New Verdantium Version -- 0906

I did a lot of work over labor day, particularly on the JUndo Runtime. Here is what's in the latest version:


JUndo Runtime-- Fixed a series of issues in the runtime, particularly memory reclamation. Much of the original finalizzation code has been fixed, and turned back on. This is to say, the code that actually reclaims milieux after a garbage collection run has been turned on again. The JUndo Runtime actually gets faster after it has garbage-collected milieux, so this should provide large performance improvements for some operations. In addition, a number of C++-isms have been removed from the code.

I think this is a huge change in the grand scheme of things. It makes the undo system much more efficient, particularly for very large programs. This was one of the last serious bugs I have observed in the runtime, and fixing it brings the runtime much closer to moving to a pre-alpha or alpha state. It also gives people who read code an idea of how the runtime is supposed to manage memory when fully implemented. In most programs, the vast majority of milieux are garbage-collected, and hance only the remaining milieux should contribute to the performance of milieux lookups by the runtime. This goes a long way toward demonstrating how JUndo classes can be efficient.

Verdantium-- A series of new features has been added to the DrawApp drawing application such as the ability to erase individual rendering primitives. I focused on DrawApp operations that are relatively easy to do, but relatively difficult for non-temporal systems to undo. I think the new DrawApp code makes a very strong case for temporal undo, particularly with the new refinements to the JUndo Runtime described above.

Poseidon Sourceforge Package of Verdantium-- Poseidon shows how to create a small, useful component that can be embedded in other components (or run standalone), provide macro-scripting, support multi-level undo, be printable, display page setup and print preview windows, have a reasonable user interface (although without pretty icons), load/save files in a fairly compact XML format, provide illustrated online help, and fit within a .jar footprint of a little less than 100K. This will provide a template for third parties to add their own custom components to the Verdantium system. Different components can be compiled seperately from each other and then dynamically linked into the Verdantium system using Discovery. In terms of content, this component is a simple ripple-tank simulator for educational use in entry-level (e.g. high school) physics classes. It allows one to specify simple wave positions, frequencies, relative amplitudes, etc. and then see how the waves interfere. The underlying algorithm provides a very quick-and-dirty approximation of wave effects, and isn't guaranteed to be accurate in all circumstances (it chooses speed over accuracy). This release resolves symbols that changed due to the recent refactoring of Meta.