diff --git a/docs/release_notes_1.0_alpha.txt b/docs/release_notes_1.0_alpha.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..d200145424 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/release_notes_1.0_alpha.txt @@ -0,0 +1,159 @@ +================================ +Django 1.0 alpha release notes +================================ + +Welcome to Django 1.0 alpha! + +This is the first in a series of preview/development releases leading +up to the eventual release of Django 1.0, currently scheduled to take +place in early September 2008. This release is primarily targeted at +developers who are interested in testing the Django codebase and +helping to identify and resolve bugs prior to the final 1.0 release. + +As such, this release is *not* intended for production use, and any +such use is strongly discouraged. + + +What's new in Django 1.0 alpha +============================== + +Django's development trunk has been the site of nearly constant +activity over the past year, with several major new features landing +since the 0.96 release. Some of the highlights include: + +Refactored admin application (newforms-admin) + The Django administrative interface (``django.contrib.admin``) has + been completely refactored; admin definitions are now completely + decoupled from model definitions (no more ``class Admin`` + declaration in models!), rewritten to use Django's new + form-handling library (introduced in the 0.96 release as + ``django.newforms``, and now available as simply ``django.forms``) + and redesigned with extensibility and customization in mind. Full + documentation for the admin application is available online in the + official Django documentation:: + + http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/admin/ + +Improved Unicode handling + Django's internals have been refactored to use Unicode throughout; + this drastically simplifies the task of dealing with + non-Western-European content and data in Django. Additionally, + utility functions have been provided to eash interoperability with + third-party libraries and systems which may or may not handle + Unicode gracefully. Details are available in Django's + Unicode-handling documentation:: + + http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/unicode/ + +An improved Django ORM + Django's object-relational mapper -- the component which provides + the mapping between Django model classes and your database, and + which mediates your database queries -- has been dramatically + improved by a massive refactoring. For most users of Django this + is backwards-compatible; the public-facing API for database + querying underwent a few minor changes, but most of the updates + took place in the ORM's internals. A guide to the changes, + including backwards-incompatible modifications and mentions of new + features opened up by this refactoring, is available on the Django + wiki:: + + http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/QuerysetRefactorBranch + +Automatic escaping of template variables + To provide improved security against cross-site scripting (XSS) + vulnerabilities, Django's template system now automatically + escapes the output of variables; this behavior is configurable, + and allows both variables and larger template constructs to be + marked as safe (requiring no escaping) or unsafe (requiring + escaping). A full guide to this feature is in the documentation + for the Django template system:: + + http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/templates/#automatic-html-escaping + +There are many more new features, many bugfixes and many enhancements +to existing features from previous releases; the ``newforms` library, +for example, has undergone massive improvements including several +useful add-ons in ``django.contrib`` which complement and build on +Django's form-handling capabilities, and Django's file-uploading +handlers have been refactored to allow finer-grained control over the +uploading process as well as streaming uploads of large files. + +Along with these improvements and additions, there have been a number +of backwards-incompatible changes as features in Django have been +fleshed out and APIs have been finalized for the 1.0 release. A +complete guide to these changes will be available as part of the final +Django 1.0 release, and a comprehensive list of backwards-incompatible +changes is also available on the Django wiki for those who want to +begin developing and testing their upgrade process:: + + http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/BackwardsIncompatibleChanges + + +The Django 1.0 roadmap +====================== + +One of the primary goals of this alpha release is to focus attention +on the remaining features to be implemented for Django 1.0, and on the +bugs which need to be resolved before the final release. Following +this release, we'll be conducting a series of sprints building up to a +series of beta releases and finally a release-candidate stage, +followed soon after by Django 1.0. The timeline is projected to be: + +* August 1, 2008: Sprint (based in Washington, D.C. and online). + +* August 5, 2008: Django 1.0 beta 1 release. This will also constitute + the feature freeze for 1.0; any feature to be included in 1.0 must + be completed and in trunk by this time. + +* August 8, 2008: Sprint (based in Lawrence, KS and online). + +* August 12, 2008: Django 1.0 beta 2 release. + +* August 15, 2008: Sprint (based in Austin, TX and online). + +* August 19, 2008: Django 1.0 release candidate 1. + +* August 22, 2008: Sprint (based in Portland, OR and online). + +* August 26, 2008: Django 1.0 release candidate 2. + +* September 2, 2008: Django 1.0 final release. The official Django 1.0 + release party will take place during the first-ever DjangoCon, to be + held in Mountain View, CA September 6-7. + +Of course, like any estimated timeline this is subject to change as +requirements dictate; the latest information will always be available +on the Django project wiki:: + + http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/VersionOneRoadmap + + +What you can do to help +======================= + +In order to provide a high-quality 1.0 release, we need your +help. Although this alpha release is, again, *not* intended for +production use, you can help the Django team by trying out the alpha +codebase in a safe test environment and reporting any bugs or issues +you encounter. The Django ticket tracker is the central place to +search for open issues and open new issues if no existing ticket +corresponds to a problem you're running into:: + + http://code.djangoproject.com/timeline + +Additionally, discussion of Django development, including progress +toward the 1.0 release, takes place daily on the django-developers +mailing list:: + + http://groups.google.com/group/django-developers + +And in the ``#django-dev`` IRC channel on ``irc.freenode.net``. If +you're interested in helping out with Django's development, feel free +to join the discussions there. Django's online documentation also +includes pointers on how to contribute to Django:: + + http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/contributing/ + +Contributions on any level -- from developing code to writing +documentation to simply triaging tickets and helping to test proposed +bugifxes -- are always welcome and always appreciated.