I’ve just released version 0.4 of Pinafore, representing more than a year’s worth of full-time work since the last release.

I’ll make another post shortly explaining what Pinafore is all about and what makes it unusual, but in the mean time, this is the release notes for the new version:

  * Install
    - Debian package works on:
      . Ubuntu 22.04 LTS "jammy"
      . Debian 12 "bookworm"
    - add Nix flake
  * Language
    - overhaul of declarations
      . separate namespaces from modules,
        with "namespace" declarations and "with" and "import" declarators
      . both non-recursive ("let") and recursive ("let rec") declarators
      . "expose" declarations
      . allow declaration documentation with #| and {#| #} comments
    - datatype declarations
      . "closedtype" now "datatype storable"
      . can now have parameters
      . can now have subtypes
      . record constructors/patterns for datatypes
      . allow recursive types in datatypes
    - can declare arbitrary subtype relations
    - import lists
    - syntax
      . allow defintion of new operators
      . changed recursive type syntax from "rec v. T" to "rec v, T"
      . type names (+:), (*:), List, Unit
      . tuple constructor/pattern (,,) etc.
      . type signatures now attach to bindings, not stand-alone
      . separate syntax for static ":" and dynamic ":?" pattern typing
      . new syntax for function expressions: fn, match, =>
      . new syntax for datatype definitions
      . generalised "{}" and "do" syntax to any namespace
    - reject rather than mutate uninvertible type signatures
    - allow polymorphic recursion with type signatures
  * Interactive
    - :doc to retrieve name documentation
  * Library
    - Std
      . Literal type now byte array rather than text
      . Literal types now have GDS Literal
      . add Showable type for showing, show replacing toText
      . add min/max/lesser/greater functions
      . add List1 type for non-empty lists, subtype of List
      . rename "Ref" types and functions to "Model"
      . add TextModel type & associated functions, use for uiTextArea
    - new Task module
      . add Task type & associated functions
    - new Stream module
      . add sinks & sources
    - new Env module
      . move invocation-type stuff here
      . add stdin, stdout, stderr
    - new Eval module
      . move evaluate here
    - new Colour module
      . add Colour & AlphaColour types, etc.
    - new GIO module
      . add GIO File type and functions
    - new Cairo module
      . add Cairo-based functions for creating drawings
    - new Image module
      . add Image, HasMetadata, PNGImage, JPEGImage types, etc.
    - GTK
      . rename (from "UI")
      . explicit control over context
      . menu bar is just ordinary element
      . element for Image
  * Storage
    - Anchors now 256 bit, hash using BLAKE3
    - Store literals as binary rather than as text
    - Embed smaller literals directly in the anchor
  * Fixes
    - fix defect in lexical scoping

— Ashley Yakeley