Add release notes for Brian2 2.0b2

[ci skip]

docs_sphinx/introduction/release_notes.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,84 @@
 Release notes
 =============
 
+Brian 2.0b2
+-----------
+This is the second beta release for Brian 2.0, we recommend all users of Brian 2
+to upgrade. If you are a user new to Brian, we also recommend to directly start
+with Brian 2 instead of using the stable release of Brian 1.
+
+This is however still a Beta release, please report bugs or suggestions to the
+github bug tracker (https://github.com/brian-team/brian2/issues) or to the
+brian-development mailing list (brian-development@googlegroups.com).
+
+Major new features
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+* Multi-compartmental simulations can now be run using the
+  :ref:`cpp_standalone` mode (this is not yet well-tested, though).
+* The implementation of `TimedArray` now supports two-dimensional arrays, i.e.
+  different input per neuron (or synapse, etc.), see :ref:`timed_arrays` for
+  details.
+* Previously, not setting a code generation target (using the `codegen.target`
+  preference) would mean that the ``numpy`` target was used. Now,
+  the default target is ``auto``, which means that a compiled language
+  (``weave`` or ``cython``) will be used if possible. See
+  :doc:`../user/computation` for details.
+* The implementation of `SpikeGeneratorGroup` has been improved and it now
+  supports a ``period`` argument to repeatedly generate a spike pattern.
+
+Improvements
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+* The selection of a numerical algorithm (if none has been specified by the
+  user) has been simplified. See :ref:`numerical_integration` for details.
+* Expressions that are shared among neurons/synapses are now updated only once
+  instead of for every neuron/synapse which can lead to performance
+  improvements.
+* On Windows, The Microsoft Visual C compiler is now supported in the
+  ``cpp_standalone`` mode, see the respective notes in the :doc:`install` and
+  :doc:`../user/computation` documents.
+* Simulation runs (using the standard "runtime" device) now collect profiling
+  information. See :ref:`profiling` for details.
+
+Infrastructure and documentation improvements
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+* :doc:`Tutorials for beginners <../resources/tutorials/index>` in the form of
+  ipython notebooks (currently only covering the basics of neurons and synapses)
+  are now available.
+* The :doc:`../examples/index` in the documentation now include the images
+  they generated. Several examples have been adapted from Brian 1.
+* The code is now automatically tested on Windows machines, using the
+  `appveyor <http://ci.appveyor.com>`_ service. This complements the Linux
+  testing on `travis <https://travis-ci.org>`_.
+* Using a version of a dependency (e.g. sympy) that we don't support will now
+  raise an error when you import ``brian2`` -- see :ref:`dependency_checks` for
+  more details.
+* Test coverage for the ``cpp_standalone`` mode has been significantly
+  increased.
+
+Important bug fixes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+* The preparation time for complicated equations has been significantly reduced.
+* The string representation of small physical quantities has been corrected
+  (#361)
+* Linking variables from a group of size 1 now works correctly (#383)
+
+Contributions
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Code and documentation contributions (ordered by the number of commits):
+
+* Marcel Stimberg (`@mstimberg <https://github.com/mstimberg>`_)
+* Dan Goodman (`@thesamovar <https://github.com/thesamovar>`_)
+* Romain Brette (`@romainbrette <https://github.com/romainbrette>`_)
+* Pierre Yger (`@yger <https://github.com/yger>`_)
+
+Testing, suggestions and bug reports (ordered alphabetically, apologies to
+everyone we forgot...):
+
+* Conor Cox
+* Gordon Erlebacher
+* Konstantin Mergenthaler
+
+
 Brian 2.0beta
 -------------
 This is the first beta release for Brian 2.0 and the first version of Brian 2.0

docs_sphinx/user/import.rst

@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ Note that it is safe to use e.g. ``np.sin`` and ``numpy.sin`` after a
 
 .. _matplotlib: http://matplotlib.org/
 
+
+.. _dependency_checks:
+
 Dependency checks
 -----------------
 Brian will check the dependency versions during import and raise an error for

docs_sphinx/user/input.rst

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ the equations of the respective group::
     G.rates = '10*Hz + i*Hz'
     G.size = '(100-i)/100. + 0.1'
 
+.. _timed_arrays:
 
 Timed arrays
 ------------

docs_sphinx/user/running.rst

@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ it will be printed to "standard error". There will be output at the start and
 the end of the run, and during the run in ``report_period`` intervals. It is
 also possible to do :ref:`custom progress reporting <custom_progress_reporting>`.
 
+.. _profiling:
+
 Profiling
 ---------
 To get an idea which parts of a simulation take the most time, Brian offers a