What changes in Silex

Why upgrade?

This release reduces small-allocation costs in native Windows programs on both ARM64 and x64. The default backend remains native on all six platforms; language and ownership semantics are unchanged.

Changes

• The Windows ARM64 and x64 native backend uses the system heap for strings, collections, classes, and copy/collection callbacks instead of reserving virtual memory per allocation. Adapters preserve scratch and SIMD registers; value and ownership semantics remain unchanged.
• Distribution qualification now checks allocation, copying and cycles, then fixed work in Debug and Release, on every native target. Measurements remain separate from correctness tests.
• The historical 0.47.0 notes distinguish shared changes, target-specific mechanisms and the actual scope of measurements.

The fixed-work diagnostic compares the Windows candidate with 0.47.0 on the same host, with twelve Release samples per configuration: medians move from 146.25 to 11.69 ms on x64 and from 178.10 to 14.94 ms on ARM64. These results include process startup and do not predict application-level speedups. Linux and macOS x64 retain their existing allocation paths; their extension remains unfinished and no gain is claimed.

Impact and migration

Recompile Windows programs to use the new allocator. No source migration or backend change is required.

Why upgrade?

This release unifies the default backend: native on all six distributed platforms. It reduces copies in the shared optimizer and fixes lifetime and code-generation errors. Further improvements apply to specific architectures and backends, as detailed below.

Changes

Shared behavior and processing

• run, test, and compile without --backend select native on macOS, Linux, and Windows, for both ARM64 and x64.
• The shared optimizer narrows nested aggregate copies. This transformation runs before target-specific code generation.
• Both backends strengthen cycle collection and preservation of descendants that are still live.
• The compiler releases unneeded analysis data earlier and bounds temporary memory used by some analyses and evaluations.

Target-specific and backend-specific changes

• ARM64 native code generation admits more scalar regions and optimizes checked-view kernels. It correctly preserves SIMD registers and floating-point components across calls.
• The macOS ARM64 native allocator uses the system heap (calloc/free) instead of a memory mapping per small allocation. Allocation paths on the other five targets are unchanged in this release.
• LLVM fixes recursive class-graph copies, tagged-enum equality, inherited calls, resources, collections, and callbacks. This backend remains explicitly available on macOS ARM64 through --backend llvm.

Available performance measurement

The fixed-work CCD diagnostic compares the allocator before and after its change, using native Release on macOS ARM64: 16 bodies, four moving walls, and 24 steps. The two measurement pairs go from 16.48–17.06 to 1.70–2.51 ms/step, with identical physics code and final states. They isolate this cost; they measure neither the full gain between published versions nor other targets, and do not guarantee application FPS.

Impact and migration

On macOS ARM64, add --backend llvm to retain the default backend used in 0.45–0.46. Other hosts keep their existing default. Recompile your programs to benefit from the fixes; no syntax migration is required.

Why upgrade?

This release prevents an older Silex installation from blocking silex login when its authentication directory still has overly broad permissions.

Changes

• The client automatically tightens a legacy storage directory to 0700 when it does not contain a registry credential yet.
• It continues to reject symbolic links and any credential found in a directory that another local user may have been able to read.

Impact and migration

No manual action is required when the directory does not contain a registry credential yet. A credential already present under permissive directory modes remains rejected and must be revoked before signing in again.

Why upgrade?

Authors who publish packages regularly can remain signed in to the Cloudflare registry without reauthorizing GitHub every day.

Changes

• silex login now keeps access for 30 days. Publishing or running silex login renews it automatically when seven days or less remain, for up to 90 days after the initial GitHub authorization.
• silex logout still revokes registry access and removes the local copy when the service is reachable.

Impact and migration

The official registry preserves the 24-hour flow for Silex 0.45.0 clients. Update Silex to use the longer connection. GitHub authorization is required again after 30 days of inactivity or after 90 days at the latest; no Git repository or additional permission is required. Public installs remain anonymous.

Why upgrade?

This release prepares package publishing and installation through the Cloudflare registry. It can publish a snapshot of a local directory without a Git repository and keep versions installable independently of the author's repository. It also adds language expressions and extends the LLVM backend qualified on macOS ARM64.

Changes

• silex login authenticates authors through their GitHub identity without repository access; silex logout revokes the local credential.
• silex publish <directory> sends sources and declared artifacts to the registry. --dry-run lists included and excluded files and the snapshot digest without network access or publication.
• silex install detects the Cloudflare registry protocol when it is enabled on the official domain, verifies downloaded objects, and keeps access to the old index during the transition.
• The language supports value-producing match expressions, scalar literal patterns, and user-defined arithmetic operators.
• LSP completion covers more incomplete expressions, inherited members, and workspace changes.
• LLVM becomes the default backend on qualified macOS ARM64 hosts; other platforms keep the native backend by default. The native ARM64 and X64 paths also receive fixes and optimizations.

Impact and migration

The Cloudflare registry must be active on registry.silex-lang.org before silex publish can upload. Before the cutover, --dry-run works offline and installs continue to read the old index. After the cutover, older Silex clients cannot install versions stored only on Cloudflare: update the client. Packages can now be published from a directory without Git; a repository link remains optional for contributors. Existing source code needs no change to use the new language constructs.

Why upgrade?

This release fixes several cases where valid programs could be analyzed incorrectly and makes completion more reliable while editing incomplete code.

Changes

• Construction now preserves inherited class graphs.
• Diagnostics remain correct when a module is imported through an atom.
• LSP completion recognizes incomplete cascades and prefixed expressions while they are being typed.
• Collection literals receive the correct type context when used in an optional value.

Impact and migration

This release introduces no intentional breaking change and requires no source change. Recompiling is sufficient. The upgrade is recommended for projects that use class inheritance, atom imports, optional collections, or editor completion.