\item Interfaces to more external libraries and programs;
\item C++11 is now both required and used;
\item Support for GPU computations;
-\item Support for face integrals and significant improvements of matrix-free framework;
+\item Support for face integrals and significant improvements of the matrix-free framework;
\end{itemize}
These will all be discussed in more detail in the
following section. In addition, this release contains the following changes:
updates to step-37. In addition, the separate code
gallery of \dealii has gained a number of new entries.
-\item Improved support for user parameters; a new \texttt{ParameterAcceptor}
+\item Improved support for user parameters: a new \texttt{ParameterAcceptor}
class has been added to the library. The class is intended to be used as a
base for any class that wants to handle parameters using the
\texttt{ParameterHandler} class. If you derive all your classes from
\texttt{ParameterAcceptor}, and declare your parameters either with
\texttt{parse/declare\_parameters} methods or via the
- \texttt{ParameterAcceptor::add\_parameter} method, then the declaring and
- parsing of your parameter files will be automatically managed by the
- \texttt{ParameterAcceptor::initialize} function, greatly simplifying
- the declaration and parsing of parameters in user codes.
-
-\item New caching mechanism for expensive grid computations; We introduced a new
- class, \texttt{GridTools::Cache}, that caches computationally intensive
+ \texttt{ParameterAcceptor::add\_parameter} method, then both the
+ declaration and the
+ parsing of parameter files are automatically managed by
+ \texttt{ParameterAcceptor::initialize}, greatly simplifying
+ dealing with parameters in user codes.
+
+\item New caching mechanism for expensive grid computations: we introduced a new
+ class \texttt{GridTools::Cache} that caches computationally intensive
information about a \texttt{Triangulation}.
This class allows the user to query some of the data structures constructed
-using functions in the GridTools namespace which are computed only once, and
+using functions in the \texttt{GridTools} namespace. This data is then
+computed only once, and
then cached inside this class for faster access whenever the triangulation has
-not changed. The Cache is marked for update by the \texttt{Triangulation} itself
+not changed. The cache is marked for update by the \texttt{Triangulation} itself
using signals.
-Some of the methods in \texttt{GridTools} already use the \texttt{Cache} to
+Some of the methods in \texttt{GridTools} already use this cache to
speed up repeated calls to the same expensive methods.
\item A new \texttt{MeshWorker::mesh\_loop} function has been added that
performs the same tasks of the \texttt{MeshWorker::loop} function without