| <!--{ |
| "Title": "Go 1.2 Release Notes", |
| "Path": "/doc/go1.2", |
| "Template": true |
| }--> |
| |
| <h2 id="introduction">Introduction to Go 1.2</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| Since the release of <a href="/doc/go1.1.html">Go version 1.1</a> in April, 2013, |
| the release schedule has been shortened to make the release process more efficient. |
| This release, Go version 1.2 or Go 1.2 for short, arrives roughly six months after 1.1, |
| while 1.1 took over a year to appear after 1.0. |
| Because of the shorter time scale, 1.2 is a smaller delta than the step from 1.0 to 1.1, |
| but it still has some significant developments, including |
| a better scheduler and one new language feature. |
| Of course, Go 1.2 keeps the <a href="/doc/go1compat.html">promise |
| of compatibility</a>. |
| The overwhelming majority of programs built with Go 1.1 (or 1.0 for that matter) |
| will run without any changes whatsoever when moved to 1.2, |
| although the introduction of one restriction |
| to a corner of the language may expose already-incorrect code |
| (see the discussion of the <a href="#use_of_nil">use of nil</a>). |
| </p> |
| |
| <h2 id="language">Changes to the language</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| In the interest of firming up the specification, one corner case has been clarified, |
| with consequences for programs. |
| There is also one new language feature. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="use_of_nil">Use of nil</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The language now specifies that, for safety reasons, |
| certain uses of nil pointers are guaranteed to trigger a run-time panic. |
| For instance, in Go 1.0, given code like |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| type T struct { |
| X [1<<24]byte |
| Field int32 |
| } |
| |
| func main() { |
| var x *T |
| ... |
| } |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| the <code>nil</code> pointer <code>x</code> could be used to access memory incorrectly: |
| the expression <code>x.Field</code> could access memory at address <code>1<<24</code>. |
| To prevent such unsafe behavior, in Go 1.2 the compilers now guarantee that any indirection through |
| a nil pointer, such as illustrated here but also in nil pointers to arrays, nil interface values, |
| nil slices, and so on, will either panic or return a correct, safe non-nil value. |
| In short, any expression that explicitly or implicitly requires evaluation of a nil address is an error. |
| The implementation may inject extra tests into the compiled program to enforce this behavior. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Further details are in the |
| <a href="http://golang.org/s/go12nil">design document</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: |
| Most code that depended on the old behavior is erroneous and will fail when run. |
| Such programs will need to be updated by hand. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="three_index">Three-index slices</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go 1.2 adds the ability to specify the capacity as well as the length when using a slicing operation |
| on an existing array or slice. |
| A slicing operation creates a new slice by describing a contiguous section of an already-created array or slice: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| var array [10]int |
| slice := array[2:4] |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| The capacity of the slice is the maximum number of elements that the slice may hold, even after reslicing; |
| it reflects the size of the underlying array. |
| In this example, the capacity of the <code>slice</code> variable is 8. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go 1.2 adds new syntax to allow a slicing operation to specify the capacity as well as the length. |
| A second |
| colon introduces the capacity value, which must be less than or equal to the capacity of the |
| source slice or array, adjusted for the origin. For instance, |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| slice = array[2:4:7] |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| sets the slice to have the same length as in the earlier example but its capacity is now only 5 elements (7-2). |
| It is impossible to use this new slice value to access the last three elements of the original array. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| In this three-index notation, a missing first index (<code>[:i:j]</code>) defaults to zero but the other |
| two indices must always be specified explicitly. |
| It is possible that future releases of Go may introduce default values for these indices. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Further details are in the |
| <a href="http://golang.org/s/go12slice">design document</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: |
| This is a backwards-compatible change that affects no existing programs. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h2 id="impl">Changes to the implementations and tools</h2> |
| |
| <h3 id="preemption">Pre-emption in the scheduler</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| In prior releases, a goroutine that was looping forever could starve out other |
| goroutines on the same thread, a serious problem when GOMAXPROCS |
| provided only one user thread. |
| In Go 1.2, this is partially addressed: The scheduler is invoked occasionally |
| upon entry to a function. |
| This means that any loop that includes a (non-inlined) function call can |
| be pre-empted, allowing other goroutines to run on the same thread. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="thread_limit">Limit on the number of threads</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go 1.2 introduces a configurable limit (default 10,000) to the total number of threads |
| a single program may have in its address space, to avoid resource starvation |
| issues in some environments. |
| Note that goroutines are multiplexed onto threads so this limit does not directly |
| limit the number of goroutines, only the number that may be simultaneously blocked |
| in a system call. |
| In practice, the limit is hard to reach. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The new <a href="/pkg/runtime/debug/#SetMaxThreads"><code>SetMaxThreads</code></a> function in the |
| <a href="/pkg/runtime/debug/"><code>runtime/debug</code></a> package controls the thread count limit. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: |
| Few functions will be affected by the limit, but if a program dies because it hits the |
| limit, it could be modified to call <code>SetMaxThreads</code> to set a higher count. |
| Even better would be to refactor the program to need fewer threads, reducing consumption |
| of kernel resources. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="stack_size">Stack size</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| In Go 1.2, the minimum size of the stack when a goroutine is created has been lifted from 4KB to 8KB. |
| Many programs were suffering performance problems with the old size, which had a tendency |
| to introduce expensive stack-segment switching in performance-critical sections. |
| The new number was determined by empirical testing. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| At the other end, the new function <a href="/pkg/runtime/debug/#SetMaxStack"><code>SetMaxStack</code></a> |
| in the <a href="/pkg/runtime/debug"><code>runtime/debug</code></a> package controls |
| the <em>maximum</em> size of a single goroutine's stack. |
| The default is 1GB on 64-bit systems and 250MB on 32-bit systems. |
| Before Go 1.2, it was too easy for a runaway recursion to consume all the memory on a machine. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: |
| The increased minimum stack size may cause programs with many goroutines to use |
| more memory. There is no workaround, but plans for future releases |
| include new stack management technology that should address the problem better. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="cgo_and_cpp">Cgo and C++</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="/cmd/cgo/"><code>cgo</code></a> command will now invoke the C++ |
| compiler to build any pieces of the linked-to library that are written in C++; |
| <a href="/cmd/cgo/">the documentation</a> has more detail. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="go_tools_godoc">Godoc and vet moved to the go.tools subrepository</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| Both binaries are still included with the distribution, but the source code for the |
| godoc and vet commands has moved to the |
| <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go.tools">go.tools</a> subrepository. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Also, the core of the godoc program has been split into a |
| <a href="https://code.google.com/p/go/source/browse/?repo=tools#hg%2Fgodoc">library</a>, |
| while the command itself is in a separate |
| <a href="https://code.google.com/p/go/source/browse/?repo=tools#hg%2Fcmd%2Fgodoc">directory</a>. |
| The move allows the code to be updated easily and the separation into a library and command |
| makes it easier to construct custom binaries for local sites and different deployment methods. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: |
| Since godoc and vet are not part of the library, |
| no client Go code depends on the their source and no updating is required. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The binary distributions available from <a href="http://golang.org">golang.org</a> |
| include these binaries, so users of these distributions are unaffected. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| When building from source, users must use "go get" to install godoc and vet. |
| (The binaries will continue to be installed in their usual locations, not |
| <code>$GOPATH/bin</code>.) |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ go get code.google.com/p/go.tools/cmd/godoc |
| $ go get code.google.com/p/go.tools/cmd/vet |
| </pre> |
| |
| <h3 id="gccgo">Status of gccgo</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| We expect the future GCC 4.9 release to include gccgo with full |
| support for Go 1.2. |
| In the current (4.8.2) release of GCC, gccgo implements Go 1.1.2. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="gc_changes">Changes to the gc compiler and linker</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| Go 1.2 has several semantic changes to the workings of the gc compiler suite. |
| Most users will be unaffected by them. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="/cmd/cgo/"><code>cgo</code></a> command now |
| works when C++ is included in the library being linked against. |
| See the <a href="/cmd/cgo/"><code>cgo</code></a> documentation |
| for details. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The gc compiler displayed a vestigial detail of its origins when |
| a program had no <code>package</code> clause: it assumed |
| the file was in package <code>main</code>. |
| The past has been erased, and a missing <code>package</code> clause |
| is now an error. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| On the ARM, the toolchain supports "external linking", which |
| is a step towards being able to build shared libraries with the gc |
| tool chain and to provide dynamic linking support for environments |
| in which that is necessary. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| In the runtime for the ARM, with <code>5a</code>, it used to be possible to refer |
| to the runtime-internal <code>m</code> (machine) and <code>g</code> |
| (goroutine) variables using <code>R9</code> and <code>R10</code> directly. |
| It is now necessary to refer to them by their proper names. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Also on the ARM, the <code>5l</code> linker (sic) now defines the |
| <code>MOVBS</code> and <code>MOVHS</code> instructions |
| as synonyms of <code>MOVB</code> and <code>MOVH</code>, |
| to make clearer the separation between signed and unsigned |
| sub-word moves; the unsigned versions already existed with a |
| <code>U</code> suffix. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="cover">Test coverage</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| One major new feature of <a href="/pkg/go/"><code>go test</code></a> is |
| that it can now compute and, with help from a new, separately installed |
| "go tool cover" program, display test coverage results. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The cover tool is part of the |
| <a href="https://code.google.com/p/go/source/checkout?repo=tools"><code>go.tools</code></a> |
| subrepository. |
| It can be installed by running |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ go get code.google.com/p/go.tools/cmd/cover |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| The cover tool does two things. |
| First, when "go test" is given the <code>-cover</code> flag, it is run automatically |
| to rewrite the source for the package and insert instrumentation statements. |
| The test is then compiled and run as usual, and basic coverage statistics are reported: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ go test -cover fmt |
| ok fmt 0.060s coverage: 91.4% of statements |
| $ |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Second, for more detailed reports, different flags to "go test" can create a coverage profile file, |
| which the cover program, invoked with "go tool cover", can then analyze. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Details on how to generate and analyze coverage statistics can be found by running the commands |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ go help testflag |
| $ go tool cover -help |
| </pre> |
| |
| <h3 id="go_doc">The go doc command is deleted</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The "go doc" command is deleted. |
| Note that the <a href="/cmd/godoc/"><code>godoc</code></a> tool itself is not deleted, |
| just the wrapping of it by the <a href="/cmd/go/"><code>go</code></a> command. |
| All it did was show the documents for a package by package path, |
| which godoc itself already does with more flexibility. |
| It has therefore been deleted to reduce the number of documentation tools and, |
| as part of the restructuring of godoc, encourage better options in future. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: For those who still need the precise functionality of running |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ go doc |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| in a directory, the behavior is identical to running |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| $ godoc . |
| </pre> |
| |
| <h3 id="gocmd">Changes to the go command</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="/cmd/go/"><code>go get</code></a> command |
| now has a <code>-t</code> flag that causes it to download the dependencies |
| of the tests run by the package, not just those of the package itself. |
| By default, as before, dependencies of the tests are not downloaded. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h2 id="performance">Performance</h2> |
| |
| <p> |
| There are a number of significant performance improvements in the standard library; here are a few of them. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/compress/bzip2/"><code>compress/bzip2</code></a> |
| decompresses about 30% faster. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/crypto/des/"><code>crypto/des</code></a> package |
| is about five times faster. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/json/"><code>encoding/json</code></a> package |
| encodes about 30% faster. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Networking performance on Windows and BSD systems is about 30% faster through the use |
| of an integrated network poller in the runtime, similar to what was done for Linux and OS X |
| in Go 1.1. |
| </li> |
| |
| </ul> |
| |
| <h2 id="library">Changes to the standard library</h2> |
| |
| |
| <h3 id="archive_tar_zip">The archive/tar and archive/zip packages</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The |
| <a href="/pkg/archive/tar/"><code>archive/tar</code></a> |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/archive/zip/"><code>archive/zip</code></a> |
| packages have had a change to their semantics that may break existing programs. |
| The issue is that they both provided an implementation of the |
| <a href="/pkg/os/#FileInfo"><code>os.FileInfo</code></a> |
| interface that was not compliant with the specification for that interface. |
| In particular, their <code>Name</code> method returned the full |
| path name of the entry, but the interface specification requires that |
| the method return only the base name (final path element). |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: Since this behavior was newly implemented and |
| a bit obscure, it is possible that no code depends on the broken behavior. |
| If there are programs that do depend on it, they will need to be identified |
| and fixed manually. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="encoding">The new encoding package</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| There is a new package, <a href="/pkg/encoding/"><code>encoding</code></a>, |
| that defines a set of standard encoding interfaces that may be used to |
| build custom marshalers and unmarshalers for packages such as |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/"><code>encoding/xml</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/json/"><code>encoding/json</code></a>, |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/binary/"><code>encoding/binary</code></a>. |
| These new interfaces have been used to tidy up some implementations in |
| the standard library. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The new interfaces are called |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/#BinaryMarshaler"><code>BinaryMarshaler</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/#BinaryUnmarshaler"><code>BinaryUnmarshaler</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/#TextMarshaler"><code>TextMarshaler</code></a>, |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/#TextUnmarshaler"><code>TextUnmarshaler</code></a>. |
| Full details are in the <a href="/pkg/encoding/">documentation</a> for the package |
| and a separate <a href="http://golang.org/s/go12encoding">design document</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="fmt_indexed_arguments">The fmt package</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="/pkg/fmt/"><code>fmt</code></a> package's formatted print |
| routines such as <a href="/pkg/fmt/#Printf"><code>Printf</code></a> |
| now allow the data items to be printed to be accessed in arbitrary order |
| by using an indexing operation in the formatting specifications. |
| Wherever an argument is to be fetched from the argument list for formatting, |
| either as the value to be formatted or as a width or specification integer, |
| a new optional indexing notation <code>[</code><em>n</em><code>]</code> |
| fetches argument <em>n</em> instead. |
| The value of <em>n</em> is 1-indexed. |
| After such an indexing operating, the next argument to be fetched by normal |
| processing will be <em>n</em>+1. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| For example, the normal <code>Printf</code> call |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| fmt.Sprintf("%c %c %c\n", 'a', 'b', 'c') |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| would create the string <code>"a b c"</code>, but with indexing operations like this, |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| fmt.Sprintf("%[3]c %[1]c %c\n", 'a', 'b', 'c') |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| the result is "<code>"c a b"</code>. The <code>[3]</code> index accesses the third formatting |
| argument, which is <code>'c'</code>, <code>[1]</code> accesses the first, <code>'a'</code>, |
| and then the next fetch accesses the argument following that one, <code>'b'</code>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The motivation for this feature is programmable format statements to access |
| the arguments in different order for localization, but it has other uses: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| log.Printf("trace: value %v of type %[1]T\n", expensiveFunction(a.b[c])) |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: The change to the syntax of format specifications |
| is strictly backwards compatible, so it affects no working programs. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="text_template">The text/template and html/template packages</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The |
| <a href="/pkg/text/template/"><code>text/template</code></a> package |
| has a couple of changes in Go 1.2, both of which are also mirrored in the |
| <a href="/pkg/html/template/"><code>html/template</code></a> package. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| First, there are new default functions for comparing basic types. |
| The functions are listed in this table, which shows their names and |
| the associated familiar comparison operator. |
| </p> |
| |
| <table cellpadding="0" summary="Template comparison functions"> |
| <tr> |
| <th width="50"></th><th width="100">Name</th> <th width="50">Operator</th> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>eq</code></td> <td><code>==</code></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>ne</code></td> <td><code>!=</code></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>lt</code></td> <td><code><</code></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>le</code></td> <td><code><=</code></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>gt</code></td> <td><code>></code></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td></td><td><code>ge</code></td> <td><code>>=</code></td> |
| </tr> |
| </table> |
| |
| <p> |
| These functions behave slightly differently from the corresponding Go operators. |
| First, they operate only on basic types (<code>bool</code>, <code>int</code>, |
| <code>float64</code>, <code>string</code>, etc.). |
| (Go allows comparison of arrays and structs as well, under some circumstances.) |
| Second, values can be compared as long as they are the same sort of value: |
| any signed integer value can be compared to any other signed integer value for example. (Go |
| does not permit comparing an <code>int8</code> and an <code>int16</code>). |
| Finally, the <code>eq</code> function (only) allows comparison of the first |
| argument with one or more following arguments. The template in this example, |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| {{"{{"}}if eq .A 1 2 3 {{"}}"}} equal {{"{{"}}else{{"}}"}} not equal {{"{{"}}end{{"}}"}} |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| reports "equal" if <code>.A</code> is equal to <em>any</em> of 1, 2, or 3. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The second change is that a small addition to the grammar makes "if else if" chains easier to write. |
| Instead of writing, |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| {{"{{"}}if eq .A 1{{"}}"}} X {{"{{"}}else{{"}}"}} {{"{{"}}if eq .A 2{{"}}"}} Y {{"{{"}}end{{"}}"}} {{"{{"}}end{{"}}"}} |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| one can fold the second "if" into the "else" and have only one "end", like this: |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| {{"{{"}}if eq .A 1{{"}}"}} X {{"{{"}}else if eq .A 2{{"}}"}} Y {{"{{"}}end{{"}}"}} |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| The two forms are identical in effect; the difference is just in the syntax. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| <em>Updating</em>: Neither the "else if" change nor the comparison functions |
| affect existing programs. Those that |
| already define functions called <code>eq</code> and so on through a function |
| map are unaffected because the associated function map will override the new |
| default function definitions. |
| </p> |
| |
| <h3 id="new_packages">New packages</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| There are two new packages. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/"><code>encoding</code></a> package is |
| <a href="#encoding">described above</a>. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/image/color/palette/"><code>image/color/palette</code></a> package |
| provides standard color palettes. |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <h3 id="minor_library_changes">Minor changes to the library</h3> |
| |
| <p> |
| The following list summarizes a number of minor changes to the library, mostly additions. |
| See the relevant package documentation for more information about each change. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/archive/zip/"><code>archive/zip</code></a> package |
| adds the |
| <a href="/pkg/archive/zip/#File.DataOffset"><code>DataOffset</code></a> accessor |
| to return the offset of a file's (possibly compressed) data within the archive. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/bufio/"><code>bufio</code></a> package |
| adds <a href="/pkg/bufio/#Reader.Reset"><code>Reset</code></a> |
| methods to <a href="/pkg/bufio/#Reader"><code>Reader</code></a> and |
| <a href="/pkg/bufio/#Writer"><code>Writer</code></a>. |
| These methods allow the <a href="/pkg/io/#Reader"><code>Readers</code></a> |
| and <a href="/pkg/io/#Writer"><code>Writers</code></a> |
| to be re-used on new input and output readers and writers, saving |
| allocation overhead. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/compress/bzip2/"><code>compress/bzip2</code></a> |
| can now decompress concatenated archives. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/compress/flate/"><code>compress/flate</code></a> |
| package adds a <a href="/pkg/compress/flate/#Writer.Reset"><code>Reset</code></a> |
| method on the <a href="/pkg/compress/flate/#Writer"><code>Writer</code></a>, |
| to make it possible to reduce allocation when, for instance, constructing an |
| archive to hold multiple compressed files. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/compress/gzip/"><code>compress/gzip</code></a> package's |
| <a href="/pkg/compress/gzip/#Writer"><code>Writer</code></a> type adds a |
| <a href="/pkg/compress/gzip/#Writer.Reset"><code>Reset</code></a> |
| so it may be reused. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/compress/zlib/"><code>compress/zlib</code></a> package's |
| <a href="/pkg/compress/zlib/#Writer"><code>Writer</code></a> type adds a |
| <a href="/pkg/compress/zlib/#Writer.Reset"><code>Reset</code></a> |
| so it may be reused. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/container/heap/"><code>container/heap</code></a> package |
| adds a <a href="/pkg/container/heap/#Fix"><code>Fix</code></a> |
| method to provide a more efficient way to update an item's position in the heap. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/container/list/"><code>container/list</code></a> package |
| adds the <a href="/pkg/container/list/#List.MoveBefore"><code>MoveBefore</code></a> |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/container/list/#List.MoveAfter"><code>MoveAfter</code></a> |
| methods, which implement the obvious rearrangement. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/crypto/cipher/"><code>crypto/cipher</code></a> package |
| adds the a new GCM mode (Galois Counter Mode), which is almost always |
| used with AES encryption. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The |
| <a href="/pkg/crypto/md5/"><code>crypto/md5</code></a> package |
| adds a new <a href="/pkg/crypto/md5/#Sum"><code>Sum</code></a> function |
| to simplify hashing without sacrificing performance. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Similarly, the |
| <a href="/pkg/crypto/md5/"><code>crypto/sha1</code></a> package |
| adds a new <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha1/#Sum"><code>Sum</code></a> function. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Also, the |
| <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha256/"><code>crypto/sha256</code></a> package |
| adds <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha256/#Sum256"><code>Sum256</code></a> |
| and <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha256/#Sum224"><code>Sum224</code></a> functions. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| Finally, the <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha512/"><code>crypto/sha512</code></a> package |
| adds <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha512/#Sum512"><code>Sum512</code></a> and |
| <a href="/pkg/crypto/sha512/#Sum384"><code>Sum384</code></a> functions. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/crypto/x509/"><code>crypto/x509</code></a> package |
| adds support for reading and writing arbitrary extensions. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/crypto/tls/"><code>crypto/tls</code></a> package adds |
| support for TLS 1.1, 1.2 and AES-GCM. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/database/sql/"><code>database/sql</code></a> package adds a |
| <a href="/pkg/database/sql/#DB.SetMaxOpenConns"><code>SetMaxOpenConns</code></a> |
| method on <a href="/pkg/database/sql/#DB"><code>DB</code></a> to limit the |
| number of open connections to the database. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/csv/"><code>encoding/csv</code></a> package |
| now always allows trailing commas on fields. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/gob/"><code>encoding/gob</code></a> package |
| now treats channel and function fields of structures as if they were unexported, |
| even if they are not. That is, it ignores them completely. Previously they would |
| trigger an error, which could cause unexpected compatibility problems if an |
| embedded structure added such a field. |
| The package also now supports the generic encoding interfaces of the |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/"><code>encoding</code></a> package |
| described above. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/json/"><code>encoding/json</code></a> package |
| now will always escape ampersands as "\u0026" when printing strings. |
| It will now accept but correct invalid UTF-8 in |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/json/#Marshal"><code>Marshal</code></a> |
| (such input was previously rejected). |
| Finally, it now supports the generic encoding interfaces of the |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/"><code>encoding</code></a> package |
| described above. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/"><code>encoding/xml</code></a> package |
| now allows attributes stored in pointers to be marshaled. |
| It also supports the generic encoding interfaces of the |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/"><code>encoding</code></a> package |
| described above through the new |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#Marshaler"><code>Marshaler</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#Unmarshaler"><code>Unmarshaler</code></a>, |
| and related |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#MarshalerAttr"><code>MarshalerAttr</code></a> and |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#UnmarshalerAttr"><code>UnmarshalerAttr</code></a> |
| interfaces. |
| The package also adds a |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#Encoder.Flush"><code>Flush</code></a> method |
| to the |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#Encoder"><code>Encoder</code></a> |
| type for use by custom encoders. See the documentation for |
| <a href="/pkg/encoding/xml/#Encoder.EncodeToken"><code>EncodeToken</code></a> |
| to see how to use it. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/flag/"><code>flag</code></a> package now |
| has a <a href="/pkg/flag/#Getter"><code>Getter</code></a> interface |
| to allow the value of a flag to be retrieved. Due to the |
| Go 1 compatibility guidelines, this method cannot be added to the existing |
| <a href="/pkg/flag/#Value"><code>Value</code></a> |
| interface, but all the existing standard flag types implement it. |
| The package also now exports the <a href="/pkg/flag/#CommandLine"><code>CommandLine</code></a> |
| flag set, which holds the flags from the command line. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/go/ast/"><code>go/ast</code></a> package's |
| <a href="/pkg/go/ast/#SliceExpr"><code>SliceExpr</code></a> struct |
| has a new boolean field, <code>Slice3</code>, which is set to true |
| when representing a slice expression with three indices (two colons). |
| The default is false, representing the usual two-index form. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/go/build/"><code>go/build</code></a> package adds |
| the <code>AllTags</code> field |
| to the <a href="/pkg/go/build/#Package"><code>Package</code></a> type, |
| to make it easier to process build tags. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/image/draw/"><code>image/draw</code></a> package now |
| exports an interface, <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Drawer"><code>Drawer</code></a>, |
| that wraps the standard <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Draw"><code>Draw</code></a> method. |
| The Porter-Duff operators now implement this interface, in effect binding an operation to |
| the draw operator rather than providing it explicitly. |
| Given a paletted image as its destination, the new |
| <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#FloydSteinberg"><code>FloydSteinberg</code></a> |
| implementation of the |
| <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Drawer"><code>Drawer</code></a> |
| interface will use the Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion algorithm to draw the image. |
| To create palettes suitable for such processing, the new |
| <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Quantizer"><code>Quantizer</code></a> interface |
| represents implementations of quantization algorithms that choose a palette |
| given a full-color image. |
| There are no implementations of this interface in the library. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/image/gif/"><code>image/gif</code></a> package |
| can now create GIF files using the new |
| <a href="/pkg/image/gif/#Encode"><code>Encode</code></a> |
| and <a href="/pkg/image/gif/#EncodeAll"><code>EncodeAll</code></a> |
| functions. |
| Their options argument allows specification of an image |
| <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Quantizer"><code>Quantizer</code></a> to use; |
| if it is <code>nil</code>, the generated GIF will use the |
| <a href="/pkg/image/color/palette/#Plan9"><code>Plan9</code></a> |
| color map (palette) defined in the new |
| <a href="/pkg/image/color/palette/"><code>image/color/palette</code></a> package. |
| The options also specify a |
| <a href="/pkg/image/draw/#Drawer"><code>Drawer</code></a> |
| to use to create the output image; |
| if it is <code>nil</code>, Floyd-Steinberg error diffusion is used. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/io/#Copy"><code>Copy</code></a> method of the |
| <a href="/pkg/io/"><code>io</code></a> package now prioritizes its |
| arguments differently. |
| If one argument implements <a href="/pkg/io/#WriterTo"><code>WriterTo</code></a> |
| and the other implements <a href="/pkg/io/#ReaderFrom"><code>ReaderFrom</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/io/#Copy"><code>Copy</code></a> will now invoke |
| <a href="/pkg/io/#WriterTo"><code>WriterTo</code></a> to do the work, |
| so that less intermediate buffering is required in general. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/net/"><code>net</code></a> package requires cgo by default |
| because the host operating system must in general mediate network call setup. |
| On some systems, though, it is possible to use the network without cgo, and useful |
| to do so, for instance to avoid dynamic linking. |
| The new build tag <code>netgo</code> (off by default) allows the construction of a |
| <code>net</code> package in pure Go on those systems where it is possible. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/net/"><code>net</code></a> package adds a new field |
| <code>DualStack</code> to the <a href="/pkg/net/#Dialer"><code>Dialer</code></a> |
| struct for TCP connection setup using a dual IP stack as described in |
| <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6555">RFC 6555</a>. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/net/http/"><code>net/http</code></a> package will no longer |
| transmit cookies that are incorrect according to |
| <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265">RFC 6265</a>. |
| It just logs an error and sends nothing. |
| Also, |
| the <a href="/pkg/net/http/"><code>net/http</code></a> package's |
| <a href="/pkg/net/http/#ReadResponse"><code>ReadResponse</code></a> |
| function now permits the <code>*Request</code> parameter to be <code>nil</code>, |
| whereupon it assumes a GET request. |
| Finally, an HTTP server will now serve HEAD |
| requests transparently, without the need for special casing in handler code. |
| While serving a HEAD request, writes to a |
| <a href="/pkg/net/http/#Handler"><code>Handler</code></a>'s |
| <a href="/pkg/net/http/#ResponseWriter"><code>ResponseWriter</code></a> |
| are absorbed by the |
| <a href="/pkg/net/http/#Server"><code>Server</code></a> |
| and the client receives an empty body as required by the HTTP specification. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/os/exec/"><code>os/exec</code></a> package's |
| <a href="/pkg/os/exec/#Cmd.StdinPipe"><code>Cmd.StdinPipe</code></a> method |
| returns an <code>io.WriteCloser</code>, but has changed its concrete |
| implementation from <code>*os.File</code> to an unexported type that embeds |
| <code>*os.File</code>, and it is now safe to close the returned value. |
| Before Go 1.2, there was an unavoidable race that this change fixes. |
| Code that needs access to the methods of <code>*os.File</code> can use an |
| interface type assertion, such as <code>wc.(interface{ Sync() error })</code>. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/runtime/"><code>runtime</code></a> package relaxes |
| the constraints on finalizer functions in |
| <a href="/pkg/runtime/#SetFinalizer"><code>SetFinalizer</code></a>: the |
| actual argument can now be any type that is assignable to the formal type of |
| the function, as is the case for any normal function call in Go. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/sort/"><code>sort</code></a> package has a new |
| <a href="/pkg/sort/#Stable"><code>Stable</code></a> function that implements |
| stable sorting. It is less efficient than the normal sort algorithm, however. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/strings/"><code>strings</code></a> package adds |
| an <a href="/pkg/strings/#IndexByte"><code>IndexByte</code></a> |
| function for consistency with the <a href="/pkg/bytes/"><code>bytes</code></a> package. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/"><code>sync/atomic</code></a> package |
| adds a new set of swap functions that atomically exchange the argument with the |
| value stored in the pointer, returning the old value. |
| The functions are |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapInt32"><code>SwapInt32</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapInt64"><code>SwapInt64</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapUint32"><code>SwapUint32</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapUint64"><code>SwapUint64</code></a>, |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapUintptr"><code>SwapUintptr</code></a>, |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/sync/atomic/#SwapPointer"><code>SwapPointer</code></a>, |
| which swaps an <code>unsafe.Pointer</code>. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/syscall/"><code>syscall</code></a> package now implements |
| <a href="/pkg/syscall/#Sendfile"><code>Sendfile</code></a> for Darwin. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/testing/"><code>testing</code></a> package |
| now exports the <a href="/pkg/testing/#TB"><code>TB</code></a> interface. |
| It records the methods in common with the |
| <a href="/pkg/testing/#T"><code>T</code></a> |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/testing/#B"><code>B</code></a> types, |
| to make it easier to share code between tests and benchmarks. |
| Also, the |
| <a href="/pkg/testing/#AllocsPerRun"><code>AllocsPerRun</code></a> |
| function now quantizes the return value to an integer (although it |
| still has type <code>float64</code>), to round off any error caused by |
| initialization and make the result more repeatable. |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/text/template/"><code>text/template</code></a> package |
| now automatically dereferences pointer values when evaluating the arguments |
| to "escape" functions such as "html", to bring the behavior of such functions |
| in agreement with that of other printing functions such as "printf". |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| In the <a href="/pkg/time/"><code>time</code></a> package, the |
| <a href="/pkg/time/#Parse"><code>Parse</code></a> function |
| and |
| <a href="/pkg/time/#Time.Format"><code>Format</code></a> |
| method |
| now handle time zone offsets with seconds, such as in the historical |
| date "1871-01-01T05:33:02+00:34:08". |
| Also, pattern matching in the formats for those routines is stricter: a non-lowercase letter |
| must now follow the standard words such as "Jan" and "Mon". |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| The <a href="/pkg/unicode/"><code>unicode</code></a> package |
| adds <a href="/pkg/unicode/#In"><code>In</code></a>, |
| a nicer-to-use but equivalent version of the original |
| <a href="/pkg/unicode/#IsOneOf"><code>IsOneOf</code></a>, |
| to see whether a character is a member of a Unicode category. |
| </li> |
| |
| </ul> |