z88dk

z88dk will be released on the Sunday of the second week of July and January, thus the next release dates is:

• v1.10 - 10/1/2010

The roadmap contains a list of features that should be in a given release:

• stdio

New implementation of stdio available for testing on selected target(s). The main purpose of the rewrite was to make the library 100% asm, reduce memory footprint, introduce support for multiple device drivers, make it possible to integrate sockets / file descriptors fully into the stdio model, and supply some missing functionality demanded by standard C.

• strings
  • add strlcat()
  • add strlcpy()
• stdlib
  • add qsort(), will accompany existing non-standard (but faster) l_qsort()
  • add bsearch(), will accompany existing non-standard (but faster) l_bsearch()
  • itoa() and ltoa() changed to output variable radix numbers which is more inline with modern implementations of these functions
• input
  • fix in_GetKey() which was dropping keypresses unnecessarily
  • in_Wait() and in_Pause() now measure time in milliseconds
• lib3d (mostly coming from the MSX HTC GFX lib)
  • new 'stencil' object for fast convex polygons dithered fill
  • optimizations in size and speed
  • new vector functions
  • big inprovements in managing triangles
• New targets
  • add support for Galaksija, including lo-rez graphics and 1 bit sound support
  • add support for TRS80, including lo-rez graphics and 1 bit sound support
• C128
  • “SG Tools” are now part of z88dk; SID sound, low and high resolution GFX, timers and much more.
  • much better base graphics support
  • support for both “CP/M” mode and C128 BASIC mode binaries
• Amstrad CPC
  • fixed a bug in the ROM interposer causing crashes in many functions
  • many target specific improvements
  • much better base graphics support
• MSX
  • add functions coming from “GFXLIB” by Rafael de Oliveira Jannone
  • much better base graphics support
  • target specific code for DSP sound, graphics and controllers.
• CP/M
  • improved fcntl
• TI83+ and TI84
  • appmake output binary format changed
• ZX81
  • Functions to exchange integer values with BASIC
• ZX Spectrum
  • target specifib lib slightly fixed and rearranged
  • ROM building support
• Rabbit Control Module
  • add flash handling

• crt0 (C startup code)
  • Move all library static variables to the crt0s
  • Redo crt0s so that all of them can easily separate data and code areas
• stdio
  • Migrate all targets to the new stdio
  • Add floating point converters to new stdio
  • Integrate sockets API for new stdio
  • (?) Integrate FAT16/32 middleware for new stdio
  • (?) Add some intelligence to the compiler to that it can automatically select the minimal set of stdio features needed in a compile
• math
  • Ensure that all floating point packages support the same group of mathematical functions
  • Perhaps standardize how each floating point package is called by the compiler
  • Make it easier and clearer as to how a new floating point package can be added to the compiler

Features on the to-do list that may or may not be promoted to a release above.

• z88dk package
  • CVS snapshots available on a frequent basis
  • Removing all the old documentation and ship a copy of the wiki with the kit
  • Updated examples
• Compiler / Assembler / Linker
  • Clean up of the compiler
  • Some more magic in the compiler (not sure what yet!)
  • Cleanup some ugliness in the zcc driver
  • Migration to MPM as the assembler of choice
  • Give user control over declaring multiple code and data segments
  • Introduce a standard bank-switching model so that the compiler can automatically create projects larger than 64k in size
• Miscellaneous
  • z88 spectrum screen emulation
  • Test framework in place for generic library functions
  • Cleanup the headers (similar to what Alvin has done to spectrum.h)
• Abstract Data Types
  • add singly-linked list
  • add static hash table
  • add avl tree
  • add map type
  • check into whether it makes sense to follow C++'s STL model
• Input
  • port to CPC, MSX
• SP1 software sprite engine
  • port to CPC
  • port to MSX, Timex hi-colour mode
• math
  • look into adding numerical algorithms
• stdio
  • add compression / decompression filters to new stdio
  • grow device driver library
• stdlib
  • evaluate quality and speed of prng described in this http://www.jstatsoft.org/v08/i14/paper and use it in rand()
  • possibly provide rand() for different distributions