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1 ================================================
2 Development version
3 ================================================
4
5 The changes listed here are a brief summary of the substantial work on IPython
6 since the 0.11.x release series. For more details, please consult the actual
7 source.
8
9 Main `ipython` branch
1 =====================
2 Development version
10 3 =====================
11 4
5 This document describes in-flight development work.
12 6
13 New features
14 ------------
15
16 .. Expand on this:
17 * **HTML Notebook**: A powerful new interface puts IPython in your browser. You
18 can start it with the command ``ipython notebook``. See :ref:`the Notebook
19 docs <htmlnotebook>` for technical details.
20
21 * **Tabbed QtConsole**: The QtConsole now supports starting multiple kernels in
22 tabs, and has a menubar, so it looks and behaves more like a real application.
23 Keyboard enthusiasts can disable the menubar with ctrl-shift-M (:ghpull:`887`).
24
25 * **Python 3 compatibility**: IPython can now be installed from a single
26 codebase on Python 2 and Python 3. The installation process for Python 3
27 automatically runs 2to3. The same 'default' profile is now used for
28 Python 2 and 3 (the previous version had a separate 'python3' profile).
29
30 * **PyPy support**: The terminal interface to IPython now runs under
31 `PyPy <http://pypy.org/>`_.
32
33 * **SSH Tunnels**: In 0.11, the :mod:`IPython.parallel` Client could tunnel its
34 connections to the Controller via ssh. Now, the QtConsole :ref:`supports
35 <ssh_tunnels>` ssh tunneling, as do parallel engines.
36
37 * **relaxed command-line parsing**: 0.11 was released with overly-strict
38 command-line parsing, preventing the ability to specify arguments with spaces,
39 e.g. ``ipython --pylab qt`` or ``ipython -c "print 'hi'"``. This has
40 been fixed, by using argparse. The new parsing is a strict superset of 0.11, so
41 any commands in 0.11 should still work in 0.12.
42
43 * **HistoryAccessor**: The :class:`~IPython.core.history.HistoryManager` class for
44 interacting with your IPython SQLite history database has been split, adding
45 a parent :class:`~IPython.core.history.HistoryAccessor` class, so that users can
46 write code to access and search their IPython history without being in an IPython
47 session (:ghpull:`824`).
48
49 * **kernel %gui and %pylab**: The ``%gui`` and ``%pylab`` magics have been restored
50 to the IPython kernel (e.g. in the qtconsole or notebook). This allows activation
51 of pylab-mode, or eventloop integration after starting the kernel, which was
52 unavailable in 0.11. Unlike in the terminal, this can be set only once, and
53 cannot be changed.
54
55 * **%config**: A new ``%config`` magic has been added, giving easy access to the
56 IPython configuration system at runtime (:ghpull:`923`).
57
58 * **Standalone Kernel**: ``ipython kernel`` subcommand has been added, to allow
59 starting a standalone kernel, that can be used with various frontends.
60
61 * **Multiline History**: Multiline readline history has been restored to the
62 Terminal frontend by default (:ghpull:`838`).
63
64 * **%store**: The ``%store`` magic from earlier versions has been updated and
65 re-enabled (:ref:`extensions_storemagic`; :ghpull:`1029`). To autorestore
66 stored variables on startup, specify ``c.StoreMagic.autorestore = True`` in
67 :file:`ipython_config.py`.
68
69
70
71 Major Bugs fixed
72 ----------------
73
74 * Simple configuration errors should no longer crash IPython. In 0.11, errors in
75 config files, as well as invalid trait values, could crash IPython. Now, such
76 errors are reported, and help is displayed.
77
78 * Certain SyntaxErrors no longer crash IPython (e.g. just typing keywords, such as
79 ``return``, ``break``, etc.). See :ghissue:`704`.
80
81 * IPython path utils, such as :func:`~IPython.utils.path.get_ipython_dir` now check
82 for write permissions, so IPython should function on systems where the default
83 path resolution might point to a read-only location, such as ``HOMESHARE`` on
84 Windows (:ghissue:`669`).
85
86 * :func:`raw_input` now works in the kernel when multiple frontends are in use. The
87 request will be sent to the frontend that made the request, and an exception is
88 raised if that frontend does not support stdin requests (e.g. the notebook)
89 (:ghissue:`673`).
90
91 * :mod:`zmq` version detection no longer uses simple lexicographical comparison to
92 check minimum version, which prevents 0.11 from working with pyzmq-2.1.10
93 (:ghpull:`758`).
94
95 * A bug in PySide < 1.0.7 caused crashes on OSX when tooltips were shown
96 (:ghissue:`711`). these tooltips are now disabled on old PySide (:ghpull:`963`).
97
98 * IPython no longer crashes when started on recent versions of Python 3 in
99 Windows (:ghissue:`737`).
100
101 * Instances of classes defined interactively can now be pickled (:ghissue:`29`;
102 :ghpull:`648`). Note that pickling saves a reference to the class definition,
103 so unpickling the instances will only work where the class has been defined.
104
105 .. * use bullet list
106
107 Backwards incompatible changes
108 ------------------------------
109
110 * IPython connection information is no longer specified via ip/port directly,
111 rather via json connection files. These files are stored in the security
112 directory, and enable us to turn on HMAC message authentication by default,
113 significantly improving the security of kernels. Various utility functions
114 have been added to :mod:`IPython.lib.kernel`, for easier connecting to existing
115 kernels.
116
117 * :class:`~IPython.zmq.kernelmanager.KernelManager` now has one ip, and several port
118 traits, rather than several ip/port pair ``_addr`` traits. This better matches the
119 rest of the code, where the ip cannot not be set separately for each channel.
120
121 * Custom prompts are now configured using a new class,
122 :class:`~IPython.core.prompts.PromptManager`, which has traits for :attr:`in_template`,
123 :attr:`in2_template` (the ``...:`` continuation prompt), :attr:`out_template`
124 and :attr:`rewrite_template`. This uses Python's string formatting system, so
125 you can use ``{time}`` and ``{cwd}``, although we have preserved the abbreviations
126 from previous versions, e.g. ``\#`` (prompt number) and ``\w`` (working
127 directory). For the list of available fields, refer to the source of
128 :file:`IPython/core/prompts.py`.
129
130 * The class inheritance of the Launchers in :mod:`IPython.parallel.apps.launcher`
131 used by ipcluster has changed, so that trait names are more consistent across
132 batch systems. This may require a few renames in your config files, if you
133 customized the command-line args for launching controllers and engines. The
134 configurable names have also been changed to be clearer that they point to class
135 names, and can now be specified by name only, rather than requiring the full
136 import path of each class, e.g.::
137
138 IPClusterEngines.engine_launcher = 'IPython.parallel.apps.launcher.MPIExecEngineSetLauncher'
139 IPClusterStart.controller_launcher = 'IPython.parallel.apps.launcher.SSHControllerLauncher'
140
141 would now be specified as::
142
143 IPClusterEngines.engine_launcher_class = 'MPI'
144 IPClusterStart.controller_launcher_class = 'SSH'
145
146 The full path will still work, and is necessary for using custom launchers not in
147 IPython's launcher module.
148
149 Further, MPIExec launcher names are now prefixed with just MPI, to better match
150 other batch launchers, and be generally more intuitive. The MPIExec names are
151 deprecated, but continue to work.
152
153 * For embedding a shell, note that the parameters ``user_global_ns`` and ``global_ns``
154 have been deprectated in favour of ``user_module`` and ``module`` respsectively.
155 The new parameters expect a module-like object, rather than a namespace dict.
156 The old parameters remain for backwards compatibility, although ``user_global_ns``
157 is now ignored. The ``user_ns`` parameter works the same way as before, and
158 calling :func:`~IPython.frontend.terminal.embed.embed` with no arguments still
159 works as before.
160
161 .. * use bullet list
@@ -1,765 +1,765 b''
1 1 =============
2 2 0.11 Series
3 3 =============
4 4
5 5 Release 0.11
6 6 ============
7 7
8 8 IPython 0.11 is a *major* overhaul of IPython, two years in the making. Most
9 9 of the code base has been rewritten or at least reorganized, breaking backward
10 10 compatibility with several APIs in previous versions. It is the first major
11 11 release in two years, and probably the most significant change to IPython since
12 12 its inception. We plan to have a relatively quick succession of releases, as
13 13 people discover new bugs and regressions. Once we iron out any significant
14 14 bugs in this process and settle down the new APIs, this series will become
15 15 IPython 1.0. We encourage feedback now on the core APIs, which we hope to
16 16 maintain stable during the 1.0 series.
17 17
18 18 Since the internal APIs have changed so much, projects using IPython as a
19 19 library (as opposed to end-users of the application) are the most likely to
20 20 encounter regressions or changes that break their existing use patterns. We
21 21 will make every effort to provide updated versions of the APIs to facilitate
22 22 the transition, and we encourage you to contact us on the `development mailing
23 23 list`__ with questions and feedback.
24 24
25 25 .. __: http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/ipython-dev
26 26
27 27 Chris Fonnesbeck recently wrote an `excellent post`__ that highlights some of
28 28 our major new features, with examples and screenshots. We encourage you to
29 29 read it as it provides an illustrated, high-level overview complementing the
30 30 detailed feature breakdown in this document.
31 31
32 32 .. __: http://stronginference.com/weblog/2011/7/15/innovations-in-ipython.html
33 33
34 34 A quick summary of the major changes (see below for details):
35 35
36 36 * **Standalone Qt console**: a new rich console has been added to IPython,
37 37 started with `ipython qtconsole`. In this application we have tried to
38 38 retain the feel of a terminal for fast and efficient workflows, while adding
39 39 many features that a line-oriented terminal simply can not support, such as
40 40 inline figures, full multiline editing with syntax highlighting, graphical
41 41 tooltips for function calls and much more. This development was sponsored by
42 42 `Enthought Inc.`__. See :ref:`below <qtconsole_011>` for details.
43 43
44 44 .. __: http://enthought.com
45 45
46 46 * **High-level parallel computing with ZeroMQ**. Using the same architecture
47 47 that our Qt console is based on, we have completely rewritten our high-level
48 48 parallel computing machinery that in prior versions used the Twisted
49 49 networking framework. While this change will require users to update their
50 50 codes, the improvements in performance, memory control and internal
51 51 consistency across our codebase convinced us it was a price worth paying. We
52 52 have tried to explain how to best proceed with this update, and will be happy
53 53 to answer questions that may arise. A full tutorial describing these
54 54 features `was presented at SciPy'11`__, more details :ref:`below
55 55 <parallel_011>`.
56 56
57 57 .. __: http://minrk.github.com/scipy-tutorial-2011
58 58
59 59 * **New model for GUI/plotting support in the terminal**. Now instead of the
60 60 various `-Xthread` flags we had before, GUI support is provided without the
61 61 use of any threads, by directly integrating GUI event loops with Python's
62 62 `PyOS_InputHook` API. A new command-line flag `--gui` controls GUI support,
63 63 and it can also be enabled after IPython startup via the new `%gui` magic.
64 64 This requires some changes if you want to execute GUI-using scripts inside
65 65 IPython, see :ref:`the GUI support section <gui_support>` for more details.
66 66
67 67 * **A two-process architecture.** The Qt console is the first use of a new
68 68 model that splits IPython between a kernel process where code is executed and
69 69 a client that handles user interaction. We plan on also providing terminal
70 70 and web-browser based clients using this infrastructure in future releases.
71 71 This model allows multiple clients to interact with an IPython process
72 72 through a :ref:`well-documented messaging protocol <messaging>` using the
73 73 ZeroMQ networking library.
74 74
75 75 * **Refactoring.** the entire codebase has been refactored, in order to make it
76 76 more modular and easier to contribute to. IPython has traditionally been a
77 77 hard project to participate because the old codebase was very monolithic. We
78 78 hope this (ongoing) restructuring will make it easier for new developers to
79 79 join us.
80 80
81 81 * **Vim integration**. Vim can be configured to seamlessly control an IPython
82 82 kernel, see the files in :file:`docs/examples/vim` for the full details.
83 83 This work was done by Paul Ivanov, who prepared a nice `video
84 84 demonstration`__ of the features it provides.
85 85
86 86 .. __: http://pirsquared.org/blog/2011/07/28/vim-ipython/
87 87
88 88 * **Integration into Microsoft Visual Studio**. Thanks to the work of the
89 89 Microsoft `Python Tools for Visual Studio`__ team, this version of IPython
90 90 has been integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio's Python tools open source
91 91 plug-in. `Details below`_
92 92
93 93 .. __: http://pytools.codeplex.com
94 94 .. _details below: ms_visual_studio_011_
95 95
96 96 * **Improved unicode support**. We closed many bugs related to unicode input.
97 97
98 98 * **Python 3**. IPython now runs on Python 3.x. See :ref:`python3_011` for
99 99 details.
100 100
101 101 * **New profile model**. Profiles are now directories that contain all relevant
102 102 infromation for that session, and thus better isolate IPython use-cases.
103 103
104 104 * **SQLite storage for history**. All history is now stored in a SQLite
105 105 database, providing support for multiple simultaneous sessions that won't
106 106 clobber each other as well as the ability to perform queries on all stored
107 107 data.
108 108
109 109 * **New configuration system**. All parts of IPython are now configured via a
110 110 mechanism inspired by the Enthought Traits library. Any configurable element
111 111 can have its attributes set either via files that now use real Python syntax
112 112 or from the command-line.
113 113
114 114 * **Pasting of code with prompts**. IPython now intelligently strips out input
115 115 prompts , be they plain Python ones (``>>>`` and ``...``) or IPython ones
116 116 (``In [N]:`` and `` ...:``). More details :ref:`here <pasting_with_prompts>`.
117 117
118 118
119 119 Authors and support
120 120 -------------------
121 121
122 122 Over 60 separate authors have contributed to this release, see :ref:`below
123 123 <credits_011>` for a full list. In particular, we want to highlight the
124 124 extremely active participation of two new core team members: Evan Patterson
125 125 implemented the Qt console, and Thomas Kluyver started with our Python 3 port
126 126 and by now has made major contributions to just about every area of IPython.
127 127
128 128 We are also grateful for the support we have received during this development
129 129 cycle from several institutions:
130 130
131 131 - `Enthought Inc`__ funded the development of our new Qt console, an effort that
132 132 required developing major pieces of underlying infrastructure, which now
133 133 power not only the Qt console but also our new parallel machinery. We'd like
134 134 to thank Eric Jones and Travis Oliphant for their support, as well as Ilan
135 135 Schnell for his tireless work integrating and testing IPython in the
136 136 `Enthought Python Distribution`_.
137 137
138 138 .. __: http://enthought.com
139 139 .. _Enthought Python Distribution: http://www.enthought.com/products/epd.php
140 140
141 141 - Nipy/NIH: funding via the `NiPy project`__ (NIH grant 5R01MH081909-02) helped
142 142 us jumpstart the development of this series by restructuring the entire
143 143 codebase two years ago in a way that would make modular development and
144 144 testing more approachable. Without this initial groundwork, all the new
145 145 features we have added would have been impossible to develop.
146 146
147 147 .. __: http://nipy.org
148 148
149 149 - Sage/NSF: funding via the grant `Sage: Unifying Mathematical Software for
150 150 Scientists, Engineers, and Mathematicians`__ (NSF grant DMS-1015114)
151 151 supported a meeting in spring 2011 of several of the core IPython developers
152 152 where major progress was made integrating the last key pieces leading to this
153 153 release.
154 154
155 155 .. __: http://modular.math.washington.edu/grants/compmath09
156 156
157 157 - Microsoft's team working on `Python Tools for Visual Studio`__ developed the
158 158 integraton of IPython into the Python plugin for Visual Studio 2010.
159 159
160 160 .. __: http://pytools.codeplex.com
161 161
162 162 - Google Summer of Code: in 2010, we had two students developing prototypes of
163 163 the new machinery that is now maturing in this release: `Omar Zapata`_ and
164 164 `Gerardo Gutiérrez`_.
165 165
166 166 .. _Omar Zapata: http://ipythonzmq.blogspot.com/2010/08/ipython-zmq-status.html
167 167 .. _Gerardo Gutiérrez: http://ipythonqt.blogspot.com/2010/04/ipython-qt-interface-gsoc-2010-proposal.html>
168 168
169 169
170 170 Development summary: moving to Git and Github
171 171 ---------------------------------------------
172 172
173 173 In April 2010, after `one breakage too many with bzr`__, we decided to move our
174 174 entire development process to Git and Github.com. This has proven to be one of
175 175 the best decisions in the project's history, as the combination of git and
176 176 github have made us far, far more productive than we could be with our previous
177 177 tools. We first converted our bzr repo to a git one without losing history,
178 178 and a few weeks later ported all open Launchpad bugs to github issues with
179 179 their comments mostly intact (modulo some formatting changes). This ensured a
180 180 smooth transition where no development history or submitted bugs were lost.
181 181 Feel free to use our little Launchpad to Github issues `porting script`_ if you
182 182 need to make a similar transition.
183 183
184 184 .. __: http://mail.scipy.org/pipermail/ipython-dev/2010-April/005944.html
185 185 .. _porting script: https://gist.github.com/835577
186 186
187 187 These simple statistics show how much work has been done on the new release, by
188 188 comparing the current code to the last point it had in common with the 0.10
189 189 series. A huge diff and ~2200 commits make up this cycle::
190 190
191 191 git diff $(git merge-base 0.10.2 HEAD) | wc -l
192 192 288019
193 193
194 194 git log $(git merge-base 0.10.2 HEAD)..HEAD --oneline | wc -l
195 195 2200
196 196
197 197 Since our move to github, 511 issues were closed, 226 of which were pull
198 198 requests and 285 regular issues (:ref:`a full list with links
199 199 <issues_list_011>` is available for those interested in the details). Github's
200 200 pull requests are a fantastic mechanism for reviewing code and building a
201 201 shared ownership of the project, and we are making enthusiastic use of it.
202 202
203 203 .. Note::
204 204
205 205 This undercounts the number of issues closed in this development cycle,
206 206 since we only moved to github for issue tracking in May 2010, but we have no
207 207 way of collecting statistics on the number of issues closed in the old
208 208 Launchpad bug tracker prior to that.
209 209
210 210
211 211 .. _qtconsole_011:
212 212
213 213 Qt Console
214 214 ----------
215 215
216 216 IPython now ships with a Qt application that feels very much like a terminal,
217 217 but is in fact a rich GUI that runs an IPython client but supports inline
218 218 figures, saving sessions to PDF and HTML, multiline editing with syntax
219 219 highlighting, graphical calltips and much more:
220 220
221 221 .. figure:: ../_static/qtconsole.png
222 222 :width: 400px
223 223 :alt: IPython Qt console with embedded plots
224 224 :align: center
225 225 :target: ../_static/qtconsole.png
226 226
227 227 The Qt console for IPython, using inline matplotlib plots.
228 228
229 229 We hope that many projects will embed this widget, which we've kept
230 230 deliberately very lightweight, into their own environments. In the future we
231 231 may also offer a slightly more featureful application (with menus and other GUI
232 232 elements), but we remain committed to always shipping this easy to embed
233 233 widget.
234 234
235 235 See the :ref:`Qt console section <qtconsole>` of the docs for a detailed
236 236 description of the console's features and use.
237 237
238 238
239 239 .. _parallel_011:
240 240
241 241 High-level parallel computing with ZeroMQ
242 242 -----------------------------------------
243 243
244 244 We have completely rewritten the Twisted-based code for high-level parallel
245 245 computing to work atop our new ZeroMQ architecture. While we realize this will
246 246 break compatibility for a number of users, we hope to make the transition as
247 247 easy as possible with our docs, and we are convinced the change is worth it.
248 248 ZeroMQ provides us with much tighter control over memory, higher performance,
249 249 and its communications are impervious to the Python Global Interpreter Lock
250 250 because they take place in a system-level C++ thread. The impact of the GIL in
251 251 our previous code was something we could simply not work around, given that
252 252 Twisted is itself a Python library. So while Twisted is a very capable
253 253 framework, we think ZeroMQ fits our needs much better and we hope you will find
254 254 the change to be a significant improvement in the long run.
255 255
256 256 Our manual contains :ref:`a full description of how to use IPython for parallel
257 257 computing <parallel_overview>`, and the `tutorial`__ presented by Min
258 258 Ragan-Kelley at the SciPy 2011 conference provides a hands-on complement to the
259 259 reference docs.
260 260
261 261 .. __: http://minrk.github.com/scipy-tutorial-2011
262 262
263 263
264 264 Refactoring
265 265 -----------
266 266
267 267 As of this release, a signifiant portion of IPython has been refactored. This
268 268 refactoring is founded on a number of new abstractions. The main new classes
269 269 that implement these abstractions are:
270 270
271 271 * :class:`IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraits`.
272 272 * :class:`IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`.
273 273 * :class:`IPython.config.application.Application`.
274 274 * :class:`IPython.config.loader.ConfigLoader`.
275 275 * :class:`IPython.config.loader.Config`
276 276
277 277 We are still in the process of writing developer focused documentation about
278 278 these classes, but for now our :ref:`configuration documentation
279 279 <config_overview>` contains a high level overview of the concepts that these
280 280 classes express.
281 281
282 282 The biggest user-visible change is likely the move to using the config system
283 283 to determine the command-line arguments for IPython applications. The benefit
284 284 of this is that *all* configurable values in IPython are exposed on the
285 285 command-line, but the syntax for specifying values has changed. The gist is
286 286 that assigning values is pure Python assignment. Simple flags exist for
287 287 commonly used options, these are always prefixed with '--'.
288 288
289 289 The IPython command-line help has the details of all the options (via
290 290 ``ipythyon --help``), but a simple example should clarify things; the ``pylab``
291 291 flag can be used to start in pylab mode with the qt4 backend::
292 292
293 293 ipython --pylab=qt
294 294
295 295 which is equivalent to using the fully qualified form::
296 296
297 297 ipython --TerminalIPythonApp.pylab=qt
298 298
299 299 The long-form options can be listed via ``ipython --help-all``.
300 300
301 301
302 302 ZeroMQ architecture
303 303 -------------------
304 304
305 305 There is a new GUI framework for IPython, based on a client-server model in
306 306 which multiple clients can communicate with one IPython kernel, using the
307 307 ZeroMQ messaging framework. There is already a Qt console client, which can
308 308 be started by calling ``ipython qtconsole``. The protocol is :ref:`documented
309 309 <messaging>`.
310 310
311 311 The parallel computing framework has also been rewritten using ZMQ. The
312 312 protocol is described :ref:`here <parallel_messages>`, and the code is in the
313 313 new :mod:`IPython.parallel` module.
314 314
315 315 .. _python3_011:
316 316
317 317 Python 3 support
318 318 ----------------
319 319
320 320 A Python 3 version of IPython has been prepared. For the time being, this is
321 321 maintained separately and updated from the main codebase. Its code can be found
322 322 `here <https://github.com/ipython/ipython-py3k>`_. The parallel computing
323 323 components are not perfect on Python3, but most functionality appears to be
324 324 working. As this work is evolving quickly, the best place to find updated
325 325 information about it is our `Python 3 wiki page`__.
326 326
327 327 .. __: http://wiki.ipython.org/index.php?title=Python_3
328 328
329 329
330 330 Unicode
331 331 -------
332 332
333 333 Entering non-ascii characters in unicode literals (``u"€ø"``) now works
334 334 properly on all platforms. However, entering these in byte/string literals
335 335 (``"€ø"``) will not work as expected on Windows (or any platform where the
336 336 terminal encoding is not UTF-8, as it typically is for Linux & Mac OS X). You
337 337 can use escape sequences (``"\xe9\x82"``) to get bytes above 128, or use
338 338 unicode literals and encode them. This is a limitation of Python 2 which we
339 339 cannot easily work around.
340 340
341 341 .. _ms_visual_studio_011:
342 342
343 343 Integration with Microsoft Visual Studio
344 344 ----------------------------------------
345 345
346 346 IPython can be used as the interactive shell in the `Python plugin for
347 347 Microsoft Visual Studio`__, as seen here:
348 348
349 349 .. figure:: ../_static/ms_visual_studio.png
350 350 :width: 500px
351 351 :alt: IPython console embedded in Microsoft Visual Studio.
352 352 :align: center
353 353 :target: ../_static/ms_visual_studio.png
354 354
355 355 IPython console embedded in Microsoft Visual Studio.
356 356
357 357 The Microsoft team developing this currently has a release candidate out using
358 358 IPython 0.11. We will continue to collaborate with them to ensure that as they
359 359 approach their final release date, the integration with IPython remains smooth.
360 360 We'd like to thank Dino Viehland and Shahrokh Mortazavi for the work they have
361 361 done towards this feature, as well as Wenming Ye for his support of our WinHPC
362 362 capabilities.
363 363
364 364 .. __: http://pytools.codeplex.com
365 365
366 366
367 367 Additional new features
368 368 -----------------------
369 369
370 370 * Added ``Bytes`` traitlet, removing ``Str``. All 'string' traitlets should
371 371 either be ``Unicode`` if a real string, or ``Bytes`` if a C-string. This
372 372 removes ambiguity and helps the Python 3 transition.
373 373
374 374 * New magic ``%loadpy`` loads a python file from disk or web URL into
375 375 the current input buffer.
376 376
377 377 * New magic ``%pastebin`` for sharing code via the 'Lodge it' pastebin.
378 378
379 379 * New magic ``%precision`` for controlling float and numpy pretty printing.
380 380
381 381 * IPython applications initiate logging, so any object can gain access to
382 382 a the logger of the currently running Application with:
383 383
384 384 .. sourcecode:: python
385 385
386 386 from IPython.config.application import Application
387 387 logger = Application.instance().log
388 388
389 389 * You can now get help on an object halfway through typing a command. For
390 390 instance, typing ``a = zip?`` shows the details of :func:`zip`. It also
391 391 leaves the command at the next prompt so you can carry on with it.
392 392
393 393 * The input history is now written to an SQLite database. The API for
394 394 retrieving items from the history has also been redesigned.
395 395
396 396 * The :mod:`IPython.extensions.pretty` extension has been moved out of
397 397 quarantine and fully updated to the new extension API.
398 398
399 399 * New magics for loading/unloading/reloading extensions have been added:
400 400 ``%load_ext``, ``%unload_ext`` and ``%reload_ext``.
401 401
402 402 * The configuration system and configuration files are brand new. See the
403 403 configuration system :ref:`documentation <config_index>` for more details.
404 404
405 405 * The :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` class is now a
406 406 :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` subclass and has traitlets
407 407 that determine the defaults and runtime environment. The ``__init__`` method
408 408 has also been refactored so this class can be instantiated and run without
409 409 the old :mod:`ipmaker` module.
410 410
411 411 * The methods of :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` have
412 412 been organized into sections to make it easier to turn more sections
413 413 of functionality into components.
414 414
415 415 * The embedded shell has been refactored into a truly standalone subclass of
416 416 :class:`InteractiveShell` called :class:`InteractiveShellEmbed`. All
417 417 embedding logic has been taken out of the base class and put into the
418 418 embedded subclass.
419 419
420 420 * Added methods of :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` to
421 421 help it cleanup after itself. The :meth:`cleanup` method controls this. We
422 422 couldn't do this in :meth:`__del__` because we have cycles in our object
423 423 graph that prevent it from being called.
424 424
425 425 * Created a new module :mod:`IPython.utils.importstring` for resolving
426 426 strings like ``foo.bar.Bar`` to the actual class.
427 427
428 428 * Completely refactored the :mod:`IPython.core.prefilter` module into
429 429 :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` subclasses. Added a new
430 430 layer into the prefilter system, called "transformations" that all new
431 431 prefilter logic should use (rather than the older "checker/handler"
432 432 approach).
433 433
434 434 * Aliases are now components (:mod:`IPython.core.alias`).
435 435
436 436 * New top level :func:`~IPython.frontend.terminal.embed.embed` function that can
437 437 be called to embed IPython at any place in user's code. On the first call it
438 438 will create an :class:`~IPython.frontend.terminal.embed.InteractiveShellEmbed`
439 439 instance and call it. In later calls, it just calls the previously created
440 440 :class:`~IPython.frontend.terminal.embed.InteractiveShellEmbed`.
441 441
442 442 * Created a configuration system (:mod:`IPython.config.configurable`) that is
443 443 based on :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets`. Configurables are arranged into a
444 444 runtime containment tree (not inheritance) that i) automatically propagates
445 445 configuration information and ii) allows singletons to discover each other in
446 446 a loosely coupled manner. In the future all parts of IPython will be
447 447 subclasses of :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`. All IPython
448 448 developers should become familiar with the config system.
449 449
450 450 * Created a new :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` for holding
451 451 configuration information. This is a dict like class with a few extras: i)
452 452 it supports attribute style access, ii) it has a merge function that merges
453 453 two :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instances recursively and iii) it
454 454 will automatically create sub-:class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
455 455 instances for attributes that start with an uppercase character.
456 456
457 457 * Created new configuration loaders in :mod:`IPython.config.loader`. These
458 458 loaders provide a unified loading interface for all configuration
459 459 information including command line arguments and configuration files. We
460 460 have two default implementations based on :mod:`argparse` and plain python
461 461 files. These are used to implement the new configuration system.
462 462
463 463 * Created a top-level :class:`Application` class in
464 464 :mod:`IPython.core.application` that is designed to encapsulate the starting
465 465 of any basic Python program. An application loads and merges all the
466 466 configuration objects, constructs the main application, configures and
467 467 initiates logging, and creates and configures any :class:`Configurable`
468 468 instances and then starts the application running. An extended
469 469 :class:`BaseIPythonApplication` class adds logic for handling the
470 470 IPython directory as well as profiles, and all IPython entry points
471 471 extend it.
472 472
473 473 * The :class:`Type` and :class:`Instance` traitlets now handle classes given
474 474 as strings, like ``foo.bar.Bar``. This is needed for forward declarations.
475 475 But, this was implemented in a careful way so that string to class
476 476 resolution is done at a single point, when the parent
477 477 :class:`~IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraitlets` is instantiated.
478 478
479 479 * :mod:`IPython.utils.ipstruct` has been refactored to be a subclass of
480 480 dict. It also now has full docstrings and doctests.
481 481
482 482 * Created a Traits like implementation in :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets`. This
483 483 is a pure Python, lightweight version of a library that is similar to
484 484 Enthought's Traits project, but has no dependencies on Enthought's code. We
485 485 are using this for validation, defaults and notification in our new component
486 486 system. Although it is not 100% API compatible with Enthought's Traits, we
487 487 plan on moving in this direction so that eventually our implementation could
488 488 be replaced by a (yet to exist) pure Python version of Enthought Traits.
489 489
490 490 * Added a new module :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook` to manage the integration
491 491 with GUI event loops using `PyOS_InputHook`. See the docstrings in this
492 492 module or the main IPython docs for details.
493 493
494 494 * For users, GUI event loop integration is now handled through the new
495 495 :command:`%gui` magic command. Type ``%gui?`` at an IPython prompt for
496 496 documentation.
497 497
498 498 * For developers :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook` provides a simple interface
499 499 for managing the event loops in their interactive GUI applications.
500 500 Examples can be found in our :file:`docs/examples/lib` directory.
501 501
502 502 Backwards incompatible changes
503 503 ------------------------------
504 504
505 505 * The Twisted-based :mod:`IPython.kernel` has been removed, and completely
506 506 rewritten as :mod:`IPython.parallel`, using ZeroMQ.
507 507
508 508 * Profiles are now directories. Instead of a profile being a single config file,
509 509 profiles are now self-contained directories. By default, profiles get their
510 510 own IPython history, log files, and everything. To create a new profile, do
511 511 ``ipython profile create <name>``.
512 512
513 513 * All IPython applications have been rewritten to use
514 514 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.KeyValueConfigLoader`. This means that
515 515 command-line options have changed. Now, all configurable values are accessible
516 516 from the command-line with the same syntax as in a configuration file.
517 517
518 518 * The command line options ``-wthread``, ``-qthread`` and
519 519 ``-gthread`` have been removed. Use ``--gui=wx``, ``--gui=qt``, ``--gui=gtk``
520 520 instead.
521 521
522 522 * The extension loading functions have been renamed to
523 523 :func:`load_ipython_extension` and :func:`unload_ipython_extension`.
524 524
525 525 * :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` no longer takes an
526 526 ``embedded`` argument. Instead just use the
527 527 :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShellEmbed` class.
528 528
529 529 * ``__IPYTHON__`` is no longer injected into ``__builtin__``.
530 530
531 531 * :meth:`Struct.__init__` no longer takes `None` as its first argument. It
532 532 must be a :class:`dict` or :class:`Struct`.
533 533
534 534 * :meth:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell.ipmagic` has been
535 535 renamed :meth:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell.magic.`
536 536
537 537 * The functions :func:`ipmagic` and :func:`ipalias` have been removed from
538 538 :mod:`__builtins__`.
539 539
540 540 * The references to the global
541 541 :class:`~IPython.core.interactivehell.InteractiveShell` instance (``_ip``, and
542 542 ``__IP``) have been removed from the user's namespace. They are replaced by a
543 543 new function called :func:`get_ipython` that returns the current
544 544 :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` instance. This
545 545 function is injected into the user's namespace and is now the main way of
546 546 accessing the running IPython.
547 547
548 548 * Old style configuration files :file:`ipythonrc` and :file:`ipy_user_conf.py`
549 549 are no longer supported. Users should migrate there configuration files to
550 550 the new format described :ref:`here <config_overview>` and :ref:`here
551 551 <configuring_ipython>`.
552 552
553 553 * The old IPython extension API that relied on :func:`ipapi` has been
554 554 completely removed. The new extension API is described :ref:`here
555 555 <configuring_ipython>`.
556 556
557 557 * Support for ``qt3`` has been dropped. Users who need this should use
558 558 previous versions of IPython.
559 559
560 560 * Removed :mod:`shellglobals` as it was obsolete.
561 561
562 562 * Removed all the threaded shells in :mod:`IPython.core.shell`. These are no
563 563 longer needed because of the new capabilities in
564 564 :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook`.
565 565
566 566 * New top-level sub-packages have been created: :mod:`IPython.core`,
567 567 :mod:`IPython.lib`, :mod:`IPython.utils`, :mod:`IPython.deathrow`,
568 568 :mod:`IPython.quarantine`. All existing top-level modules have been
569 569 moved to appropriate sub-packages. All internal import statements
570 570 have been updated and tests have been added. The build system (setup.py
571 571 and friends) have been updated. See :ref:`this section <module_reorg>` of the
572 572 documentation for descriptions of these new sub-packages.
573 573
574 574 * :mod:`IPython.ipapi` has been moved to :mod:`IPython.core.ipapi`.
575 575 :mod:`IPython.Shell` and :mod:`IPython.iplib` have been split and removed as
576 576 part of the refactor.
577 577
578 578 * :mod:`Extensions` has been moved to :mod:`extensions` and all existing
579 579 extensions have been moved to either :mod:`IPython.quarantine` or
580 580 :mod:`IPython.deathrow`. :mod:`IPython.quarantine` contains modules that we
581 581 plan on keeping but that need to be updated. :mod:`IPython.deathrow` contains
582 582 modules that are either dead or that should be maintained as third party
583 583 libraries. More details about this can be found :ref:`here <module_reorg>`.
584 584
585 585 * Previous IPython GUIs in :mod:`IPython.frontend` and :mod:`IPython.gui` are
586 586 likely broken, and have been removed to :mod:`IPython.deathrow` because of the
587 587 refactoring in the core. With proper updates, these should still work.
588 588
589 589
590 590 Known Regressions
591 591 -----------------
592 592
593 593 We do our best to improve IPython, but there are some known regressions in 0.11
594 594 relative to 0.10.2. First of all, there are features that have yet to be
595 595 ported to the new APIs, and in order to ensure that all of the installed code
596 596 runs for our users, we have moved them to two separate directories in the
597 597 source distribution, `quarantine` and `deathrow`. Finally, we have some other
598 598 miscellaneous regressions that we hope to fix as soon as possible. We now
599 599 describe all of these in more detail.
600 600
601 601 Quarantine
602 602 ~~~~~~~~~~
603 603
604 604 These are tools and extensions that we consider relatively easy to update to
605 605 the new classes and APIs, but that we simply haven't had time for. Any user
606 606 who is interested in one of these is encouraged to help us by porting it and
607 607 submitting a pull request on our `development site`_.
608 608
609 609 .. _development site: http://github.com/ipython/ipython
610 610
611 611 Currently, the quarantine directory contains::
612 612
613 613 clearcmd.py ipy_fsops.py ipy_signals.py
614 614 envpersist.py ipy_gnuglobal.py ipy_synchronize_with.py
615 615 ext_rescapture.py ipy_greedycompleter.py ipy_system_conf.py
616 616 InterpreterExec.py ipy_jot.py ipy_which.py
617 617 ipy_app_completers.py ipy_lookfor.py ipy_winpdb.py
618 618 ipy_autoreload.py ipy_profile_doctest.py ipy_workdir.py
619 619 ipy_completers.py ipy_pydb.py jobctrl.py
620 620 ipy_editors.py ipy_rehashdir.py ledit.py
621 621 ipy_exportdb.py ipy_render.py pspersistence.py
622 622 ipy_extutil.py ipy_server.py win32clip.py
623 623
624 624 Deathrow
625 625 ~~~~~~~~
626 626
627 627 These packages may be harder to update or make most sense as third-party
628 628 libraries. Some of them are completely obsolete and have been already replaced
629 629 by better functionality (we simply haven't had the time to carefully weed them
630 630 out so they are kept here for now). Others simply require fixes to code that
631 631 the current core team may not be familiar with. If a tool you were used to is
632 632 included here, we encourage you to contact the dev list and we can discuss
633 633 whether it makes sense to keep it in IPython (if it can be maintained).
634 634
635 635 Currently, the deathrow directory contains::
636 636
637 637 astyle.py ipy_defaults.py ipy_vimserver.py
638 638 dtutils.py ipy_kitcfg.py numeric_formats.py
639 639 Gnuplot2.py ipy_legacy.py numutils.py
640 640 GnuplotInteractive.py ipy_p4.py outputtrap.py
641 641 GnuplotRuntime.py ipy_profile_none.py PhysicalQInput.py
642 642 ibrowse.py ipy_profile_numpy.py PhysicalQInteractive.py
643 643 igrid.py ipy_profile_scipy.py quitter.py*
644 644 ipipe.py ipy_profile_sh.py scitedirector.py
645 645 iplib.py ipy_profile_zope.py Shell.py
646 646 ipy_constants.py ipy_traits_completer.py twshell.py
647 647
648 648
649 649 Other regressions
650 650 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
651 651
652 652 * The machinery that adds functionality to the 'sh' profile for using IPython
653 653 as your system shell has not been updated to use the new APIs. As a result,
654 654 only the aesthetic (prompt) changes are still implemented. We intend to fix
655 655 this by 0.12. Tracked as issue 547_.
656 656
657 657 .. _547: https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/547
658 658
659 659 * The installation of scripts on Windows was broken without setuptools, so we
660 660 now depend on setuptools on Windows. We hope to fix setuptools-less
661 661 installation, and then remove the setuptools dependency. Issue 539_.
662 662
663 663 .. _539: https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/539
664 664
665 665 * The directory history `_dh` is not saved between sessions. Issue 634_.
666 666
667 667 .. _634: https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/634
668 668
669 669
670 670 Removed Features
671 671 ----------------
672 672
673 673 As part of the updating of IPython, we have removed a few features for the
674 purpsoes of cleaning up the codebase and interfaces. These removals are
674 purposes of cleaning up the codebase and interfaces. These removals are
675 675 permanent, but for any item listed below, equivalent functionality is
676 676 available.
677 677
678 678 * The magics Exit and Quit have been dropped as ways to exit IPython. Instead,
679 679 the lowercase forms of both work either as a bare name (``exit``) or a
680 680 function call (``exit()``). You can assign these to other names using
681 681 exec_lines in the config file.
682 682
683 683
684 684 .. _credits_011::
685 685
686 686 Credits
687 687 -------
688 688
689 689 Many users and developers contributed code, features, bug reports and ideas to
690 690 this release. Please do not hesitate in contacting us if we've failed to
691 691 acknowledge your contribution here. In particular, for this release we have
692 692 contribution from the following people, a mix of new and regular names (in
693 693 alphabetical order by first name):
694 694
695 695 * Aenugu Sai Kiran Reddy <saikrn08-at-gmail.com>
696 696 * andy wilson <wilson.andrew.j+github-at-gmail.com>
697 697 * Antonio Cuni <antocuni>
698 698 * Barry Wark <barrywark-at-gmail.com>
699 699 * Beetoju Anuradha <anu.beethoju-at-gmail.com>
700 700 * Benjamin Ragan-Kelley <minrk-at-Mercury.local>
701 701 * Brad Reisfeld
702 702 * Brian E. Granger <ellisonbg-at-gmail.com>
703 703 * Christoph Gohlke <cgohlke-at-uci.edu>
704 704 * Cody Precord
705 705 * dan.milstein
706 706 * Darren Dale <dsdale24-at-gmail.com>
707 707 * Dav Clark <davclark-at-berkeley.edu>
708 708 * David Warde-Farley <wardefar-at-iro.umontreal.ca>
709 709 * epatters <ejpatters-at-gmail.com>
710 710 * epatters <epatters-at-caltech.edu>
711 711 * epatters <epatters-at-enthought.com>
712 712 * Eric Firing <efiring-at-hawaii.edu>
713 713 * Erik Tollerud <erik.tollerud-at-gmail.com>
714 714 * Evan Patterson <epatters-at-enthought.com>
715 715 * Fernando Perez <Fernando.Perez-at-berkeley.edu>
716 716 * Gael Varoquaux <gael.varoquaux-at-normalesup.org>
717 717 * Gerardo <muzgash-at-Muzpelheim>
718 718 * Jason Grout <jason.grout-at-drake.edu>
719 719 * John Hunter <jdh2358-at-gmail.com>
720 720 * Jens Hedegaard Nielsen <jenshnielsen-at-gmail.com>
721 721 * Johann Cohen-Tanugi <johann.cohentanugi-at-gmail.com>
722 722 * Jörgen Stenarson <jorgen.stenarson-at-bostream.nu>
723 723 * Justin Riley <justin.t.riley-at-gmail.com>
724 724 * Kiorky
725 725 * Laurent Dufrechou <laurent.dufrechou-at-gmail.com>
726 726 * Luis Pedro Coelho <lpc-at-cmu.edu>
727 727 * Mani chandra <mchandra-at-iitk.ac.in>
728 728 * Mark E. Smith
729 729 * Mark Voorhies <mark.voorhies-at-ucsf.edu>
730 730 * Martin Spacek <git-at-mspacek.mm.st>
731 731 * Michael Droettboom <mdroe-at-stsci.edu>
732 732 * MinRK <benjaminrk-at-gmail.com>
733 733 * muzuiget <muzuiget-at-gmail.com>
734 734 * Nick Tarleton <nick-at-quixey.com>
735 735 * Nicolas Rougier <Nicolas.rougier-at-inria.fr>
736 736 * Omar Andres Zapata Mesa <andresete.chaos-at-gmail.com>
737 737 * Paul Ivanov <pivanov314-at-gmail.com>
738 738 * Pauli Virtanen <pauli.virtanen-at-iki.fi>
739 739 * Prabhu Ramachandran
740 740 * Ramana <sramana9-at-gmail.com>
741 741 * Robert Kern <robert.kern-at-gmail.com>
742 742 * Sathesh Chandra <satheshchandra88-at-gmail.com>
743 743 * Satrajit Ghosh <satra-at-mit.edu>
744 744 * Sebastian Busch
745 745 * Skipper Seabold <jsseabold-at-gmail.com>
746 746 * Stefan van der Walt <bzr-at-mentat.za.net>
747 747 * Stephan Peijnik <debian-at-sp.or.at>
748 748 * Steven Bethard
749 749 * Thomas Kluyver <takowl-at-gmail.com>
750 750 * Thomas Spura <tomspur-at-fedoraproject.org>
751 751 * Tom Fetherston <tfetherston-at-aol.com>
752 752 * Tom MacWright
753 753 * tzanko
754 754 * vankayala sowjanya <hai.sowjanya-at-gmail.com>
755 755 * Vivian De Smedt <vds2212-at-VIVIAN>
756 756 * Ville M. Vainio <vivainio-at-gmail.com>
757 757 * Vishal Vatsa <vishal.vatsa-at-gmail.com>
758 758 * Vishnu S G <sgvishnu777-at-gmail.com>
759 759 * Walter Doerwald <walter-at-livinglogic.de>
760 760
761 761 .. note::
762 762
763 763 This list was generated with the output of
764 764 ``git log dev-0.11 HEAD --format='* %aN <%aE>' | sed 's/@/\-at\-/' | sed 's/<>//' | sort -u``
765 765 after some cleanup. If you should be on this list, please add yourself.
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