[chuck] chuck-1.5.0.5 (chai) released

[Ge Wang]

Dear all,

Since chuck-1.5, we shipped a series of incremental releases. We thought 
we'd spare your inbox (until now!) and offer a cumulative announcement.

The latest release -- chuck-1.5.0.5 (chai) -- just dropped:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/release/

WebChuck & IDE have also been updated to 1.5.0.5:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/webchuck/
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/ide/

===============
Some highlights
===============
* chuck in color -- color terminal support is here (for command-line 
ChucK); compiler errors, probes, logs, on-the-fly programming (OTF), and 
other messages are output in color, for easier reading and to be more 
colorful

See some example screenshots:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/images/chuck-tty-color2023.png

===
* speaking of compiler errors, ChucK (command-line, miniAudicle, and 
WebChucK IDE) now display relevant code when reporting compiler errors, 
and pinpointing the error location. For example:
```
     error-testA.ck:3:5: error: class 'SinOsc' has no member 'test'
     [3] foo.test();
             ^
     error-testB.ck:5:12: syntax error
     [5] */ it @ is not ! valid => syntax!
                    ^
```
The improved error-reporting should make chuck a bit easier to use for 
everyone, and especially for students learning the language.

===
* improved random number generator (RNG) on all platforms (and 
especially on windows); ChucK now defaults to mt19937 (Mersenne Twister 
with long period of 2^19937; when supported by the underlying platform) 
and with a few additional tools/toys...

Some new random examples:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/examples/math/randomize.ck
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/examples/math/maybe.ck
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/examples/math/int-dist.ck

===
* Machine.eval(...) now will immediately spork and synchronously run the 
evaluated code as a new shred, while automatically yielding the current 
shred to give the new shred a chance to run, all this without advancing 
time. This opens the possibility for running generated code at runtime! 
powerful! perilous!

Machine API reference:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/reference/base.html#Machine

Machine.eval() examples:
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/examples/machine/eval.ck
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/examples/machine/eval-global.ck

===
miniAudicle "quality of life" improvements for newcomers and veterans alike:
* miniAudicle "Help" menu now has items that will open websites in
   the default browser -- for quick access to documentation:
   "ChucK Class Library Reference..."
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/reference/
   "ChucK Documentation..."
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/doc/
   "ChucK Community..."
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/community/
* "Audio driver" drop-down selection in Preferences, for run-time 
selection of different drivers: "DirectSound", "WASAPI", or "ASIO" on 
Windows; "Jack", "Pulse", or "ALSA" on Linux
* Device Browser now has an "Audio driver" drop-down box that can select 
an available driver to view its associated audio devices
* Preferences->ChuGins can now probe chugins on the systems

===
See what's new (full release notes):
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/release/VERSIONS

Much more is on the way...

===
(For developers)
* improved build instructions for ChucK, miniAudicle, and Chugins on 
their respective repository landing pages:
     https://github.com/ccrma/chuck#readme
     https://github.com/ccrma/miniAudicle#readme
     https://github.com/ccrma/chugins#readme

=========================================
chuck one, chuck all -- join us!
     https://chuck.stanford.edu/community/
=========================================

Happy ChucKing,
ChucK Team

~~~
Ge Wang
Associate Professor
Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)
Department of Music (also Computer Science, by Courtesy)
Stanford University
https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~ge/
~
Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime!
-- what we make, makes us --
https://artful.design/
~~~