The 2.0.0 release candidate is now available

A new SCons checkpoint release, 2.0.0.candidate.20100607, is now  
available on the SCons download page:

           http://www.scons.org/download.php

   The primary purpose of this release is to remove support for Python  
versions prior to 2.4 and streamline the SCons code base using more  
modern python idioms.

   A SCons "checkpoint release" is intended to provide early access to  
new features so they can be tested in the field before being released  
for adoption by other software distributions.

   Note that a checkpoint release is developed using the same test- 
driven development methodology as all SCons releases.  Existing SCons  
functionality should all work as it does in previous releases (except  
for any changes identified in the release notes) and early adopters  
should be able to use a checkpoint release safely for production work  
with existing SConscript files.  If not, it represents not only a bug  
in SCons but also a hole in the regression test suite, and we want to  
hear about it.

   New features may be more lightly tested than in past releases,  
especially as concerns their interaction with all of the other  
functionality in SCons.  We are especially interested in hearing bug  
reports about new functionality.

   We do not recommend that downstream distributions (Debian, Fedora,  
etc.) package a checkpoint release, mainly to avoid confusing the  
"public" release numbering with the long checkpoint release names.

   Here is a summary of the changes since 1.3:

   NEW FUNCTIONALITY

   - There should be no new functionality or bug fixes in this  
checkpoint.  Bug fixes will be found in the 1.3.1 series of checkpoints.

   DEPRECATED FUNCTIONALITY

   - All features or usages deprecated in 1.3 should have been  
removed.  Uses of formerly-deprecated features should get an error.

   - The BuildDir() method and the build_dir option now get warnings.

   - The SourceCode() function and its associated factory functions  
have started their deprecation cycle and can have a warning enabled.

   CHANGED/ENHANCED EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY

   - Any Command() or env.Command() calls that use the following  
Action factory functions will have their targets rebuilt when  
upgrading from any pre-2.0 release:

         Chmod()
         Copy()
         Delete()
         Mkdir()
         Move()
         Touch()

     (The rebuild occurs because the underlying Python class that
     implements these functions has been changed to a new-style Python
     class, and that changes the Python byte code and therefore the
     build signature of the functions.)

   FIXES

   - MSVC/MSVS/SDK support has been improved. A number of issues with  
determining the correct version and architecture have been resolved.

   IMPROVEMENTS

   - Support for Python versions prior to 2.4 has been removed.  As of  
this writing, we believe that SCons will still work with Python 2.3,  
but this is not guaranteed.
   - Code paths that included special cases for older Python versions  
have been streamlined.
   - The code base has been converted to use more modern idioms.   
Although we don't have any direct measurements (yet), we believe that  
SCons startup time should be decreased and the overall code should run  
faster.

   PACKAGING

   - No changes.

   DOCUMENTATION

   - The entries for SourceCode() and its associated factory functions  
now state that the functions are deprecated.

   DEVELOPMENT

   - Code no longer has to be compatible with Python versions back to  
1.5.2. Although code is tested with Python 2.3 and is still believed  
to work, the official new floor is Python 2.4.

   Thanks to Greg Noel, Steven Knight, Dirk Baechle, William  
Deegan,and W. Trevor King for their contributions to this release.

------------------------------------------------------
http://scons.tigris.org/ds/viewMessage.do?dsForumId=1270&dsMessageId=2618597

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to [[email protected]].