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= Changes for 6.2.13 (r14402) - October 17, 2006

== Build System

* Perl 5 embedding is now enabled by default
** For Windows users, Perl 5.8.x is required
** Set the `PUGS_EMBED` environment variable to `noperl5` to disable this

* Prompting for Parrot embedding is now disabled by default
** Set the `PUGS_EMBED` environment variable to `parrot` to enable this

* Support for compiling using GHC 6.6
** GHC 6.4.1+ is still supported, but 6.6 will be required in the next release

== Feature Changes

=== Interactive Shell and Command-Line Flags

* New `pugs -d` flag to display a trace for debugging
* The `:r` command now resets the environment once, not twice
* The return value of blocks, such as `gather {...}`, is displayed correctly
* `$_` is no longer clobbered with the result of each expression's evaluation

=== Perl 5 Interoperability

* Arrays and Hashes now round-trip from Pugs to Perl 5 land and back
* Importing functions from Perl 5: `use perl5:CGI <header param>`
* Passing unboxed values across runtimes no longer leaks memory
* When embedding Perl 5.8+, Unicode flag is now on for Pugs-to-Perl5 strings
* `eval($str, :lang<perl5>)` now accepts non-ASCII characters in `$str`

=== Lexical Syntax

* Capture literals: `\($bar: 1, 2, 3, named => 4)`
* Here-docs now work as specced; also warns against inconsistent indentation
* Interpolation of chained calls: `"$foo.meth.meth.meth.meth()"`
* List comprehension: `for 0 < list(@x) < 10 {...}`
* Named character escapes: `"\c[LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y]"`
* New grammatical category `term:`, separated from the `prefix:` category
* New magical variables: `$?COMPILER` and `$?VERSION`
* Parse for `LABEL: STMT`, although it's currently treated the same as `STMT`
* Pod directives: `=begin`/`=end` and `=for` now terminate without `=cut`
* Pod variables: `$=FOO` and `@=FOO` give you access to the Pod section FOO
* Quote adverbs no longer take non-parens brackets: `rx:P5{...}` is valid again
* Shell-like quoting rules implemented for `<< $x "qq" 'q' >>`
* Signature literals: `:($foo is copy = 42, $, @)`
* Support for UTF-8, UTF-16 and UTF-32 encoded source files
* Support for backquotes and `qx/.../` for capturing external command output
* User-defined infix associativity: `sub infix:<foo> is assoc('right') {...}`
* `"\123"` and `"\03"` are now errors; write `"\d123"` and `"\o03"` instead
* `$::x` now means exactly the same a `$x`, instead of `$*x`
* `%h<>` now means `%h{}` -- the entire hash, not the empty string as key
* `($::('x'))` with two adjacent closing parens now parses correctly
* `0_123_456` now parses as `0d123456`, not an error
* `1<2>` is now a fatal error: Odd number of elements in Hash
* `q()` and `qw()` with parentheses are parsed as functions, not quotes

=== Declarators and Operators

* Argument interpolation via prefix `|` and `|<<` 
* Binding to qualified uninitialised symbols: `&fully::qualify := sub {...}`
* Contextual variables are now declared with `my $x is context`, not `env $x`
* Hyperised reduce operators: `[>>+<<]` and `[\>>+<<]`
* Implicit invocation assignment: `.= uc` is parsed as `$_ = $_.uc`
* Mid-block redeclaration no longer allowed: `my $x; { $x = 1; my $x = 2 }`
* Negated comparison operators: `!eqv`, `!=:=` etc; `!~~` replaces `!~`
* New infix comparison operators: `===` and `eqv`
* New infix non-short-circuiting boolean AND operator: `?&`
* Nullary reduction of builtin operators gives identity values: `[*]() === 1`
* Postfix operators can be called with a dot: `.++`, `$x.++`, `$x.\ ++`