[m-rev.] for review: mention .NET & asm back-ends in NEWS

[Fergus Henderson]

On 30-Oct-2002, Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.OZ.AU> wrote:
> NEWS:
> 	Mention the native-code and .NET back-ends.

Sorry, it's late.  I forgot that these were already included in 0.10.
I got confused because they were mentioned in the WORK_IN_PROGRESS
file but not in the NEWS file.

So, ignore that patch.  Try this one instead:

Estimated hours taken: 0.25
Branches: main

NEWS:
	Mention the improvements to the native-code and .NET back-ends.

Workspace: /mnt/ceres/home/ceres/fjh/ws-ceres2/mercury
Index: NEWS
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/mercury1/repository/mercury/NEWS,v
retrieving revision 1.274
diff -u -d -r1.274 NEWS
--- NEWS	22 Oct 2002 13:10:33 -0000	1.274
+++ NEWS	29 Oct 2002 18:32:08 -0000
@@ -20,6 +24,10 @@
 * A new optimization: `--constraint-propagation'.
 * Support for arbitrary mappings from module name to source file name. 
 
+Changes to the compiler back-ends:
+* The native code Linux/x86 back-end is now "release quality".
+* The .NET CLR back-end is much improved.
+
 Major improvements to the Mercury debugger, including:
 * Support for source-linked debugging using vim (rather than emacs).
 * Command-line completion.
@@ -398,5 +406,43 @@
   io__open_file, io__write_string etc) idempotent. This means that a given
   call to e.g. io__open_file will open the specified file only once,
   even if retry commands cause the call to be executed more than once.
+
+Changes to the compiler back-ends:
+
+* The native code Linux/x86 back-end is now "release quality".
+
+  The native code back-end, which was first released in Mercury 0.10,
+  compiles directly to assembler, rather than than going via C.
+  This back-end is enabled using the `--target asm' option.  It is
+  implemented by linking the Mercury compiler with the (relatively)
+  language independent GNU Compiler Collection back-end.  In other words,
+  it is a Mercury front-end for GCC.
+
+  This release is the first to be based on an officially released
+  version of GCC (it is based on GCC 3.2).  In this release, the native
+  code back-end now passes all of the applicable tests in the Mercury test
+  suite, including bootstraping the Mercury compiler.  Currently it is only
+  supported on i686-pc-linux-gnu (Intel x86-based PCs running Linux).
+
+  For details see <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/mercury/download/gcc-backend.html>.
+
+* .NET CLR back-end much improved.
+
+  The .NET CLR back-end, which generates MSIL code for Microsoft's new
+  .NET Common Language Runtime, has been substantially improved.
+  Mercury data structures are mapped to .NET CLR data types in a more
+  natural and more efficient manner.  A lot more of the standard library
+  is now supported.  Text files on Windows are now output with proper
+  Windows CR-LF line endings.  Many bugs have been fixed.
+
+  This back-end supports the whole of the Mercury language, but the
+  Mercury standard library implementation for the .NET CLR is still
+  not yet complete.  The .NET CLR back-end now passes about half of
+  the tests in the Mercury test suite.
+
+  This back-end is selected when you use the `--grade il' option.
+
+  See <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/mercury/dotnet.html> and/or
+  <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/mercury/information/dotnet/mercury_and_dotnet.html>.
 
 For news about earlier versions, see the HISTORY file.

-- 
Fergus Henderson <fjh at cs.mu.oz.au>  |  "I have always known that the pursuit
The University of Melbourne         |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>  |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.
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