[racket-dev] release notes draft

I would omit 'now' (that's the whole point of a release announcement) and I'd avoid the dangling comparison with 

 the Typed Racket compilation improved by 50% on some typed programs; 
 see http:// ... 






On Jan 13, 2014, at 11:43 AM, Sam Tobin-Hochstadt <samth at cs.indiana.edu> wrote:

> Looks good.
> 
> On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 11:40 AM, Robby Findler
> <robby at eecs.northwestern.edu> wrote:
>> How about this bullet:
>> 
>> * Typed Racket is now 50% faster when type checking some programs.
>>   For example: http://bit.ly/1d0Ye4z
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Sam Tobin-Hochstadt <samth at cs.indiana.edu>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> The graph is at:
>>> 
>>> http://drdr.racket-lang.org/28051/pkgs/typed-racket-pkgs/typed-racket-test/tests/typed-racket/succeed/new-metrics.rkt
>>> 
>>> Sam
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Robby Findler
>>> <robby at eecs.northwestern.edu> wrote:
>>>> Okay, new version below. Thanks!
>>>> 
>>>> If there is a drdr graph that shows the 50% jump, I'd like to add that
>>>> pointer into the notes in the bullet you added, eg:
>>>> 
>>>> * Typed Racket is now 50% faster when type checking some large
>>>>   programs. See, for example:
>>>> http://drdr.racket-lang.org/...../bigfile.rkt
>>>> 
>>>> Robby
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Racket 5.92 has a new package system, including a catalog of
>>>> hundreds of already-available packages. Please visit
>>>> 
>>>> http://pkgs.racket-lang.org/
>>>> 
>>>> for an overview of the packages.
>>>> 
>>>> Recent releases included the "beta" versions of the package system.
>>>> Racket version 6.0 incorporates many improvements suggested by these
>>>> preliminary experiences:
>>>> 
>>>> * A package is treated as a single collection by default, so it is even
>>>>   easier to use a Github repository as a package. Get started quickly:
>>>>     http://docs.racket-lang.org/pkg/getting-started.html
>>>> 
>>>> * DrRacket includes a new package manager GUI, available via the
>>>>   File|Package Manager ... menu item. The GUI is also available
>>>>   as a stand-alone program via the "gui-pkg-manager" package.
>>>> 
>>>> * The main Racket distribution has been separated into about 200
>>>>   packages. The Racket installer combines the core system with
>>>>   bundled versions of these packages.
>>>> 
>>>>   Alternatively, you may now install a Minimal Racket distribution ---
>>>>   which is about 1/10 the size of the main distribution --- and add
>>>> only
>>>>   those packages that you need.
>>>> 
>>>> * Package installation supports pre-built packages that include
>>>>   compiled byte code and rendered documentation, meaning packages can
>>>> be
>>>>   installed quickly when built versions are a available. All packages
>>>> in
>>>>   the main distribution are available in pre-built form.
>>>> 
>>>> Further improvements are in the works, including package documentation
>>>> on
>>>> the package-catalog web site.
>>>> 
>>>> COMPATIBILITY NOTE: PLaneT, the previous Racket package system,
>>>> will remain in place for the foreseeable future, but we expect
>>>> all package work to shift to the new system.
>>>> 
>>>> Beyond the package system, this release brings a number of other
>>>> changes:
>>>> 
>>>> * Racket's HTML documentation has a new and improved look, thanks to
>>>>   Matthew Butterick.
>>>> 
>>>> * Racket's JIT compiler supports the ARM architecture.
>>>> 
>>>> * Racket supports the Mac's Retina display mode.
>>>> 
>>>> * Typed Racket is now 50% faster when type checking some large
>>>>   programs.
>>>> 
>>>> * The profiler provides a new mode that uses the errortrace library to
>>>>   produce fine-grained profiles.
>>>> 
>>>> * A new contract profiler reports how much time programs spend checking
>>>>   contracts, and which contracts are most expensive.
>>>> 
>>>> * The math/flonum library exports fast 105-bit precision operations.
>>>> 
>>>> * Check Syntax handles generated identifiers, especially those
>>>>   introduced by struct (e.g. field selectors) and Redex (e.g., e_1,
>>>> e_2)
>>>> 
>>>> * 2htdp/batch-io includes functions for dealing with html/xml in files
>>>> and
>>>>   web sites as X-expressions plus conveniences for web-based graph
>>>> traversals.
>>>> 
>> 
>> 
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