04.09.2004 - Version 0.1.5 is out
Version 0.1.5 is out. This is a very dirty release (so the codename "dirty" :-). The reason for this is that i had my Linux partition broken for more than a month and i left a lot of development behind. In the forum, some days ago i mentioned that one of the goals for Version 0.2 is to have a fully functional JIT compiler for the x86 platform. While i was writing these, i had in mind that i did a little, or none work on this part, but some minutes before packing the source code for distribution, i saw that i have done some work. Actually in the sources, a 'jit' subdirectory exists :-). Well, you may play with this, but the "official recommendation" is to ignore it. It's just an experiment i did with the NerveBreak source code and was too lazy to put it out :-P.

Now about this release. I think that there are many changes which should make you to -at least- take a look at 0.1.5. First of all, classes and objects are out. Yes, this time, instead of adding a feature, i removed an existing one (and this will be done again in the future, when i think that it needs to be done). The NerveBreak userbase is not that large for worrying about the consequences of this move so i did it without many thoughts. The main reason for removing OOP from NerveBreak is that it was implemented poorly and in it's majority was a hack. Anyway, i don't think that it was necessarry for game development (where NB is focused). Beyond that, NB now supports "includes". Includes, by default are includes from external text files, but a host program can override that behaviour and feed the library with whatever it wants (f.e. code from a database or something). Another new feature is the "xml" module, which allows you to load and parse xml files. It requires libXML2 tho.

From the Download section, you'll be able to get the source code for 0.1.5. Yes, only the source code this time :-). Read the instructions in the sources for what you'll need to build the sources under Windows. Under Linux and other UNIX flavors it's too straightforward. I may make a library-only release for MinGW and MSVC users. For other -small- announcements, just read the forums. I tend to write news and stuff about NerveBreak there.

Talking about the forums, i'm wondering why the population is low there. I've seen that previous version have been downloaded several times, but i wonder why nobody visits the forums. Currently, they're the best place to get help about NerveBreak and if you have ANY problem, just ask there (but take care to ask in the correct forum - f.e. don't ask about implementing a new feature in the bug report forum :-). Also by visiting the forums, just to say a "hello", you show me that you use or may use NerveBreak, so you help me see how many users NerveBreak has, which pushes me to spend more time in developing NerveBreak :-).
04.05.2004 - Windows version and a patch for the library :-P
Okay, two days after the release i realized that i, hm, forgot something to do. Well, i forgot to write the code that *releases* the memory that the compiler reserves for class declarations. Not a little issue, since i assume that everybody is going to play with this new feature :-P. Fortunatelly, this is not an issue for precompiled scripts and scripts without objects, but still a patch is required. So i made one. The patch is available from the Files sections of the Sourceforge.net project page (scroll down this page and you'll find a link below the two icons).

Also today i've finally uploaded the Windows version. I didn't did that before since i needed to obtain libpng for MinGW. It's funny to think that the first releases of NerveBreak lacked Linux support but not they lack Windows support! My switch from Windows to Linux has it's effects :-).

As i see it, NerveBreak gets a lot more mature in every new release. Still there is work to be done before NerveBreak switches from "Alpha" to "Beta", but despite how i'm marking it, i believe that NerveBreak *can* be used in production environments (well, after reading that, note that it's not a good idea to use it in your next military project about automatically driven missiles :-).

NerveBreak 0.1.5 will be released as soon as i believe that my workcode should be released.
02.05.2004 - Version 0.1.4
Version 0.1.4 is out. Major additions include objects/classes and host-side function calls. Minor additions are include some new arguments in the standalone versions, a Visual C++ Tookit make batchfile, ability to create a static library. The package now contain some examples on how to use the library. A new module, dmedia, is added, however it is in very early stage. dmedia is wrapped around SDL, however it is not a SDL wrapper :-P. It just uses some of SDL's functions. dmedia has optional (but recommended) png support using the libpng library.
This version is not the "supah big" version i wanted and it doesn't include every thing i wanted (f.e. rewritten docs). However i have near a month to release a new version and in some days i'm flying for Athens, where i'll stay for some days. So i'll not be able to develop NerveBreak. Also i need 2-3 days for the usual announcements in developer-related sites, etc.
06.04.2004 - Site fixes and additions
Windows version is available for download (i had some transfer problems yesterday and people who tried to download it got a zero sized file).

Also the forum is now separated to more forums. To be honest, i'm not expecting them to fill soon (NerveBreak is not that known), but if i do it later, i may experience some bugs. Actually, time doesn't matter - but it will be better to fix these possible bugs earlier than later :-).
05.04.2004 - Version 0.1.3
Version 0.1.3 is out. Not much changes this time: three new functions (system(), envSet() and envGet()) to allow CGI scripts to handle GET forms. Also the documentation has been corrected here and there. Now there are binaries for Windows and DOS available, for those who doesn't have the required tools to build them.

Version 0.1.4 will take a while to be released. In 0.1.4 i may rewrite a big part of the documentation in order to make it more easy to read.
05.04.2004 - New forum
I promised for it and here it is :-). A new forum! Currently it lacks some features (f.e. editing), but i'll put them in later. I just wanted to get rid of the old one (which i don't even know why i used it from the first time). I must note that in order to post a message you have to signup first. But you'll figure that out when you try to post a message :-).
27.03.2004 - Version 0.1.2
Sorry for the delay, but NerveBreak isn't my first priority (even if the last week almost all my development was for NB :-). This brand new version has some important changes, like module support (currently you can use external modules only under Windows and Linux, but static modules can be compiled with the source code, which means that you don't have to modify the NerveBreak Library in order to add custom functions) and a compiler that allows you to create standalone applications using NerveBreak (however it needs a C compiler to do the actual compiling, since -as we know- NerveBreak is multiplatform ;-). Also there are new keywords that allow you to debug your scripts (debug, assert), a 'user stack', which allows you to push and pull items to and from it, a 'lists' module that allows the creation of lists and stacks, many bugfixes and better Unix (and friends) support. There are other less important changes, like two new operators that allows you to combine strings together ($) or with numbers (#), some new functions that allows you to get information about the underlying NerveBreak version and some more. Also, there is a function that returns TRUE if the underlying NerveBreak version is an official release or FALSE if not, so if you modify the source code, it's better to set this function return FALSE. Checkout nbVer.c for more info. Lastly, there is information inside on how to use NerveBreak to write CGI scripts, even if this is -currently- a limited feature (only POST method is supported). Full source code of a NerveBreak driven guestbook is included in the sources. All these are builded, linked and managed by a new sophisticated make process written in a combination of makefiles, shell scripts and NerveBreak scripts :-). However, even if this sounds good, this make process is currently available only to systems equipped with GNU C Compiler and UNIX commands. For Windows, you'll need MinGW and MSYS (available from MinGW's site). MinGW is needed to build the source code, and MSYS to provide the cp, rm, make, etc commands. For other systems, you have to built the source code by hand.

I want also to mention that there is a new License. The new License, in practice is similar (butnot equal) to the previous one, but covers more topics (usage, modification, etc) andlooks more professional :-). For those who are wondering, yes i was reading the GNU LGPLwhile writing this one (so some phrases are similar). For those who are still wondering,neither GNU GPL nor GNU LGPL work for me. Read the new License to find why. Note that it still costs only a credit in your program in order to use NerveBreak :-).
15.03.2004 - Site redesign
I was thinking to change the design of this site for a long time. However, i was a bit lazy... until today. Well, i hope that you'll like the new site. I must note that the sections 'code' and 'contact' are gone - i may put them back later, but i didn't had material to fill them. The 'scripts' section is introduced (it's similar to previous 'code' section - but currently is empty; i'm waiting for your submissions :-). Also the forum now is more usable, i suppose. I had to use frames for this. Many people say that it is not good to use frames in sites. Personally i think that frames are just another way to layout a page, and as any method to do that, it has to be used right. I hope that i used frames in the right way :-).

Note: the site redesign happened at 15.03.2004. However i decided to not upload it until a new version comes out. So today, 28.03.2004, is the day that the new design sees the light of the sun (or meets your browser, or whatever poemic you may think :-). But the site redesign happened at 15.03.2004, so i left that date written. End of note.
27.01.2004 - Version 0.1.1
Version 0.1.1 is out. Not much changes, but i'll be offline for a while, and i want to make a small update, because NerveBreak is somehow weak for production usage. Anyway...There are two new SDK functions, a new library function, an option touse safe-n-slow or unsafe-n-fast code for the library and some other stuff. Read the changessection in the documentation. Note that the Linux binary is currently outdated. If you want tocontribute a compilation (it will take you only a tiny fraction of your time), feel free touse the included Makefile (it is only tested with GNU Make and Borland Make) to compile the sourcecode with GCC. You can modify the Makefile to compile it with optimizations enabled or with adifferent C compiler.
23.01.2004 - Linux binary
GODoal sent me a linux binary for NerveBreak. According to his sayings, NerveBreak compiled normally only with a warning about the usage of 'gets'. This is an issue that will be fixed in the next version. You can download the binary from the Download section.
23.01.2004 - Normal site
The 'normal' site is up. The previous one was a fast page made in Mozilla Composer in 10-15 minutes just to say something and provide a download point. However, using a NerveBreak script i managed to make a new site in less than 60 minutes, which is a lot better :-).
22.01.2004 - First public version
The first 'public' version of NerveBreak scripting language and engine is a 3 days work. If you need a scripting language for your system or a scripting engine for your C program, NerveBreak is that what you need. And it costs only a message in your credits part :-).


Copyright (C) 2004 Kostas Michalopoulos
This page has been generated by the makesite.nb NerveBreak script

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