README

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# Project Title: ATS/Postiats
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# The official website for ATS is:
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# http://www.ats-lang.org
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# ATS-Postiats is hosted at github:  
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# https://github.com/githwxi/ATS-Postiats
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# Project Description:
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ATS/Postiats (or ATS2/Postiats) is the name for the current compiler of
ATS2, the successor of ATS (or ATS1).

The actual implementation of ATS/Postiats started in the March of 2011, and
it took about two and one-half years to reach the first release of ATS2 at
the beginning of September, 2013. As of now, the code base for the compiler
of ATS2 consists of 140,000+ lines of code (LOC), which are nearly all
written in ATS1.

When compared to ATS1, the single most important new feature is the
template system of ATS2. This is a feature that could potentially change
the way a programmer writes his or her code. One can certainly feel that
this is a very powerful feature (a bit like feeling that OOP is a very
powerful feature). However, how this feature should be properly and
effectively used in practice needs a lot more investigation.

Another thing about ATS2 is that it is a lot leaner than ATS. One can make
good use of ATS2 without any need for compiled library (libatslib.a). Also,
GC support in ATS1 is now removed; if needed, third-party GC (e.g., Bohem-GC)
can be readily employed.

###### end of [README] ######