Release post for 1.9.0 (#468)

Co-authored-by: Quinton Miller <[email protected]>

_posts/2023-07-06-windows-support-1.9.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ author: HertzDevil
 summary: GUI installer, load-time dynamic linking support, and more
 ---
 
-With the release of Crystal 1.9, the compiler and the standard library have made a big step towards tier 1 support for x64 Windows with the MSVC toolchain. While an official Windows release isn't ready yet, only few outstanding issues remain and we expect them to be resolved in the following months. This post is a brief overview of what [1.9 has achieved](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pulls?q=is%3Apr+milestone%3A1.9.0+is%3Aclosed+label%3Aplatform%3Awindows) and what else needs to be achieved.
+With the [release of Crystal 1.9](/2023/07/11/1.9.0-released), the compiler and the standard library have made a big step towards tier 1 support for x64 Windows with the MSVC toolchain. While an official Windows release isn't ready yet, only few outstanding issues remain and we expect them to be resolved in the following months. This post is a brief overview of what [1.9 has achieved](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pulls?q=is%3Apr+milestone%3A1.9.0+is%3Aclosed+label%3Aplatform%3Awindows) and what else needs to be achieved.
 
 ## GUI Installer
 

_releases/2023-07-11-1.9.0-released.md

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+---
+title: Crystal 1.9.0 is released!
+version: 1.9.0
+summary:
+thumbnail: +
+author: straight-shoota
+---
+
+We are delivering a new Crystal release with several bugfixes and improvements.
+
+Pre-built packages are available on [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/releases/tag/1.9.0)
+and our official distribution channels.
+See [crystal-lang.org/install](https://crystal-lang.org/install/) for
+installation instructions.
+
+## Stats
+
+This release includes [167 changes since 1.8.2](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pulls?q=is%3Apr+milestone%3A1.9.0)
+by 27 contributors. We thank all the contributors for all the effort put into
+improving the language! ❤️
+
+## Changes
+
+Below we list the most remarkable changes in the language, compiler and stdlib.
+For more details, visit the [changelog](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/releases/tag/1.9.0).
+
+### Breaking: Big number comparisons with floats
+
+Comparisons of Big number types against floats were fixed to respect special
+values such as `NAN`. As a result, the implementation of the comparison operator
+`#<=>` between `Big*` (`BigDecimal`, `BigFloat`, `BigInt`, `BigRational`) and
+`Float::Primitive` (`Float32`, `Float64`) number types is now nilable.
+When invoking these comparisons, `Nil` values must be handled explicitly.
+
+### Windows
+
+The compiler and standard library take a big step improving Windows support.
+Only few outstanding issues remain and we expect them to be resolved in the
+following months.
+
+Most notable features are a GUI installer (available in the [release artifacts](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/releases/tag/1.9.0))
+and dynamic linking of DLLs (currently available via compiler flag
+`-Dpreview_dll`).
+
+More details and additional features are listed in a separate post about
+[Windows support in Crystal 1.9](/2023/07/06/windows-support-1.9/).
+
+### Language
+
+There are two new macros in the language:
+
+* `ASTNode#warning` is similar to `#raise` but only creates a warning ([#13262](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13262)).
+* `::print` is similar to `::puts` but without the trailing newline ([#13336](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13336)).
+
+### Standard library
+
+Default interrupt handlers are now in place to trigger `at_exit` handlers
+if the process is interrupted ([#13568](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13568)).
+
+Instead of a single boolean parameter, file matching behaviour of `Dir.glob`
+is controlled by `File::MatchOptions` with portable options ([#13550](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13550)).
+
+The stdlib spec suite makes good use of the spec helper `assert_prints` and it's
+now available for user specs as well ([#13599](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13599)).
+
+There's a new method `Regex#match!` with a non-nilable return type
+(`Regex::MatchData`) which is helpful if the regex is expected to match.
+`regex.match!(x)` is a convenient replacement for `regex.match(x).not_nil!` ([#13285](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13285)).
+
+All methods accepting a `Regex` for matching now also have a parameter for
+`Regex::MatchOptions` ([#13353](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13353)).
+
+### Compiler
+
+A new compiler command `crystal clear_cache` offers a convenient way to clean
+the compiler cache ([#13553](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13553)).
+
+This release adds support for LLVM 16 ([#13181](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13181)).
+
+The docs generator now features dark mode ([#13512](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13512))
+and improved support for small viewports ([#13515](https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/pull/13515)).
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* `Dir.[]` with `match_hidden` parameter: Use the overload with a `match`
+  parameter instead.
+* `Dir.glob` with `match_hidden` parameter: Use the overload with a `match`
+  parameter instead.
+* `LLVM::Module#write_bitcode_with_summary_to_file`: ThinLTO is no longer
+  supported; use `#write_bitcode_to_file` instead.
+* `LLVM::FunctionPassManager`: The legacy pass manager was removed in LLVM 17.
+  Use `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.
+* `LLVM::FunctionPassManager::Runner`: The legacy pass manager was removed in
+  LLVM 17. Use `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.
+* `LLVM::Module#new_function_pass_manager`: The legacy pass manager was removed
+  in LLVM 17. Use `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.
+* `LLVM::ModulePassManager`: The legacy pass manager was removed in LLVM 17.
+  Use `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.
+* `LLVM::PassManagerBuilder`: The legacy pass manager was removed in LLVM 17.
+  Use `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.
+* `LLVM::PassRegistry`: The legacy pass manager was removed in LLVM 17. Use
+  `LLVM::PassBuilderOptions` instead.