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‎blog/_posts/2017-05-23-whats-new-scala-native.md

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---
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layout: blog
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post-type: blog
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by: Martin Duhem, Guillaume Massé and Denys Shabalin
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title: "What's new with Scala Native?"
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---
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It has been a little bit more than two months since Scala Native 0.1 has been
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released. What's new in Scala Native? What should you expect for future
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releases?
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## Scala Native 0.2
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In April, [Scala Native 0.2 was released][scala-native-0.2-release]. The main
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focus of this release was to increase the coverage of classes from
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the JDK, such that that more programs can be ported to Scala Native without any further
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effort.
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### Improvements to the standard library
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* Support for file I/O APIs from `java.io` was added by [@Duhemm][@Duhemm]
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from the Scala Center with help from [@cedricviaccoz][@cedricviaccoz] and
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[@Korf74][@Korf74] in [#574][#574]. Scala Native now supports enough to read
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and write files.
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```scala
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import java.io.{DataInputStream, File, FileInputStream}
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val fis = new FileInputStream(new File("hello.txt"))
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val dis = new DataInputStream(fis)
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println(dis.readLine())
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```
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* In [#588][#588], [@MasseGuillaume] from the Scala Center added support for
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regular expressions. This implementation relies on Google's RE2 engine and
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[uses a syntax slightly different from the JDK][scala-native-doc-regular-expressions].
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```scala
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import java.io.{DataInputStream, File, FileInputStream}
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val fis = new FileInputStream(new File("hello.txt"))
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val dis = new DataInputStream(fis)
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println(dis.readLine())
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```
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* [@densh][@densh] added initial support for Scala's Futures in [#618][#618],
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using an implementation similar to that of Scala.js, where Futures will be
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completed after the `main` method is executed.
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```scala
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import java.util.concurrent.Future
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import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
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object Test {
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def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
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println("Start")
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Future {
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println("Hello from the Future")
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}.foreach(_ => ())
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println("End")
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}
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}
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```
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* Scala Native now supports pointer subtraction. This work has been
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contributed by [@jonas][@jonas] in [#624][#624].
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```scala
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val carr: Ptr[CChar] = toCString("abcdefg")
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val cptr: Ptr[CChar] = string.strchr(carr, 'd')
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println(cptr - carr) // prints '3'
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```
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* [@ekrich][@ekrich] extended Scala Native's implementation of `String` to
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support `toUpperCase` and `toLowerCase` in [#573][#573].
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* The implementation of `java.lang.Character` was extended to support
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`Character.Subset` and `Character.UnicodeBlock` by [@densh][@densh] in
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[#651][#651].
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* [@asoltysik][@asoltysik] implemented support for system properties in
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[#591][#591].
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```scala
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println(System.getProperty("java.version")) // prints '1.8'
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println(System.getProperty("file.separator")) // '\' on Windows,
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// '/' elsewhere
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```
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* Scala Native can now read environment variables using `System.getEnv`,
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thanks to [@jonas][@jonas]' efforts in [#606][#606].
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* `stdin` and `stdout` can reliably be read from and written to, thanks to
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[@fduraffourg][@fduraffourg] and [@densh][@densh] in [#622][#622] and
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[#659][#659].
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### Bugfixes
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* A bugfix has been contributed by [@jonas][@jonas] to `String.replace`,
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fixing one broken benchmark at the same time. His work can be found in
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[#616][#616].
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* `System.nanoTime` was fixed by [@brad-rathke][@brad-rathke] in [#549][#549].
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* [@xuwei-k][@xuwei-k] fixed `nativeAvailableDependencies` which didn't work
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in the `test` configuration in [#565][#565].
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### Improvements to the tooling and integration
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* [@MasseGuillaume][@MasseGuillaume] and [@densh][@densh]
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worked on refactoring Scala Native's sbt plugin to make it more idiomatic in
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[#568][#568] and [#630][#630], which lead to fixing [#562][#562].
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* Follow up fixes were contributed by [@jonas][@jonas], and include [#639][#639]
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and [#653][#653].
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### Preparing for a better garbage collector
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In this release, [@LukasKellenberger][@LukasKellenberger] introduced in
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[#539][#539] a new setting in the sbt plugin that lets users select what
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implementation of the garbage collector should be used. Currently, BoehGC
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and no GC are supported.
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This work was done in preparation for [the improved GC that will be shipped
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with Scala Native 0.3][#726]!
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## A community effort
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As shown, many of the improvements that were brought by Scala Native 0.2 have
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been contributed by members of the vibrant community that is developing itself
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around Scala Native. Thank you!
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The combination of these improvements was enough to get a prototype of
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`scalafmt` running on Scala Native by [@olafurpg][@olafurpg], showing a blazing
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fast startup time!
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">
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<a href="https://twitter.com/adriaanm">@adriaanm</a>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/den_sh">@den_sh</a>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/scala_native">@scala_native</a> OMG IT WORKS :D 30x faster!
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<a href="https://t.co/M7V9udU5bT">pic.twitter.com/M7V9udU5bT</a>
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</p>
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&mdash; Ólafur Páll Geirsson (@olafurpg)
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<a href="https://twitter.com/olafurpg/status/857559907876433920">April 27, 2017</a>
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</blockquote>
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<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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## What to expect for Scala Native 0.3?
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The plans for the next release of Scala Native include a new garbage collector,
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a better integration with sbt and more addition to the standard library.
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### Improved garbage collector
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The first releases of Scala Native use Boehm GC. A new and improved garbage
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collector has been under development by [@LukasKellenberger][@LukasKellenberger]
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and will be presented at Scala Days during Denys' talk. Stay tuned!
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The pull request introducing the new garbage collector can be found in
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[#726][#726].
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### Running tests from sbt
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Currently, testing frameworks such as utest or scalacheck cannot be used with
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Scala Native. An effort to enable support for sbt-compatible testing
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frameworks has been undertaken by [@Duhemm][@Duhemm] from the Scala Center and
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is expected to land in Scala Native's third release.
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### Support for `java.nio`, `java.util.{jar, zip}`
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The existing I/O capabilities of Scala Native have been extended in this
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release by adding support for the classes defined in the packages `java.nio`,
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`java.util.jar` and `java.util.zip`.
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### Smaller binaries
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In [#686][#686], [@densh][@densh] started work to reduce the size of the
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binaries compiled by Scala Native, using a technique called selector-based
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row displacement.
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These improvements make the dispatch table 10 times smaller.
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## 0.4 and beyond
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Some features are already in the works for Scala Native 0.4.
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### Windows support
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[@muxanick][@muxanick] has been working on a port of Scala Native to Windows.
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The advancement of his work can be consulted in [#691][#691].
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### Automatic binding generation
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A prototype of [automatic binding generation][#642] is in development by
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[@jonas][@jonas]. The goal is to be able to generate automatically bindings
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for C libraries. For instance, given the following C header `test.h`:
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```C
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enum color {
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RED = 1,
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GREEN,
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BLUE = 100
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};
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typedef int SomeInt;
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char *strchr(const char *s, int c);
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```
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We want to generate the following definitions:
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```scala
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@extern
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object Test {
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object color {
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val RED = 1
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val GREEN = 2
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val BLUE = 100
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}
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type SomeInt = CInt
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def strchr(s: CString, c: CInt): CString = extern
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}
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```
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Ultimately, this tool will make it much easier to providing bindings for C's
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stdlib and external libraries.
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[scala-native-0.2-release]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/releases/tag/v0.2.0
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[@asoltysik]: https://github.com/asoltysik
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[@brad-rathke]: https://github.com/brad-rathke
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[@cedricviaccoz]: https://github.com/cedricviaccoz
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[@densh]: https://github.com/densh
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[@Duhemm]: https://github.com/Duhemm
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[@ekrich]: https://github.com/ekrich
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[@fduraffourg]: https://github.com/fduraffourg
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[@jonas]: https://github.com/jonas
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[@Korf74]: https://github.com/Korf74
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[@LukasKellenberger]: https://github.com/LukasKellenberger
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[@MasseGuillaume]: https://github.com/MasseGuillaume
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[@muxanick]: https://github.com/muxanick
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[@olafurpg]: https://github.com/olafurpg
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[@xuwei-k]: https://github.com/xuwei-k
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[scala-native-doc-regular-expressions]: http://scala-native.readthedocs.io/en/latest/lib/javalib.html?highlight=regex#regular-expressions-java-util-regex
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[#539]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/539
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[#549]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/549
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[#562]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/562
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[#565]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/565
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[#568]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/568
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[#573]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/573
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[#574]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/574
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[#588]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/588
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[#591]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/591
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[#606]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/606
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[#616]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/616
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[#618]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/618
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[#621]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/621
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[#622]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/621
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[#624]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/624
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[#630]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/630
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[#639]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/639
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[#642]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/642
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[#651]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/651
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[#653]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/653
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[#659]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/659
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[#686]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/686
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[#691]: https://github.com/scala-native/scala-native/pull/691
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[#726]: https://github.com/scala-native/scal-anative/pull/726

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