PASM registers
    - all .locals and $registers are mapped
    - clean-up of grammar, back-end and documentation
    - implemented constant folding
    - implemented instruction selection
- Configuration
  + tests now clean up after themselves
  + improved parallel test support
  + ports/cygwin added
  + Darwin problems fixed
- Tools
  + parrot_debugger renamed from pdb, numerous tweaks
- Miscellaneous
  + IMCC cleanups
  + :vtable implies self in PIR
  + modest core speed improvements
  + Cygwin support improved
  + "say" now an opcode (was dispatched to a method; see Deprecations)
- Deprecations
  + ".pragma n_operators" is deprecated
  + old PASM register syntax (without "$") is deprecated
  + bare (unquoted) method names are deprecated
  + "#line" will be replaced with ".line"
  + ".HLL_map" syntax will change
  + ".loadlib" is now separate from ".HLL"
  + mmdvtregister and mmdvtablefind opcodes are deprecated
  + removed getfd, getclass opcodes
  + removed IMCC syntax that treated some methods as builtins
  + removed numeric get_attr and set_attr vtable entries

New in 0.6.4
- Documentation
  + removed a lot of old information from the FAQ
  + improved function level documentation
- Configuration
  + removed the configuration item 'has_gnu_m4'
  + refactored ICU-detection
- Languages
  + ChitChat
    - improved the Smalltalk implementation
  + Pipp
    - renamed Plumhead to Pipp
    - support for a lot of builtin functions.
    - Pipp now uses PHP specific data types.
    - converted from PCT with TGE to PCT with NQP actions
    - improvements in the PCT variant by using optok parsing
    - start of object support
  + pir
    - simple assignments work
  + json
    - added a PCT-based implementation of JSON parsing
  + lolcode
    - improved handling of symbols
    - added support for block handling
    - added support for globals
  + Lua
    - more tests
  + Rakudo
    - updated Range implementation
    - added enums
    - added generic type declarations (::T)
    - added runtime mixing of roles with 'does' and 'but'
    - fixed handling of implicit lexicals ($_, $!, and $/)
    - fixed implicit method calls on $_
    - improved complex math builtins, added Complex
    - moved many builtins to class Any
    - declaration of lists of variables now work
    - improved test infrastructure
    - 910 additional passing spec tests since last release
    - more convergence with STD.pm grammar
    - added named 0-ary parsing and ops
- Compilers
  + PCT:
    - allowed subroutine and method names to be a PAST tree that produces the name
    - Improved lexical handling
- Tools
  + pbc_disassemble renamed from disassemble
- Implementation
  + allowed .macro_const in PIR
  + added the flag :lexid(...) for subroutines
  + made multiple dispatch work for sub types
  + fixed garbage collection bug related to the metadata attached to a PMC_EXT structure
  + added a warning when using deprecated opcodes
  + simplified the stacks implementation
  + fixed C++ build
  + improved closure and lexical support
  + improved IMCC register allocator
  + added cache for all runtime-constant strings, reducing memory usage
- Miscellaneous
  + improved OpenGL/GLU/GLUT bindings
  + added a standard profile for Perl::Critic coding standard testing
  + added support for smoke testing with Smolder
  + enabled use of Test::Harness 3.0 if available, but don't require it for 'make test'
  + added the executable 'parrot_config' to query Parrot configuration

New in 0.6.3
- Specification
  + updated pdd09_gc.pod
- Languages
  + Cardinal:
    - dramatically improved parsing speed
    - added support for defining and instantiating classes
    - started fleshing out the builtin class hierarchy
    - added support for hashes and arrays
  + Chitchat: added the start of a smalltalk compiler
  + Pheme: updated to match PGE changes
  + Pynie: return statement, other minor updates
  + Rakudo:
    - added working list and hash contexts
    - added 'return' statements
    - added => pair constructor
    - added ?? !! ternary
    - added Range, range operators, Complex
    - added common List, Hash methods
    - refactored base classes
    - added Mutable, Perl6Scalar classes
    - added type-checking, is readonly/rw/copy for parameters
    - added make localtest, docs/spectest-progress.csv
    - fix named unaries
  + Squaak: implement return statement
  + Tcl: updated control flow exceptions to use new builtin types
- Compilers
  + All tools converted to P6object metamodel
  + PGE:
    - <?foo> is now a zero-width match
    - reduced backtracking to improve parsing speed
  + PCT:
    - added "return" PAST.op node type for subroutine returns
    - added "keyed_int" scoping to PAST::Var
    - fixed calls to closures
    - automatically transcode 7-bit unicode to ascii for faster processing
  + NQP: added "return" statement, ?? !! ternary operator
- Configuration
  + expanded step gen::opengl
- Implementation
  + updated function and macro names to match pdd09_gc.pod
  + removed Super PMC
  + add ".namespace []" as alternative to ".namespace"
  + "make codetest" target runs standard coding tests
- Miscellaneous
  + added P6object class for Perl 6 interfaces to objects in Parrot
  + ported OpenGL/GLU/GLUT bindings to Win32, BSD, and more Mac OS X variants
  + generate OpenGL/GLU/GLUT bindings by parsing system headers
  + new OpenGL example shapes.pir, covering basic OpenGL 1.1 / GLUT 3 APIs
  + new float4.pir structure-packing benchmark
  + reduced memory use for variables
  + improved constant string caching
  + made code g++ and gcc (with optimizations) safe
  + the usual collection of bugfixes and optimizations

New in 0.6.2
- Specification
  + updated and launched pdd28_strings.pod
  + updated pdd19_pir.pod
- Implementation
  + added implementation of Rational PMC.
  + simplified ops control flow syntax
  + enabled backtrace on non-glibc platforms too
  + improved some PIR error reporting
  + removed user stack opcodes
    (save, restore, lookback, entrytype, depth, rotate_up)
    (NOTE: This was scheduled to occur after 0.7.0, moved up to this release)
  + removed register stack, saveall, and restoreall opcodes
  + removed various deprecated features and unused code
- Languages
  + Amber: retired
  + C99: grammar updated
  + Cardinal: resurrected, method calls and do blocks work now
  + Eclectus: use NQP as PAST generating code
  + Lua:
    - added big number library
    - updated to match PGE changes
    - added a bytecode disassembler & a Lua 5.1 VM bytecode translator
  + Pheme: updated to match PGE/PCT changes
  + Plumhead:
    - use NQP as PAST generating code
    - use riaxpander for macro expansion
  + Rakudo:
    - updated ROADMAP
    - conditional and loop statement modifiers
    - lots of class, object, role, and method improvements
    - Str increment and decrement
    - improved spectest reporting
    - type checking on assignment
    - regexes and grammars
    - undef and self
    - placeholder vars
roadmap updated
  + Squaak: added to repository
  + TAP: retired
- Compilers
  + PGE: updated to match Synopsis 5, deprecated features removed
  + PCT:
    - improve handling of register types, conversion between registers
    - improved error diagnostics
    - add 'arity' to for loops
- Configuration
  + added step auto::opengl
  + added step gen::opengl
  + added step gen::call_list
- Miscellaneous
  + still more optimizations and performance improvements, especially in GC
  + new libraries: OpenGL/GLU/GLUT bindings (small subset working)
  + new dump_pbc.pl utility: PBC disassembly/source code weaver
  + improved C++ compiler support
  + optimized builds work again


New in 0.6.1
- Specification
  + drafted pdd29_compiler_tools.pod
  + updated pdd28_character_sets.pod draft
  + updated pdd19_pir.pod draft
- Languages
  + c99: added independent C pre-processor
  + HQ9+: reimplemented with PCT
  + Lua:
    . reimplementation with PCT, using PAST and POST
    . behavior aligned wih 5.1.3
  + Rakudo:
    . implemented basic I/O, including '$*IN', '$*OUT', '$*ERR', 'prefix:='
    . implemented simple typing and runtime type checking
    . added basic multi-method dispatch
    . expanded named argument handling, including Pair and colonpairs
    . added 'Whatever' and 'Capture' classes
    . implemented 'handles' trait verb
    . added 'loop' statement
    . implemented 'given', 'when', 'for', 'while', 'until' statement modifiers
    . implemented Hash methods '.keys' and '.values'
    . fixed bug to get '.WHAT' working correctly
    . initial implementation of 'eval'
- Compilers
  + NQP:
    . created a bootstrapped build, see 'make boot'
    . added 'infix:<', 'infix:<=', 'infix:>', 'infix:>=' relational operators
    . added 'postfix:++', 'postfix:--' operators
  + PCT:
    . added methods specifying default behaviors in PAST, reducing repeated code
    . improved symbol table lookup
  + PGE:
    . removed deprecated code including: P6Regex, P6Grammar, PAST-pm
- Miscellaneous
  + notable speedups during compilation and execution of parrot and HLLs
  + pdb (the parrot debugger) can now catch parrot exceptions
  + better detection of glibc and gettext during configuration
  + various bugfixes, code cleanups, deprecations, and coding standard fixes


New in 0.6.0
- Specification
  + launched pdd18_security.pod
  + updated pdd17_pmc.pod
  + launching draft of pdd28_character_sets.pod
- Documentation
  + cleanup of IMCC documentation
- Configuration
  + add step auto::gettext
  + add step auto::crypto
- Compilers
  + PCT:
    . Fix '-e' option
    . Phase out P6Regex in favor of Perl6Regex
  + IMCC:
    '.local Array my_arr' is illegal now
- Languages
  + C99: reimplementation with PCT
  + lolcode:
    . various updates
    . add support for functions with params
    . add math functions
  + Rakudo:
    . support for 'say'
    . first cut at smart matching
    . indirect method calls
    . support for Pairs
    . added methods 'grep' and 'first'
    . implement auto{increment,decrement}
    . initial implementation of 'perl6doc'
  + Lua:
    . various updates
    . add base64 library
  + Cardinal: basic support for functions with parameters
  + Pheme: various updates
  + Ecmascript: various updates
  + Tcl: now targeting tcl 8.5.1, no more expected failures in test suite.
    (No, this doesn't mean everything's implemented. =-)
  + Eclectus: various updates
  + WMLScript: various updates
- Implementation
  + PDD17 (PMCs)
  + Add library YAML::Dumper
  + Add the MD2, MD4, MD5, RIPEMD160, SHA & SHA1 PMC, as a wrapper
     around libcrypto
- Miscellaneous
  + various bugfixes, code cleanups and coding standard fixes
  + consting
  + remove external Perl 5 modules from the Parrot distribution

New in 0.5.3
- Documentation
  + PDD09 (garbage collection) - approved
  + PDD28 (character sets) - draft started
  + added function documentation to some core functions
  + PCT beginners guide, optable guide and PAST nodes guide, bug fixes
- Compilers
  + IMCC: plugged various memory leaks and other cleanups
  + PCT:
    . add "attribute" as a scope variant to PAST::Var nodes
    . add 'shift' and 'pop' methods to PAST:: nodes
  + NQP: add '=:=' op, tests for scalar and list contextualizers, \x escapes
- Languages
  + APL: reimplementation with PCT
  + Cardinal (Ruby): reimplemention with PCT
  + Ecmascript: reimplementation with PCT
  + lolcode: improved expression parsing, ifthen, IT, YARN
  + lua:
    . aligned with Lua official release 5.1.3.
    . added initial PCT-based implementation.
  + Punie (Perl 1): refactor to use standard PCT-based filenames
  + Pynie (Python): add functions
  + Rakudo (Perl 6):
    . rebranded, formerly known as 'perl6'
    . passes many more official Perl 6 Specification tests
    . added 'perl6doc' utility
    . oo including meta?classes, objects, methods, attributes, role composition
    . match variables, while/until statements, traits
    . many new methods for Str, List, Hash, Junction
- Implementation
- Deprecations
  + PCCINVOKE syntax for named arguments using []; use () instead.
  + see DEPRECATED.pod for details
- Miscellaneous
  + pbc_to_exe refactored for code reduction, portability, and maintainability
  + various bug fixes
  + #line directives added to generated JIT files, improving debugging
  + consting, attribute marking, refactoring, warnings cleanup

New in 0.5.2
- Documentation
  + PDD27 (multiple dispatch) - debut of new design
  + Numerous small updates to glossary.pod, etc
- Compiler Toolkit
  + NQP: optional, named, and named/required parameters
  + PIRC: cleanups
  + PAST: "defined-or"
- Languages
  + New mk_language_shell.pl script creates language stubs
  + LOLCODE: new
  + Lua: various
  + Eclectus: start with support for local variables and procedures,
    use SXML as intermediate representation
  + Perl 6: list builtins, compiler directives, command-line options, etc.
  + "make perl6" now builds a Perl 6 executable
  + punie: more builtins, control structures, code refactoring
  + pynie: builtin stubs, more tests
- Implementation
  + New "pbc_to_exe" utility turns bytecode to executables
  + New set_outer method for subs
  + Further configuration refactoring for testability
  + All functions now completely headerized
  + Concurrency: interpreter schedulers
- Deprecations
  + DYNSELF (changes to SELF; SELF to STATICSELF)
  + METHOD (replaced by renaming PCCMETHOD)
  + pmcinfo op (superseded by 'inspect')
  + get_attr, set_attr, and 8 other vtable methods
  + See DEPRECATED.pod for details
- Miscellaneous
  + Many bug fixes
  + Minor speed enhancements with UTF-8 string handling
  + Debian packaging
  + consting, attribute marking, warnings cleanup, memory leaks plugged ...

New in 0.5.1
- Documentation
  + PDD19 (PIR) - reflect state on the ground; incorporate old IMCC docs
  + PDD25 (Concurrency) - launch out of draft
  + Improve documentation of deprecated parrot features.
- Compilers
  + PCT: Parrot Compiler Toolkit redesigned and updated
  + NQP: major updates, including support for namespaces,
    module/class declarations, methods
  + IMCC: remove .sym as alias for .local. Remove .pcc_
    prefix for calling directives (.pcc_begin became .begin_call).
  + PIRC: creates an AST during the parse.
  + PGE: more updates to match S05 syntax.
- Languages
  + perl6: re-implemented using PCT and NQP, new object subsystem
  + abc: re-implemented using PCT and NQP
  + eclectus: initial implementation
  + plumhead: add PCT variant
  + punie: re-implemented using PCT and NQP, extended to handle subroutines
    Happy 20th Birthday, Perl!
  + pynie: re-implemented using PCT and NQP
  + PIR: start conversion to NQP (under construction)
- Implementation
  + new opcodes: 'die', 'addhandler', 'copy'
  + Initial implementation of Concurrency PDD
  + Add 'arity' method to Sub and NCI PMCs
- Miscellaneous
  + Bug cleanup
  + consting, attribute marking, warnings cleanup, memory leaks, GC...
  + dead code removal (includes some defunct languages)

New in 0.5.0
- Implementation
  + PDD15 (OO) branch merged with trunk; this release contains a working,
    tested implementation of the latest OO model
  + Added pop_eh/push_eh_p/count_eh opcodes
  + Add --runcore command line option
  + Add gcdebug runcore to help track down GC bugs
  + minor improvements to IA-32 JIT
- Documentation
  + PDD19 (PIR): updates to macros, .pcc* directives
  + PDD25 (Concurrency): updated
  + PDD26 (AST):  draft approved
  + PDD23 (Exceptions): draft approved
  + Copyright cleanups
- Languages/Compilers
  + languages/APL: minor updates, PDD15 conformance
  + languages/dotnet: minor updates
  + languages/lua: minor updates, PDD15 conformance
  + languages/lisp: minor updates
  + languages/perl6: minor updates, PDD15 conformance
  + languages/plumhead: minor updates
  + languages/punie: minor updates, PDD15 conformance
  + languages/nqp: minor updates
  + languages/scheme: many updates, PDD15 conformance, improved tests, use
    PMCs instead of primitive registers to represent values
  + languages/tcl: bugfixes, PDD15 conformance
  + languages/WMLScript: minor updates
  + compilers/pirc: updates from PDD19, PDD06
  + compilers/pct: minor updates, PDD15 conformance
  + compilers/pge: PDD15 conformance
  + compilers/tge: PDD15 conformance
- Configuration
  + Improve test coverage
  + Improve reporting when a step fails; allow abort on failure
- Miscellaneous
  + More coding standard conformance, tests, cleanup, speedups,
    warnings cleanup
  + Bug cleanup, esp. GC bugs
  + Eliminate .imc extension (use .pir)
  + Simplify some core config steps to not allow interactive prompting
- Removed
  + clear_eh opcode

New in 0.4.17
- Implementation
 + Bug fixes (including Coverity IDs 20, 22, 30, 119-122, 124-126, 129-131)
   Also various GC, memory, and segfault issues
 + Fix & reenable CGP core
 + Parrot's -r flag now works again (compile to and execute bytecode)
 + Updates to pmc2c & PIR syntaxes
 + Fix Complex PMC
 + Minor performance improvements, especially in PGE
- Documentation
 + PDD02 "Vtables" - superceded by PDD17
 + PDD06 "PASM" - minor updates
 + PDD17 "PMC" - add VTABLE syntax, update core PMC struct, restore UnionVal
 + PDD19 "PIR" - early review started
 + PDD21 "Namespaces" - cleanup
 + PDD24 "Events" - draft approved
 + PDD25 "Concurrency" - minor updates
 + PDD26 "AST" - draft version begun
 + PIR tutorials updated
- Languages/Compilers
 + Make scheme work with the current calling conventions, other major work.
 + Updates to m4, lua, compilers/pirc, languages/PIR, dotnet, tcl
- Miscellaneous:
 + make -j functional again
 + Code cleanup (refactoring, optimizations)

New in 0.4.16
- Implementation:
 + Performed code review on every PMC
 + Modified PMC code generation to use Storable, reducing compile times
 + Added a makefile target to generate test coverage data of C sources
- Languages:
 + NQP: added lists, for loops, operators, comparison and multiplicative operators
 + Announced Kea-CL, Kea Common Lisp, an ANSI Common Lisp implementation
   The repository is available at https://rgrjr.dyndns.org/svn/kea-cl/trunk/
- Documentation
 + PDD17 "PMCs" - draft approved, the design is complete
 + Added more PIR tutorials, see examples/tutorial/00_README.pod
- Miscellaneous:
 + Many bugfixes, enhancements, documentation, and coding standard updates
 + Deprecated PMC constants and other crufty syntax, see DEPRECATED.pod
 + Improved icc compiler compatibility for error line reporting

New in 0.4.15
- Implementation:
 + Lots of code review, many bugs fixed
 + Many more code cleanups and compiler warning levels
 + Started a new jit engine for 64-bit processors
 + Refactored configure process, with tests and new diagnostic options
 + Added new CodeString PMC for dynamic generation of PIR code
 + More pdd15 support for object metamodel.
- Languages:
 + Added NQP ("Not Quite Perl"), a very lightweight Perl 6-like language
 + Significant improvements and refactors to PCT (Parrot Compiler Toolkit)
 + perl6 passes more spec tests
 + Lua works now with a PGE/TGE/PAST-pm based compiler, lives in one pbc,
   and the interpreter has same behavior as original.
- Documentation
 + Added a committers' HOWTO
 + More PIR tutorial examples
 + Added PAUSE guide

New in 0.4.14
- Now, with Seat Belts!
 + added makefile targets for Sun lint, BSD lint, and splint
 + corrected many errors picked up by these tools
 + decorated source code with compiler hints, assertions, and attribute macros
 + automated creation of function declarations to prevent common errors
 + increased compiler warnings levels
 + converted more exceptions to a recoverable form
- Languages:
 + updated Lisp, Lua, Perl 6, tcl, regex, Scheme ("Pheme")
 + Perl 6 now fetches selected tests from pugs, and even passes some
 + PGE modified to handle {*} action subs for top-down and bottom-up parsers,
   and to allow grammar subclassing
 + HLLCompiler now has better exception, eval, and exit support
 + Introduced PCT, a refactor of HLLCompiler and PAST-pm
- Design:
 + PDD15 "Objects" - details added to 'new' and 'getattribute' opcodes
 + PDD17 "PMCs" - notes added on instantiation and dynamic extention in PIR
- Documentation:
 + added Parrot-related text from "Perl 6 and Parrot Essentials" book,
   tutorial examples from "Learning PIR" talk, and PDD15 metamodel diagrams
- Implementation:
 + reduced memory footprint when using named registers
 + implemented overridding of vtable methods by PDD15 classes
 + improved PDD15 support for 'new', 'instantiate', and others
 + added makefile targets to ease core and HLL makefile regeneration
 + updated parrot dubugger, "pdb", to allow loading of commands from file
- Misc:
 + many bugfixes, enhancements, documentation, and coding standard updates

New in 0.4.13
- Languages:
 + Updated Lisp, Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Python ("Pynie"), ABC,
   WMLScript, and Tcl ("ParTcl").
 + Perl 6 passes all of the sanity tests.
 + PGE supports latest Perl 6 grammar syntax. Perl 6, Python
   ("Pynie"), and ABC parsers updated to match.
 + Updated PHP ("Plumhead") to Antlr 3.0.
 + Lua added the beginnings of a PGE/TGE based compiler (not yet
   replacing the Perl/Yapp compiler).
 + Lisp updated for current features, added a test suite.
- Core Implementation:
 + Filled in features and backward compatibility for PDD 15 objects.
   New object metamodel passes 85% of old test suite.
 + GCC API symbols are visible externally only when explicitly exported.
 + Added generated GCC compiler attributes to increase warnings, and
   cleaned up resulting warnings.
 + Code cleanup efforts and fixed memory leaks by the cage cleaners,
   resulting in notable speed increases.
- Misc:
 + Updated Parrot distribution to Artistic License 2.0, from dual
   Artistic 1/GPL license.
 + SDL examples brought up-to-date with current features.

New in 0.4.12
- Build:
 + even more refactorings and improvements in configuration system
 + improved tests and documentation for configuration system
- Languages:
 + Updated abc, PHP ("Plumhead"), Lua, Tcl
 + Reclaimed Lisp
- Design:
 + new PMC PDD draft partially completed
- Implementation:
 + continued implementation of PDD 15 (Objects)
 + minor garbage collector and memory management improvements
 + several memory leaks resolved
 + extended support for compilers other than GCC
 + improved C++ compiler compatibility
 + enhanced support for Solaris, non-MSVC Win32, and other platforms

New in 0.4.11

- Compilers:
 + IMCC: added documentation for C-based Parrot Calling Conventions,
   refactorings and bug fixes
 + PGE: new perl6regex front end reflecting recent S05 syntax changes
 + PIRC: new prototype PIR parser
- Languages:
 + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), BASIC, pynie
 + Lua implements environment
- Design:
 + PDD15 "Objects" - details added, and draft approved
- Documentation:
 + Added guidelines for PMC documentation
- Implementation:
 + PDD15 implementation is largely complete, including role-based composition,
   introspection, and C3 method resolution order
 + new Exporter PMC for importing globals between namespaces
 + new string utilities for radix conversion
 + PCCINVOKE and Parrot_PCCINVOKE allow calling using the full Parrot Calling
   Conventions from PMCs and C code respectively
- Build:
 + Refactorings and improvements in test coverage for 'Configure.pl'
- Misc:
 + many bugfixes, enhancements, and code cleanup
 + added example subversion config file
 + extended support for gcc, icc, and other compilers
 + extended support for Solaris and other platforms


New in 0.4.10

- Compilers:
 + IMCC: Parrot calling conventions now available between two C PMCs (PMINVOKE)
 + PGE: Match object improvements
 + smop: added Attribute and Class PMCs
 + HLLCompiler: improvements for interactive mode
- PAST:
 + extended binding to a list of variables
- Languages:
 + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"), Ruby ("Cardinal")
 + Update PIR, regex, Zcode
 + New language: Pynie - a Python compiler for Parrot
 + Lua implements require and many other ops, improved regex support
 + Remove parakeet
- Design:
 + PDD01 "Overview" - updated architecture and platform information
 + PDD15 "Objects" - details on roles, objects, and classes added
 + PDD22 "I/O" - added async ops and Status PMC details
- Documentation:
 + Added guides for Metacommitter, Relase Manager, and Cage Cleaner roles
- Implementation:
 + Object, Class, Role, and Attribute PMC implementation has begun
 + Perl 5 module "Parrot::Embed" now compiles and links on all platforms
- Build:
 + Major improvements in test coverage for 'ops2c.pl'
- Misc:
 + New utility: Crow, a template processor
 + New library module: Config/JSON for reading/writing JSON files
 + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates, code cleanup

New in 0.4.9

- Compilers:
   + IMCC: Parrot calling conventions now available in C PMCs, allowing
     named, optional, slurpy, and flat parameter passing
   + PGE: extended support for Perl 5 Regexes
   + smop: prototype object model implementation
   + hllcompiler: refactored to run a configurable set of compilation stages
- PAST:
   + redesigned assign/binding to support Perl 6 binding semantics
- Languages:
   + Updated Lua, PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"), perl6, perl5
   + New language: PIR - a PGE-based implementation of Parrot PIR
   + perl6 now supports binding (':=') and 'join'
   + lua generates tail calls, and supports its own regex flavor (PGE-based)
   + Pheme still works, huzzah!
- Design:
   + PDD21 "Objects" - rewritten
   + PDD22 "I/O" - updated and 'TODO' tests added
- Documentation:
   + Interface stability classification standards approved
   + Roles and Responsibilities documented approved
   + Official 'drafts' directory created (was 'clip')
- Implementation:
   + More NameSpace and OS PMC methods implemented
   + Parrot executable fullname and basename now available in PIR/PASM code
   + new 'chomp' library function
- Build:
   + Major improvements in test coverage for 'ops2pm.pl'
- Misc:
   + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates
   + extended support for Sun Workshop Compilers
   + Parrot now builds on PocketPC platform

New in 0.4.8

- Compilers:
   + HLLCompiler: added tracing options, modified api
   + PGE & TGE bugfixes and updates
- PAST:
   + added global and lexical variable support
   + added looping constructs, arrays, hashes
- Languages:
   + Updated PHP ("Plumhead"), Tcl ("ParTcl"),
     forth, perl6, lua, abc, APL, WMLScript, punie
   + ParTcl is passing > 24.9% of Tcl cvs-latest test suite
   + perl6 now supports hashes, arrays, method calls, arity-based
     multisubs, quoted terms, ranges (non-lazy), try blocks, $!
- Design:
   + PDD01 "Overview" - updated
   + PDD22 "I/O" - rewritten and approved
- Test Suite:
   + Converted Perl 5 Regex tests to PIR, with notable speedup
   + Added tests for opcodes, compilers, languages, and coding standards
- Build:
   + Major improvements in test coverage for 'pmc2c.pl'
- Misc:
   + many bugfixes, enhancements, and coding standard updates
   + extended support for non-core platforms including Cygwin, Tru64

New in 0.4.7

- New languages: PHP ("Plumhead"), Forth
- Updated languages: Ruby ("Cardinal"), Tcl, Lua
- Remove old Python implementation from Parrot repository; the new Python
  language code is hosted at http://pirate.tangentcode.com
- Compilers:
   + PGE updated with more expressions, latest changes to S05
   + new Perl 6 grammar compiler
- Integration:
   + Perl 5 module "Parrot::Embed" allows easy embedding of a Parrot
     runtime into a Perl 5 program
- PIR:
   + new :init pragma for subs that must run before the main function
   + new :vtable pragma to identify subs that override PMC vtable methods,
     eliminating the need for special subroutine names
   + PIR parser/compiler does not stop on first syntax error
   + Vanilla register allocator ("register alligator") greatly improves
     performance compiling large functions
   + Eliminated limit on number of PIR macros
- PMCs:
   + hash lookups return null instead of None for missing keys
- Design:
   + PDD13 "Bytecode files: format and manipulation" - new
   + PDD10 "Embedding" - new
   + PDD25 "Concurrency" - rewritten
   + PDD15 "Objects" - new section on redesign requirements
   + PDD07 "Coding standards" - significant updates and automated tests
- Test Suite:
   + Many many more new tests
- Build Process:
   + autoconf compatible install options
- Misc:
   + Namespace refinements
   + Coroutine improvements
   + An impressive swarm of other bugfixes and enhancements

New in 0.4.6

- New languages: Ruby ("Cardinal"), Javascript ("ecmascript")
- Updated languages: Tcl, dotnet, bc, Pheme, Punie, WMLScript
- Updated compilers: PGE, TGE
- IMCC updates:
   + ".loadlib" directive expresses dependencies
   + ".namespace" with no parameter goes to HLL root
   + lexer is reentrant (reentrant grammar in progress)
- Namespace improvements:
   + new suite of opcodes to access namespaces and globals
     ("find_global" and "store_global" will be phased out)
   + namespace '' no longer means HLL root
- Design document updates:
    namespaces (pdd23), basic types (pdd17), embedding
- Updated tool requirements for developers:
    flex 2.5.33, bison 2.1, perl 5.6.1
- New to-do list for people new to Parrot:
    cage/todo.pod
- The usual plethora of bugfixes and enhancements

New in 0.4.5

- unicode subroutine names
- hierarchical class names finished including MMD support
- new dotnet CLI to PIR translator
- improved TGE code and compiler
- APL: vector handling
- new STM branch in the svn repository
- the usual bugfixes and enhancements

New in 0.4.4

- hierarchical class names
- APL compiler
  - under development
  - understands simple vector ops, strings
  - demonstrates use of Unicode in Parrot
- pgc, a compiler for rules and operator precedence parsers
- Major redesign and improvements for PGE
  - compilers understand named parameter options
  - :ratchet option implemented to support non-backtracking quantifiers
- TGE (tree grammar engine) for tree transformations
  - tgc, tree grammar compiler
- perl6 compiler
  - support for many operators, lexical scalars, regex matches
- new pheme (Parrot scheme) compiler

New in 0.4.3

- namespaces partially implemented
- rulec, Perl 6 rule compiler
- PGE improvements including return values for closure
- parts of a Perl 6 parser based on PGE
- complex trigonometric methods
- type of Sub PMC is now overridable by HLL
- NetBSD support
- many bug fixes and improvements

New in 0.4.2

- improved PPC and x86 JIT support including JIT compilation
  of very simple PASM/PIR subroutines
- preliminary libreadline support
- better trace and debug features
- pkgconfig support
- META.yml to support proper indexing on CPAN
- new opcode: hcf (in "my_ops" in dynamic op library)
- new File pmc for file specific ops (is_dir, is_file, copy, rename...)
- named arguments and parameters (both :named("") and => syntaxes)
- ongoing config improvements
- tons of bug fixes and other small improvements - too much to list all

New in 0.4.1

- Installation: 'make install' is using standard locations now
  (/usr/local is the default --prefix)
- Produce static and shared libraries on some systems
- Configure system rearragement
- OS pmc started (mkdir,cd,cwd,rm,umask,stat)
- Shootout examples
- Test files are now testable with 'prove'
- Smoke (and smokej) outputs progress
- PIR supports: I = A < B (>,<=,>=,==,!=)
- Add support for octal number constants
- partcl updates:
  - almost finish [string]; start [file]
  - add build tool for generating inline'd tcl builtins from templates.
- Jako updates: NCI, subroutines, global variables and constants all work.
  (Gregor)

New in 0.4.0

- New lexical handling and closure support including better
  introspection for caller and outer
- PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) provides now compilers for P6Rule,
  P6Grammar, P5Regexp, and Glob
- ca. 1000 new tests including 800 for Perl5 regexp
- Improved unicode charset and encoding support
- Calling conventions for exception handlers
- Punie (Perl 1) uses TGE (Tree Grammar Engine) to convert from
  PGE match objects to AST via two steps of tree transformation grammars
- New languages: amber and lua
- The usual code fixes, cleanup, and improvements, including an overhaul
  of the config and test framework

New in 0.3.1

- Variable sized register frames are finished. Each subroutine gets
  the amount of registers that it actually needs. No more spilling.
- Vastly improved PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) including shift-reduce,
  precedence-based expression parser and support for matching of
  bracketed text delimited by e.g. ()[]{}'"
- uniccode character classification (is_upper ...)
- support for heredoc syntax in assembler
- improved examples, basic JSON support
- debian packaging support
- the usual improvements, bug fixes, and cleanup
- test count exceeds 3000

New in 0.3.0

- New calling conventions implemented: see PDD03 for details
- Merge multiple Parrot bytecode (PBC) files into a singe PBC file
- 'make smoke' target going beta
- bc now supports if statements, comparison ops, prefix inc/dec
- ParTcl adds [lassign], [switch] (partially); [expr] converted to a compiler
- Many exciting doc updates, tests, and bugfixes, too numerous to mention

New in 0.2.3

- Dynamic classes now compile on Windows (including ParTcl)
- New Super PMC allows easy access to superclass methods
- Implement C3 method resolution order (just like Perl 6 & Python)
- ParTcl has new PIR-based parser and passes more Tcl tests
- added character class support in Globs to PGE
- added language implementations of unlambda, Lazy-k
- many bugfixes, including GC and memory leaks
- the new calling scheme continued to evolve in branches/leo-ctx5

New in 0.2.2

- new call scheme: docs/pdds/pdd03_calling_conventions.pod
- partial implementation of the new calling conventions
  PASM only, don't mix PIR foo() call syntax with the new scheme
- grammar and rule support in PGE - the Parrot Grammar Engine
- TCL passes >10% of the tcl test suite
- the usual bugfixes and improvements

New in 0.2.1

- better HLL support (short names for object attributes, and
  .HLL and n_operators pragmas)
- string encoding and charset can now be set independently
- experimental mmap IO layer for slurping files
- distinct debug and trace flag settings
- glob support in PGE
- new character classification opcodes and interfaces

New in 0.2.0

- parrot repository is now under subversion
- MMD (Multi Method Dispatch) enhanced
- new unary and infix opcodes that return new result PMCs
- dynamic scalar PMCs inherit now almost all from Parrot core PMCs
- more unification of PMCs and ParrotObjects
- tailcalls for functions and methods
- PGE (Parrot Grammar Engine) reworked
- Pugs creates Parrot code and Pugs is a registered compiler now
- new languages/lisp
- the usual bug fixes and improvements

New in 0.1.2

- New string handling code. Strings now have charset and encoding
- Parts of a generation garbage collector
- Better Python code, separated in dynclasses
- Parrot Grammar Engine
- Improved test coverage and documentation

New in 0.1.1

Parrot 0.1.1 is an intermediate release with tons of updates and fixes.
 - Python support: Parrot runs 4/7 of the pie-thon test suite
 - Better OS support: more platforms, compiler, OS functions
 - Improved PIR syntax for method calls and <op>= assignment
 - Dynamic loading reworked including a "make install" target
 - MMD - multi method dispatch for binary vtable methods
 - Library improvement and cleanup
 - BigInt, Complex, *Array, Slice, Enumerate, None PMC classes
 - IA64 and hppa JIT support
 - Tons of fixes, improvements, new tests, and documentation updates.
A lot is unfinished and keeps changing. Nethertheless Parrot is stable
and usable at the surface, while internals are moving.

New in 0.1.0
 - "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... objects!"
 - Huge documentation overhaul
 - More supported platforms, s. PLATFORMS
 - Basic thread support for pthread based architectures
 - Basic event handling for timers and signals including:
 - PASM callbacks for NCI (native C) functions.
 - Improved platform configuration
 - COW stacks now working, stacks code redone
 - Structure handling vastly improved
 - Random PMC and rand primitives
 - Better subroutine call syntax in PIR
 - Make PIR subroutines compliant with pdd03
 - Improved profiling (DOD, GC timings)
 - Hash code improvements, incl. random key order support
 - Experimental freeze/thaw code for some PMC types
 - IO improvements for buffered layer and Win32
 - String iterators
 - String bitwise vtables
 - Many new opcodes
 - Support for JIT, where malloced memory isn't executable
 - Priority DOD scheme for objects that need timely destruction
 - Improved byte code loading (e.g. onLoad functions)
 - Language updates: forth, Perl 6/P6C, m4
 - Libraries: Getopt_Long, SDL, Dumper, Sort
 - new JAPH examples
 - Unified imcc and parrot test handling
 - Many new tests (make test reports 1386 tests)
 - Numerous bug fixes

New in 0.0.13
 - The Big Move: Parrot source and build files rearranged into sub dirs
 - Build imcc as parrot
 - Objects more finished
 - Delegate vtable methods to byte code
 - Binary multi-method dispatching
 - Isa and does methods for PMCs
 - Call byte code from C
 - Start of extension interface
 - Experimental struct handling
 - Catch access to NULL PMCs
 - Experimental network socket interface code and opcodes
 - IO fixes and improvements
 - Dynamic opcode libraries
 - Fix-assigned opcode numbers
 - Argument flattening for function calls
 - More native call interface (NCI) signatures
 - Ncurses, postgres, and pcre interface libraries
 - Forth language is vastly improved
 - BSD and Win32 build improvements
 - Many new tests and fixes

New in 0.0.12
 - This number intentionally left blank

New in 0.0.11
 - Executable output
 - Dynamic PMC registration
 - Trial exception system
 - Beginnings of object system
 - Iterators
 - Ordered hashes
 - I/O system improvements
 - References
 - Documentation for basic PMC types
 - IMCC support of Parrot Calling Conventions
 - Runtime loading of chartypes (and other string improvements)
 - Conditional breakpoints
 - Dramatically accelerated sweeps for finalizable objects
 - Small PMCs (PMCs split into core and extensions)
 - Loadable bytecode packfiles
 - Constant PMCs
 - Sub variants that deal with the stack correctly
 - Switched runops core
 - Line numbers in warnings
 - Environment access
 - Many documentation cleanups
 - Conversion to CPS style!
 - BASIC debugger and many other wacky features
 - Filename, line number parsing support in IMCC

New in 0.0.10
 - IMCC integration
 - eval
 - some more benchmarking
 - cgp core
 - optimized math ops
 - intersegment branches
 - more complete use of PObjs
 - beefed up packfiles
 - sub/continuation/coroutine fixes
 - better NCI (native calling interface)
 - many imcc improvements
 - jako improvements

New in 0.0.9

- Native function calling interface (Dan)
- Stack/list aggregate rewrite (Leo)
- Scratchpads (Jonathan Sillito)
- Preliminary DotGNU support -- type conversion ops (Gopal V + Leo)
- Buffer/PMC unification (Leo)
- stabs debugging support for JIT (Leo)
- Jako overhaul (Gregor)
- Optional Lea allocator (Leo)
- Parrot sprintf (Brent)
- Miniparrot (Josh)
- PMC Properties (Dan)
- Various JIT improvements (D. Grunblatt + Leo)
- Extensible packfiles (Juergen)
- Restructured PMC hierarchy (Leo)
- Real Scheme (Juergen)

New in 0.0.8

- Several new grammars and a BNF -> perl5 and perl6 converter (Jeff)
- Working Perl 6 REs (Sean)
- Keyed Access (Tom Hughes et al)
- New PMCs (Alberto et al)
- Better Documentation
- New COW semantics
- GC acceleration (Mike Lambert)
- Lexical scope (Jonathan Sillito)
- IMCC patches
- JIT for the ARM

New in 0.0.7

- Perl 6 Grammar and Compiler (Sean)
- Subroutines, coroutines, and continuations (Melvin)
- GC improvements (Peter Gibbs, Mike Lambert)
- Global variables (Melvin)
- Intermediate bytecode compiler (Melvin, Angel)
- And much, much more.

New in 0.0.6

- New assembler that support keyed types (Jeff)
- New macro layer, allowing constants (Jeff)
- New Configure.pl (Brent)
- Changes to bytecode format, endian issues resolved (Melvin)
- GC improvements and bug fixes (Peter Gibbs, Mike Lambert)
- JIT compiler rewrite (Jason and Daniel)
- Parrot assembler in Parrot (Daniel)
- Parrot debugger (Daniel)
- BASIC polished, Eliza.bas is new (Clint)
- Cola compiler committed and working, with limited OOP (Melvin)
- Keyed aggregates (Steve Fink)
- Global ops (Melvin)
- Compile-time speedup (Melvin)
- Much documentation
- New PDDs (Dan)
- Contributed tetris and lzw files
- And many more, from the cast of thousands

New in 0.0.5

- Full GC
- Perl Scalar support in PMCs
- Array and Hash types almost ready for prime-time
- Internal support for keyed types
- EMACS editing mode
- New PDDs
- New Language - BASIC
- Regular expression compiler
- More tests
- Many, many bug fixes, enhancements, and speedups

New in 0.0.4

- Arena-based memory allocation system
- Copying GC
- New IO subsystem
- "Predereferencing" mode - ./parrot -P - 22% speedup
- JIT compiler - ./parrot -j
- Parrot now builds warnings-clean on many platforms
- Many more PMC methods implemented
- Regular expression operations
- Added a FAQ
- Basic support for embedding Parrot in other programs
- Warnings support
- Added PDDs to distribution
- Bignum library

- PMC inheritance
- Added an assembly optimizer
- Improved string encoding/type support
- Many more tests
- Source reformatting
- Major refactoring in packfile library
- More Miniperl functionality
- New PMC "clone" operator
- Beginnings of key-based access to PMCs - arrays and hashes
- MOPS comparisons in examples/mops/

New in 0.0.3

- PMCs!
- Perl base scalar types implemented
- A new minilanguage, Scheme
- Much improved documentation
- Register stacks pushing and popping
- User stack pushing, popping and rotating
- Jako updates: subroutines, more example programs, optimizations
- test_prog renamed to 'parrot'

- Added features to the assembler: @ for current location, and global
  labels
- Build tweaks for VMS
- Bytecode typing clean-ups
- More platforms: OS X, HPUX, OS/2
- The proliferation of runops cores reduced to one fast and one slow one
- Opcode tracing, bounds checking, profiling
- Vastly improved string support, with separation of encoding and
  charset
- Lots more tests
- Multiple interpreter creation support - the beginnings of threading
- Much better resource handling - the beginnings of GC

New in 0.0.2

- Parrot now works on all core platforms
- A large number of tests, in the standard Perl testing framework
- A new minilanguage (Jako) which compiles to Parrot assembly
- Documentation about the assembly language (docs/parrot_assembly.pod)

- Separate modules for assembly (Parrot::Assemble) and bytecode
  manipulation (Parrot::PackFile::*, packfile.c)
- Assembler completely rewritten
- Better operand-type guessing in the assembler
- Assembler support for '\n' etc. in string constants
- Code reformatted to match the coding standards
- New ops for register-constant INTEGER comparisons
- Macro expansion in the assembler
- IVs and NVs renamed to more friendly INTVAL and NUMVAL
- Hard-coded pack("") formats removed
- Better handling of floating-point numbers in assembler
- Moved floats to constant table (fixing many alignment issues)