From 9c75bddcfc0340b6e5dd06a23d686113532d2726 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: aarne Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:34:16 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] release document on gf3 --- doc/gf3-release.txt | 58 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/gf3-release.txt diff --git a/doc/gf3-release.txt b/doc/gf3-release.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b065b4582 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/gf3-release.txt @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +GF 3.0 +Krasimir Angelov, Björn Bringert, and Aarne Ranta + + + +GF Version 3.0 is a major revision of GF. The source language is a superset of the +language in 2.9, which means backward compatibility. But the target languages, the +compiler implementation, and the functionalities (e.g. the shell) have undergone +radical changes. + +The release of GF 3.0 is projected for 27 June. As usual, the developing sources +are available all the time via Darcs. + + +==New features== + +Here is a summary of the main novelties visible to the user: +- **Size**: the source code and the executable binary size have gone + down to about the half of 2.9. +- **Portability**: the new back end format PGF (Portable Grammar Format) is + much simpler than the old GFC format, and therefore easier to port to new + platforms. +- **Multilingual web page support**: as an example of portability, GF 3.0 provides a + compiler from PGF to JavaScript. There are also JavaScript libraries for creating + translators and syntax editors as client-side web applications. +- **Incremental parsing**: there is a possibility of word completion when + input strings are sent to the parser. +- **Application programmer's interfaces**: both source-GF and PGF formats, + the shell, and the compiler are accessible via high-level APIs. +- **Resource library version 1.4**: more coverage, more languages; some of + the new GF language features are exploited. + + +==Non-supported features== + +There are some features of GF 2.9 that will //not// work in the 2.7 June release. +- Java Editor GUI: we now see the JavaScript editor as the main form of + syntax editing. +- Pre-module multi-file grammar format: the grammar format of GF before version 2.0 + is still supported, but its include mechanism is not; this means that grammars + consisting of multiple files have to be concatenated before use. +- Probabilistic GF grammars. +- Some output formats: LBNF. +- Some GF shell commands: while the main ones will be supported with their familiar + syntax and options, some old commands have not been included. + + +Users who want to have these features are welcome to contact us, +and even more welcome to contribute code that restores them! + + +==GF language extensions== + +Operations for defining patterns. + +Inheritance of overload groups. + +