I have been wondering if the next release should be called 7.5 or 8.
We have quite a few new features, but not that many as with the Vim 7
release. Well, that was a big release. I think the most important
addition since then is persistent undo in 7.3. Now we have more new
features than in 7.3 or 7.4. 7.1 and 7.2 were mostly bug fixes.
I have made a list of the most important improvements compared to Vim
7.4. I might still be missing some (let me know!).
Also, now is a good time to check out the new features, we can still
make changes. Especially the Channel, Job and timer support. Once the
release is out we can't really make changes that break backwards
compatibility.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Asynchronous I/O support, channels ~
Vim can now exchange messages with another process in the background. The
message are received and handled while Vim is waiting for a character. See
|channel-demo| for an example, communicating with a Python server.
Closely related to channels is JSON support. JSON is widely supported and can
easily be used for inter-process communication, allowing for writing a server
in any language. The functions to use are |json_encode()| and |json_decode()|.
Jobs ~
Vim can now start a job, communicate with it and stop it. This is very useful
to run a process for completion, syntax checking, etc. Channels are used to
communicate with the job. Jobs can also read from or write to a buffer or a
file. See |job_start()|.
Timers ~
Also asynchronous are timers. They can fire once or repeatedly and invoke a
function to do any work. For example: >
let tempTimer = timer_start(4000, 'CheckTemp')
This will make call 4 seconds later, like: >
call CheckTemp()
Partials ~
Vim already had a Funcref, a reference to a function. A partial also refers
to a function, and additionally binds arguments and/or a dictionary. This is
especially useful for callbacks on channels and timers. E.g., for the timer
example above, to pass an argument to the function: >
let tempTimer = timer_start(4000, function('CheckTemp', ['out']))
This will make call 4 seconds later, like: >
call CheckTemp('out')
New style tests ~
This is for Vim developers. So far writing tests for Vim has not been easy.
Vim 8 adds assert functions and a framework to run tests. This makes it a lot
simpler to write tests and keep them updated.
These functions have been added:
|assert_equal()|
|assert_notequal()|
|assert_exception()|
|assert_fails()|
|assert_false()|
|assert_match()|
|assert_notmatch()|
|assert_true()|
|alloc_fail()|
|disable_char_avail_for_testing()|
Window IDs ~
Previously windows could only be accessed by their number. And every time a
window would open, close or move that number changes. Each window now has a
unique ID, so that they are easy to find.
Vim script enhancements *new-vim-script-8*
-----------------------
In Vim scripts the following types have been added:
|Special| |v:false|, |v:true|, |v:none| and |v:null|
|Channel| connection to another process for asynchronous I/O
|Job| process control
Many functions and commands have been added to support the new types.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
223. You set up a web-cam as your home's security system.
/// Bram Moolenaar -- [email protected] -- http://www.Moolenaar.net \\\
/// sponsor Vim, vote for features -- http://www.Vim.org/sponsor/ \\\
\\\ an exciting new programming language -- http://www.Zimbu.org ///
\\\ help me help AIDS victims -- http://ICCF-Holland.org ///
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