summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex')
-rw-r--r--macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex141
1 files changed, 141 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex b/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..50484e6142
--- /dev/null
+++ b/macros/latex/contrib/l3kernel/l3news06.tex
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+% Copyright 2011 The LaTeX Project
+\documentclass{ltnews}
+\PassOptionsToPackage{colorlinks}{hyperref}
+
+\usepackage{metalogo,ragged2e}
+
+\AtBeginDocument{
+ \renewcommand{\LaTeXNews}{\LaTeX3~News}
+ \RaggedRight
+}
+
+\usepackage{hologo}
+
+\publicationmonth{June}
+\publicationyear{2011}
+\publicationissue{6}
+
+\begin{document}
+\maketitle
+
+\noindent
+A key aim of releasing `stable' \LaTeX3 material to CTAN is to allow users to
+benefit from new ideas \emph{now}, and also to raise the profile of usable
+\LaTeX3 ideas. This is clearly being successful, with \pkg{xparse} being of
+particular utility to end users. This increase in interest has been
+particularly notable on the new
+\href{http://tex.stackexchange.com/}{TeX.SX Q\&A site}.
+
+\section{The \LaTeX3 Team expands}
+
+Raising interest in \LaTeX3 developments has inevitably led to feedback on
+cases where the code base has required attention. It has also attracted new
+programmers to using \LaTeX3 ideas, some more than others! Bruno Le Floch has
+over the past few months made many useful contributions to \LaTeX3, and we are
+very pleased that he has recently joined the \LaTeX3 Project.
+
+Bruno has taken a particular interest in improving the performance and
+reliability of the \pkg{expl3} language. This has already resulted in new
+implementations for the \texttt{prop} and \texttt{seq} data types. At the same
+time, he has identified and fixed several edge-case issues in core \pkg{expl3}
+macros.
+
+\section{The `Big Bang'}
+
+In parallel to Bruno's improvements, Joseph Wright initiated a series of `Big
+Bang' improvements to \LaTeX3. The aim of the Big Bang was to address a number
+of long-standing issues with the \LaTeX3 code base. Development has taken place
+over many years, with the status of some of the resulting code being less
+than clear, even to members of The \LaTeX3 Project! At the same time, different
+conventions had been applied to different parts of the code, which made reading
+some of the code rather `interesting'. A key part of the Big Bang has been to
+address these issues, cleaning up the existing code and ensuring that the
+status of each part is clear.
+
+The arrangement of \LaTeX3 code is now the same in the development
+repository and on CTAN, and splits the code into three parts.
+\begin{description}
+ \item[\pkg{l3kernel}] The core of \LaTeX3, code which
+ is expected to be used in a \LaTeX3 kernel in more or less the
+ current form. Currently, this part is made up of the \LaTeX3
+ programming layer, \pkg{expl3}.
+ \item[\pkg{l3packages}] \LaTeXe{} packages making use of \LaTeX3
+ concepts and with stable interfaces. The \pkg{xparse} and
+ \pkg{xtemplate} packages are the core of this area. While many of
+ the \emph{ideas} explored here may eventually appear in a \LaTeX3
+ kernel, the interfaces here are tied to \LaTeXe{}.
+ \item[\pkg{l3experimental}] \LaTeXe{} packages which explore more
+ experimental \LaTeX3 ideas, and which may see interface changes as
+ development continues. Over time, we expect code to move from this area
+ to either \pkg{l3kernel} or \pkg{l3packages}, as appropriate.
+\end{description}
+
+In addition to these release areas, the development code also features a
+\pkg{l3trial} section for exploring code ideas. Code in \pkg{l3trial} may be
+used to improve or replace other parts of \LaTeX3, or may simply be dropped!
+
+As well as these improvements to the \emph{code} used in \LaTeX3, much of the
+documentation for \pkg{expl3} has been made more precise as part of the Big
+Bang. This means that \texttt{source3.pdf} is now rather longer than it was
+previously, but also should mean that many of the inaccuracies in earlier
+versions have been removed. Of course, we are very pleased to receive
+suggestions for further improvement.
+
+\section{\LaTeX3 on GitHub}
+
+The core development repository for \LaTeX3 is held in an SVN repository, which
+is \href{http://www.latex-project.org/code.html}{publicly viewable \emph{via}
+the Project website}. However, this interface misses out on some of the `bells
+and whistles' of newer code-hosting sites such as
+\href{http://gitbug.com/}{GitHub} and \href{http://bitbucket.org/}{BitBucket}.
+We have therefore established a mirror of the master repository on GitHub%
+\footnote{\url{http://github.com/latex3/svn-mirror}}. This is kept in
+synchronisation with the main SVN repository by Will Robertson (or at least
+by his laptop!).
+
+The GitHub mirror offers several useful features for people who wish to
+follow the \LaTeX3 code changes. GitHub offers facilities such as highlighted
+differences and notification of changes. It also makes it possible for
+non-Team members to submit patches for \LaTeX3 as `pull requests' on
+GitHub.
+
+As well as offering a convenient interface to the \LaTeX3 code, the GitHub
+site also includes an issue database\footnote{%
+\url{http://github.com/latex3/svn-mirror/issues}}. Given the very
+active nature of \LaTeX3 development, and the transitory nature of many
+of the issues, this provides a better approach to tracking issues than
+the main \LaTeX{} bug database\footnote{\url{http://www.latex-project.org/bugs.html}}.
+Developers and users are
+therefore asked to report any issues with \LaTeX3 code \emph{via} the GitHub
+database, rather than on the main Project homepage.
+Discussion on the \href{http://www.latex-project.org/code.html}{\mbox{LaTeX-L} mailing list}
+is also encouraged.
+
+\section{Next steps}
+
+The `Big Bang' involves making a number of changes to \pkg{expl3} function
+names, and is likely to break at least some third-party code. As a result,
+the updates will not appear on the \TeX{} Live 2011 DVD release, but will
+instead be added to \TeX{} Live once regular updates restart (probably
+August).
+
+Bruno is working on a significant overhaul of the \pkg{l3fp} floating-point
+unit for \LaTeX3. He has developed an approach which allows expandable
+parsing of floating-point expressions, which will eventually allow syntax
+such as
+\begin{verbatim}
+ \fp_parse:n { 3 * 4 ( ln(5) + 1 ) }
+\end{verbatim}
+This will result in some changes in the interface for floating-point numbers, but
+we feel that the long-term benefit is worth a small amount of recoding in other
+areas.
+
+Joseph has completed documentation of the \pkg{xgalley} module, and this is
+currently being discussed. Joseph is hoping to move on to implement other
+more visible ideas based on the \pkg{xtemplate} concept over the next few
+months.
+
+\end{document}
+
+
+