IronPython 2.6 Release Candidate 1 Released

By Michael Foord -
IronPython 2.6 is a version of IronPython targeting compatibility with Python 2.6. As well as the new language features introduced in Python 2.6 there are a whole host of new features specific to IronPython.

The big new features in IronPython 2.6 are:
  • The __clrtype__ metaclass for data binding and .NET attribute support
  • Implementation of the ctypes module
  • Support for Python stack frames and sys.settrace, which means the pdb debugger works
  • Better performance through adaptive compilation
  • Faster startup
The announcement of Release Candidate 1 from the IronPython team:
We’re pleased to announce the release of IronPython 2.6 Release Candidate 1 which can be freely downloaded at the codeplex site.

Over the development span of IronPython 2.6, exactly 417 bugs have been fixed.  Since the release of Beta 2, we’ve addressed the following:
  • Non-hosting related APIs previously found in Microsoft.Scripting.dll have been migrated to Microsoft.Dynamic.dll.  The rationale behind this decision is that we’re aiming for compatible DLR binaries with the next major release of IronRuby, namely 1.0.  Microsoft.Dynamic.dll will likely end up being a bit different between IronPython 2.6 and IronRuby 1.0, but we intend on keeping Microsoft.Scripting.dll and Microsoft.Scripting.Core.dll exactly the same.  By doing this you’ll be able to utilize the DLR hosting APIs to run both IronPython 2.6 and IronRuby 1.0 code from the same .NET application!
  • Documentation distributed with the release has been updated
  • A plethora of bugs have been fixed over the past two months with special emphasis given to CodePlex work items with lots of votes
If no major issues with this release candidate are discovered, we hope to ship the final 2.6 release in a little under a month.  Anyone planning on upgrading to 2.6 should try out this release candidate and let us know of any issues you find ASAP.

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