Scala 2.8.0 Beta 1

After many months of hard work, the Scala Team is proud to release
the first beta of the much-awaited new Scala 2.8! Scala 2.8.0 Beta 1
is now available from our Download Page. It includes a huge number
of bug fixes with respect to 2.7.7, and many new features. This beta
is the foundation for the release of the upcoming final version
of 2.8.0, expected in a few months. You can download the Scala 2.8.0
Beta 1 pre-release from: http://www.scala-lang.org/downloads

The Scala 2.8.0 Beta distribution
=====================================

What is new?
============

The new Scala 2.8 codebase includes the following new fixes and features:

- Redesigned collection library

   The collection library has undergone a complete overhaul for Scala
   2.8, offering a more coherent and efficient design, while
   maintaining virtually complete compatibility with existing sources.
   Detailed information at: http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/3

- New array implementation, manifests for polymorphic arrays

   Handling of arrays has been simplified and optimized in Scala 2.8.
   The previous compiler magic has been replaced by a more systematic
   and predictable implementation in terms of implicit conversions.
   Full details at: http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/7

- Type specialization

   Scala 2.8 adds specialized type parameters, which enable the
   compiler to generate transparently multiple versions of a given
   definition, and to use the most specific version whenever the static
   type information at a call site allows it. Details at:
   http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/9

- Named and default arguments

   Named arguments improve the readability of method calls with many
   arguments. Default arguments reduce code duplication, and enable
   "copy" methods for case classes, useful to generate quickly modified
   copies of case classes. A complete description at:
   http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/1

- Package objects

   Packages can now contain besides classes and objects also methods,
   fields or type aliases. These are added to a package by declaring a
   package object. Package objects are still work in progress; more
   capabilities might come for 2.8 final or a release soon afterwards.

- Beefed up Scala Swing libraries, better documentation

   Components publish key events, input events can be consumed,
   refactored window subhierarchy, additional demos, Swing listeners
   are installed lazily, more complete component caching, minor
   refactorings, bugfixes, more Scaladocs. Design document at:
   http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/8

- Revamped REPL

   Many bugfixes. Tab-completion for all packages on the classpath, as
   well as object and instance methods and fields, including type
   aliases and package objects. Searchable history, integrated shell
   access, and a power mode which offers direct access to compiler
   internals.

- Implicits changes

   We have refined the implicit resolution process so that resolution
   is now able to determine type variables.

- Improved equality

   Equality across numeric types is to be consistent across all the
   primitives types, while also adhering to the equals/hashCode
   contract. Numeric comparisons will have the same results as they
   would between Java primitives. This is currently still being
   completed.

- Packrat parser combinators

   With support for packrat parsing, parser combinators are now able to
   handle left-recursive grammars and will show improved performance
   for ambiguous productions.

- Improved XML library

   Many bugfixes.

- Type constructor inference

   Type inference has been extended to deal with type constructors,
   so that, in certain cases, you can omit type parameter lists that
   contain higher-kinded types (aka type constructors, e.g., List).

- Improved Annotations

   Scala 2.8 adds support for nested java annotations. For annotations
   on fields, it is now possible to specify which synthetic members
   (getter / setter) will have the annotation. Documentation about
   Scala annotations can be found at: http://www.scala-lang.org/sid/5

- Enhanced actors

   New Reactors provide more lightweight, purely event-based actors
   with optional, implicit sender identification. Support for actors
   with daemon-style semantics was added. Actors can be configured to
   use the efficient JSR166y fork/join pool, resulting in significant
   performance improvements on 1.6 JVMs. Schedulers are now pluggable
   and easier to customize.

- Support for continuations

   Continuations are supported by a compiler plugin. This plugin is not
   included in this first beta, but will be added in subsequent
   releases.

Internal improvements
=====================

- New presentation compiler

   This new infrastructure, within the Scala compiler, enables IDEs to
   hook into the compiler to find efficiently information about the
   structure of the program under editing. This new code offers a
   better platform for the development of IDE plugins.

- New build manager

   The new feature used by for example Eclipse to detect intelligently
   changes in the files and compile only necessary Scala sources,
   instead of performing clean build on whole projects. This technique
   enables to significantly reduce the compilation time on bigger
   projects.

- Speed improvements

   The compiler now runs as optimised code. In addition, a number of
   improvements and fine-tunings have further improved the compiler
   speed up to 50%.

Bug fixes
=========

- Scala 2.8 includes a huge number of bug fixes; the main ones are
   listed at: http://www.scala-lang.org/node/299

Additional tools
================

- Scaladoc 2

   A new look-and-feel, automatic comments expansion and wiki-like
   syntax, as well as compile-time error checking. Read more about
   changes on the Scaladoc 2 mini-site at
   http://lampsvn.epfl.ch/trac/scala/wiki/Scaladoc

- Sbaz 2

   Sbaz includes many bug fixes and enhancements. It now gives better
   feedback to the user during lengthy downloads and while diagnosing
   dependency audits, which in turn have been re-factored and enhanced.
   Sbaz should work properly on Windows using either cmd or cygwin, and
   is now capable of reliably updating itself. Support for pack200 has
   been added, in some cases reducing file sizes up to 70%.

- Scalap

   A new Scalap, contributed by the community, is included. The new
   Scalap is aware of package objects and can decompile them by using
   <package_name>.package

- Scala IDE for Eclipse

   The IDE has been extensively reworked with much functionality moved
   into the Scala compiler where it can be better maintained and reused
   by non-Eclipse IDEs and other tools. The integration with Eclipse's
   JDT has been deepened, and much previously Scala-specific behaviour
   and functionality is now provided directly by the JDT leading to
   across the board improvements.

   During the beta preview period, the Scala IDE for Eclipse will be
   updated more frequently with respect to the main Scala beta
   releases. You can follow its development by using the following
   update site:

   http://www.scala-lang.org/scala-eclipse-plugin-beta-preview

   Please note that you must use this address as an update site within
   Eclipse as described on this page, it cannot be visited using your
   internet browser.

Acknowledgments and Thanks
==========================

Many members of the Scala community have helped us by fixing or
reporting bugs, contributing new code and tools (including some of
those listed above), and addressing user questions on the mailing
lists: their contributions help shaping the future of Scala day by
day.

- We would like to thank:

Paul Phillips, Miles Sabin, Ilya Sergey, Caoyuan Deng, James Matlik,
Frank Teubler, Kevin Wright, Manohar Jonnalagedda, Pedro Furlanetto,
Johannes Rudolph, Jason Zaugg, Seth Tisue, Ismael Juma, Mark Harrah,
Miguel Garcia, Colin Howe, Mirko Stocker, Spiros Tzavellas, Matt
Russell, David Taylor, and all the other frequent contributors to our
mailing lists, too many to list here. Thank you all!

The Scala Team at EPFL
======================

Martin Odersky, Lukas Rytz, Hubert Plociniczak, Iulian Dragos,
Gilles Dubochet, Philipp Haller, Aleksandar Prokopec, Antonio Cunei,
Tiark Rompf, Eugene Zouev, Donna Malayeri, Phil Bagwell, Adriaan
Moors, Ingo Maier.