MinZ v0.10.1: Professional Toolchain Evolution 🛠️

MinZ v0.10.1: Professional Toolchain Evolution 🛠️

August 10, 2025

The Professional Compiler Suite You Deserve

MinZ v0.10.1 transforms our compiler toolkit into a professional-grade development environment with standardized CLI interfaces, proper architecture documentation, and powerful new language features.

🎯 Highlights

Standardized CLI Experience

Every MinZ tool now follows Unix/POSIX conventions perfectly:

mza -o output.bin input.a80      # Short options
mza --output=output.bin input.a80 # Long options
mza -vc input.a80                 # Combined short options

Real Enums & Logical Operators

enum Status { Ready, Running, Done }

if (status == Status.Ready && count > 0) {
    // Now with proper && and || operators!
}

Array Literals

let numbers: [u8; 5] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];  // Finally!

Architecture Decision Records

Professional engineering practices with documented decisions in /adr:

• Why we chose Cobra for CLI
• How platform independence works
• Character literal implementation
• And more!

💔 Breaking Changes

CLI Option Changes

If you have scripts using the old options, update them:

mza (assembler):

• -undoc → -u or --undocumented
• -case → -c or --case-sensitive

mze (emulator):

• Removed duplicate -target flag (use -t or --target)

Type Renames

• str → String (MinZ native strings)
• *str → *u8 (C-style strings)

🚀 Quick Migration Guide

Update Your Scripts

# Old
mza -undoc program.a80

# New
mza -u program.a80
# or
mza --undocumented program.a80

Update Your Code

// Old
let name: str = "MinZ";
let cstr: *str = "Hello";

// New  
let name: String = "MinZ";
let cstr: *u8 = "Hello";

📦 What's New

Language Features

• ✅ Enum support with proper variant checking
• ✅ Logical operators && and || with short-circuit evaluation
• ✅ Array literals [1, 2, 3] syntax
• ✅ Fixed string types for clarity

Toolchain Improvements

• ✅ Standardized CLI across all tools
• ✅ Better help text with examples
• ✅ Consistent option naming
• ✅ Professional documentation

Documentation

• ✅ 5 Architecture Decision Records
• ✅ CLI standards in CONTRIBUTING.md
• ✅ Enhanced README with tool overview
• ✅ Platform independence guide

📊 By The Numbers

• 3 tools standardized with Cobra
• 5 ADRs documenting decisions
• 4 major language features added
• 70% test success rate maintained
• 20+ commits of improvements

🔧 Installation

# Get the latest
git checkout v0.10.1

# Build and install
cd minzc
make install-user  # No sudo needed!

# Verify
mz --version  # Should show v0.10.1

🎮 Try It Out

// New enum support
enum Color { Red, Green, Blue }

// New logical operators
fun is_valid(x: u8, y: u8) -> bool {
    return x > 0 && y < 100 || x == 255;
}

// New array literals
let data: [u8; 3] = [0xFF, 0x00, 0xAA];

// It all just works!
fun main() -> void {
    let color = Color.Blue;
    if is_valid(42, 50) {
        @print("Valid!");
    }
}

🔮 What's Next

• v0.11.0: Module system implementation
• v0.12.0: Standard library expansion
• v1.0.0: Production readiness!

💬 Community

Found a bug? Have a suggestion?

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check our new ADRs for design decisions
• Read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines

🙏 Thank You!

To everyone who contributed code, reported issues, or provided feedback - this release is for you! MinZ is becoming the professional language that retro systems deserve.

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MinZ v0.10.1: Where professional meets retro 🚀

Download now and experience the evolution!