LARDHOME=/home/amulinks/lard/v8
At last LARD has a proper strings package. This uses reference counting to free strings that are no longer used, so programs that make extensive use of strings won't run out of memory any more. It also has a more comprehensive set of string functions. The only downside is that you have to call initialisation and termination functions for string variables and parameters. Full details here. I appologise for the inconvenience that these initialisation and termination functions cause; I hope to make this automatic in some (distant) future version. All programs that use strings will have to be updated to take account of these changes.
LARD now distinguishes between text files and binary files, with an extended set of operations for each type. Full details here. All programs that use files will have to be updated to take account of these changes.
You may now have vector and record constructor functions (i.e. [0,1,2] and {true,0,"foo"} of up to 33 elements.
(foo(T:type):expr(T)=foo(T)).null