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diff --git a/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news02.tex b/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news02.tex deleted file mode 100644 index a3d5467c8e..0000000000 --- a/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news02.tex +++ /dev/null @@ -1,153 +0,0 @@ -% Copyright 2009 The LaTeX Project -\documentclass{ltnews} -\PassOptionsToPackage{colorlinks}{hyperref} - -\usepackage{metalogo,ragged2e} - -\AtBeginDocument{ - \renewcommand{\LaTeXNews}{\LaTeX3~News} - \RaggedRight -} - -\usepackage{url} -\newcommand\TUG[1]{\textsc{tug}~#1} - -\publicationmonth{June} -\publicationyear{2009} -\publicationissue{2} - -\begin{document} -\maketitle - -\section{\TeX~Live and the \textsf{expl3} code} - -\TeX~Live 2009 is almost upon us, and the \LaTeX3 team have been -readying a new release of the experimental \LaTeX3 code for this. -Very dramatic changes have occurred since the -last public release of the code in \TeX~Live~2008; no backwards compatibility has been -maintained (as warned in the beginning of the documentation) but we -believe the changes made are all much for the better. Almost every -single part of \textsf{expl3} has been scrutinized, resulting in a far -more coherent code base. - -The \textsf{expl3} code is now considered to be much more stable than -it was before; a comprehensive test suite has been written that helps -to ensure that we don't make any mistakes as we change things in the -future. In the process of writing the test -suite, many minor bugs were fixed; we recommend such test suites for -all similar developmental projects! -Some small underlying changes are still expected in the -\textsf{expl3} code, but major, disruptive, changes aren't planned. - -\section{Planned updates} - -Until now, the last update to \textsc{ctan} of the \textsf{expl3} -bundle was for \TeX~Live~2008. Now that work on the code is happening -on a semi-steady basis, we plan to keep updates rolling out to -\textsc{ctan} more frequently. This will allow anyone who wishes to -experiment with the new code to use the \TeX~Live or MiK\TeX\ -updaters to install a recent version without having to `check out' the -\textsc{svn} repository and install the packages manually. - -\section{New members} - -We didn't say anything about it in the last status update, but Joseph -Wright and Will Robertson are now members of the \LaTeX\ Team. They -have been working fairly exclusively on the \textsf{expl3} code. - -It's worth repeating that \LaTeXe\ is essentially frozen in order to -prevent any backwards compatibility problems. As desirable as it is -to benefit from the new features offered by new engines \XeTeX\ and -Lua\TeX, we cannot risk the stability of production servers running -older versions of \LaTeXe\ which will inevitably end up processing -documents written into the future. - -\LaTeX3 will not be inheriting the same restraints, so stay tuned. - -\newpage - -\section{Some specifics} - -Morten H\o gholm will be presenting the recent changes in much more detail at -\TUG{2009}. Here are some quick specifics for those interested. New code written -and broad changes made to the \textsf{expl3} modules: -\begin{description} -\item [More logical function names] - Many function names that were hold-outs from the \TeX\ naming system - have been changed to fit into the more logical scheme of \textsf{expl3}; e.g., - \verb|\def:Npn| and \verb|\let:NN| are now \verb|\cs_set:Npn| and - \verb|\cs_set_eq:NN|. - -\item [Defining functions and conditionals] - Much thought was put into new ways to define - functions and conditionals with a minimum of code. - See \verb|\cs_set:Nn| and \verb|\prg_set_conditional:Nnn|. - -\item [Smart comparisons] - Comparisons can be made much more easily now, with familiar notation such as - \verb|\intexpr_compare_p:n{ #1+3 != \l_tmpa_int }|. - -\item [Data from variables] A new function argument specifier \texttt{V} has - been added for extracting information from variables of different types, - without needing to know the underlying variable structure. Some other - tidy-ups on the argument specifiers offered, partially as a result of the - addition of this new one. - -\item [l3msg] New module to deal with communication between \LaTeX3 code - and the user (info messages, warnings, and errors), including message - filtering partially inspired by the \textsf{silence} package. - \end{description} - -\section{The next six months} - -Having overhauled the \textsf{expl3} code, we now plan to perform an -analogous process with the foundations of the -\textsf{xpackages}. These are the higher-level packages that will -provide the basic needs such as control of the page layout and rich -document-level interaction with the user. As the groundwork for this -layer of the document processing matures, we will be able to start -building more packages for a \LaTeX3 kernel; these packages will also -be usable on top of \LaTeXe\ and serve as broadly customisable -templates for future document design. - -As gaps in the functionality offered by \textsf{expl3} are found (in -some cases, we know that they exist already), the programming layer -will be extended to support our needs. In other cases, wrappers around -\TeX\ functions that can be more usefully handled at a higher level -will be written. - -In terms of what we're planning to work on next, three \textsf{xpackage}s -will take the focus of our attention. -\begin{description} -\item [xbase] - `\textsf{xbase}' is actually two packages: \textsf{xparse} and - \textsf{template}. These contain code for, respectively, defining new - document commands (such that a user would use; e.g., \verb|\section|, - \verb|\makebox|, \dots) and for handling keyval lists for user input and - document specification. \textsf{xparse} was presented at \TUG{1999}% - \footnote{\url{http://www.latex-project.org/papers/tug99.pdf}} - and Lars Hellstr\"om wrote some notes on \textsf{template} in 2000% - \footnote{\url{http://www.latex-project.org/papers/template-notes.pdf}}. - Functionality coverage for these packages is good but concepts need a good - ``airing''. There are various approaches taken for keyval input, some more - recent than the \textsf{template} code, so there are some alternatives to - evaluate. -\item [galley2] Sophisticated handling for \mbox{constructing} paragraphs and - other document elements. Morten spoke on this at \TUG{2008}% - \footnote{\url{http://river-valley.tv/the-galley-module/}}. - Design needs to be revisited after some stress testing. -\item [xor] This is the \LaTeX3 output routine for splitting the galley into - page and sub-page sized chunks. Ideas and code need work to move to - ``production ready'' status. Early developments with this package were - published by Frank in 2000% - \footnote{\url{http://www.latex-project.org/papers/xo-pfloat.pdf}}. -\end{description} - -Expect to hear again from us at Christmas. If you'd like to discuss any -of these ideas, please join us on the \textsc{latex-l} mailing list% -\footnote{\url{http://www.latex-project.org/code.html}}. - -\end{document} - - - |