[IronPython] Announcing IronPython 2.6 Alpha 1

[Giles Thomas]

Dave,

This is great news, congratulations to the IP team on this release! 
We'll do a test-port of Resolver One early next week and will reply to 
the list with any issues we find.


Cheers,

Giles


Dave Fugate wrote:

> Hello Python Community,
>
> We’re pleased to announce the release of IronPython 2.6 Alpha 1. As 
> you might imagine, this release is all about supporting new CPython 
> 2.6 features such as the ‘bytes’ and ‘bytearray’ types (PEP 3112), 
> decorators for classes (PEP 3129), advanced string formatting (PEP 
> 3101), etc. The minimum .NET version required for this release is the 
> same as IronPython 2.0; namely .NET 2.0 Service Pack 1. Unlike the 2.0 
> series of IronPython, we plan to release only a couple Alphas and 
> Betas of IronPython 2.6. As such, it’s key that we get your feedback 
> on the release(s) quickly to incorporate requested changes.
>
> Besides CPython 2.6 features, another significant change in this 
> release is that ipy.exe now uses “adaptive compilation” by default. 
> Adaptive compilation is a technique in which IronPython:
>
> 1. Interprets and executes Python method calls up to /N/ times for a 
> given method. If you’re only going to execute a method a few times, 
> it’s typically faster to interpret the method instead of compiling and 
> executing it
>
> 2. Compiles and executes the Python method call on the /N+1/ 
> invocation of the method. Compilation of a Python method is a 
> heavyweight operation, but we can reuse the result for subsequent 
> invocations
>
> 3. Reuses the previously compiled method for new calls to the Python 
> method. This operation is much faster than interpreting the method 
> call as the method was already compiled in the previous step
>
> The reason for this change is that it provides a nice performance gain 
> for Python code containing lots of functions/methods that only get 
> called a few times. All this said, this feature is still undergoing 
> active development and as a consequence some Python scripts may 
> actually run slower with it turned on. For this reason, our old 
> default mode of running Python scripts is still available by passing 
> the –O or -D flags to ipy.exe. Any feedback on how this new feature 
> affects your IronPython applications performance-wise would be greatly 
> appreciated.
>
> There’s also a few minor changes since IronPython 2.0.1 that are worth 
> calling out here:
>
> · IronPython.msi now installs NGEN’ed binaries by default
>
> · IronPython.msi now offers a little more selection with respect to 
> what you’d like to install. For example, Silverlight templates are 
> optional
>
> · The default installation location of IronPython.msi no longer 
> indicates whether the 2.6 release is an Alpha, Beta, or a patched 
> release. Future IronPython 2.6 installations will replace previous 2.6 
> releases which will be uninstalled automatically
>
> · The -X:PreferComInteropAssembly flag has been removed. All COM 
> interop is now done through normal COM dispatch
>
> You can download IronPython 2.6 Alpha 1 at: 
> http://ironpython.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=22982 
>
>
> The IronPython Team
>
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>
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