The Cobra Programming Language
Version 0.1 Release Notes
2006-05-21
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See also:
    Cobra\ReadMe.text
    Cobra\Docs\License.text
    Cobra\Docs\Introduction.text
    http://CobraLang.com/

In this release:


== Additions ==

* Split the Examples directory into three directories: HowTo, Samples and
  Reusables. HowTo is a form of tutorial, the Samples are sample programs with
  meaningful functionality and the Reusables directory contains library-oriented
  code.

  Use the source code in HowTo and Samples to learn the language.

* Added a command line option for referencing assemblies:
    "--reference=Some.dll" or "-r=Some.dll"

* Added BlindWatchMaker1.cobra to Samples.

* Added DeluxePage.cobra to Reusables.


== Changes and Minor Improvements ==

* Removed "object" and "string" as synonyms for "Object" and "String". All
  classes are capitalized now.

* Changed generic syntax to use angle brackets.
    old: List(of int)
    new: List<of int>

  The reason is that the use of parenthesis looked like object instantion and
  would lead to forgetting to put "()" to create an instance of a list or
  dictionary. The angle brackets (<>) are more distinct.

* Changed the reserved words `raise` and `except` to `throw` and `catch`. The
  word `raise` will be used for events to match .NET terminology.

* Allow "is shared", "is override", etc. on the same line as the declaration:
    def main is shared
        pass

* A trailing comma can appear at the end of a list or dictionary literal:
    t = [
        'one',
        'two',
        ]
    d = {
        'one': 1,
        'two': 2,
        }

* Allow the use of underscores in numeric literals to improve readability.
    x = 1000000
    x = 1_000_000  # obviously 1 million

* Cobra now recognizes the "getEnumerator" method when inferring types for
  for-loops.

* Improved the semantics of == to handle characters vs. strings. You can say
  c=='x' for a `c` that is typed as `char`.

* Include the filename in error messages, not just the line number.

* The compiler emits a warning if the user declares a method whose first
  argument is `self`. This is a Python requirement, not a Cobra one. Also, Cobra
  calls it `this`.

* Added SystemInterfaces.cobra for being an explicit, Cobra-based proxy for the
  System DLL types. You can now add information here without needing the
  implementation of Cobra.


== Fixes ==

* Improved handling of multiple and nested namespaces.

* Fixed the type of string indexing expressions to understood as `char`:
    c = someString[i]

* Fixed a bug in "if inherits" statements where assignments to the variable in
  question did not take place.

* Fixed a bug that prevented saying "implements IEnumerable<of SomeType>"

* Fixed a bug where specifying an unknown generic type did not emit a proper
  error message.

* Fixed bug when declaring generic classes with more than one argument.

* Fixed a bug where an interface declaration could not inherit a generic
  interface or a qualified interface.

* Fixed a bug regarding type casting (a to B).

* List and Dictionary are now deemed compatible with IList and IDictionary by
  the compiler.

* Fixed a bug where qualified names could not be the target of the "to" and
  "to?" operators.

* Fixed a bug with enums and comparisons.

* Fixed a problem with branch statements that should generate a syntax error.

* Fixed a bug where variable names starting with "of" could not be passed in
  method calls. (Cobra mistook them for the beginning of a generic class.)

* Instead of the hard-to-understand error "Expecting a type.", Cobra now says
  "Expecting an expression." when it is, in fact, expecting one.

* New error check: Cannot locate base class BASENAME.

* New error check: Method names cannot be the same as their class names, even
  when starting with a lowercase.


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