What's new ?
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2006/03/20 Getfem++-2.0, Gmm++-2.0 and Getfem-Interface 2.0 released

This is a major update to getfem++, which make some backward-incompatible
	 changes:

  - the old mesh_fem has been split into two disjoint
    classes: mesh_fem which handles all that is related
    to FEM, and mesh_im which handles the integration methods on a mesh.
  - the old getfem::getfem_mesh class has been renamed to getfem::mesh
  - the "boundaries" which were attached to a mesh_fem in
    previous versions, are now attached to a mesh, and
    they are now called "regions" (because they can stored
    boundaries, and also sets of convexes).
  - the model bricks have been reworked -- especially the Dirichlet conditions.
     
Some news features have been introduced in this release:
  
  - introduction of level-set objects. Integration methods can be cut
     with respect to these level-set and discontinuous elements
     across the level-set are provided.
  - parallelization of the assembly.
  - interface to MUMPS.
  - many news elements, Hermite and vectorial elements are now fully
    supported: 1D, 2D and 3D hermite, Argyris triangle, HCT triangle,
    RT0 and Nedelec elements are now available.
  - automatic mesh refinement.
    

Major changes for the matlab and python interface: they follow the changes
that occured in getfem. An interface to the getfem++.
model bricks has been added.

Next releases of getfem++ will try to maintain backward compatability with
this release.
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2005/01/05 Getfem++ 1.7, Gmm++ 1.7 and Getfem-Interface 1.7 released  

An important number of improvements have been done on Getfem++ 1.7. Note that the next release will be getfem 2.0, some of its changes won't maintain backward compatibility with getfem++-1.7. 

  - Introduction of the "model brick" system, which provides a general framework for the solution of common PDEs. Each brick is dedicated to a specific task (i.e. "handle Dirichlet conditions", "assembly of the Stokes Problem", "solve a linear system", etc.). These bricks are then connected to each other. Examples of use can be found in the "tests/" directory of getfem++.
  - New models : Small strain plasticity, large strain elasticity,
	contact and friction conditions, linearized plates,
	incompressibility in small and large strain elasticity.
  - Simplifications and optimizations in elementary computations.
  - A direct sparse solver (SuperLU 3.0) is available "out of the box"
  - Ability to export results to VTK and OpenDX.
  
Major changes in Gmm++ 1.7:
  - New preconditionner ILUTP.
  - A BFGS algorithm has been developped.
  - gmm++ now handles (valid) operations mixing complex and scalars.
  - gmm::real_part(V) and gmm::imag_part(V) gives a possibly writable
    reference on the real and imaginary part of a complex vector or matrix.
  - the SuperLU interface has been updated for SuperLU 3.0.
  
getfem-matlab has been renamed "getfem-interface" since it now provides an interface for Matlab and Python (with the Numarray package). Note that, while it is documented and working, the python interface is still considered a "work in progress". You have to enable it explicitly with "./configure --enable-python". An interface to the gmm++ sparse matrices and solvers is also provided.
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2004/01/23 Getfem++ 1.6 and Gmm++ 1.6 released

Getfem++ 1.6 is mostly a bugfix and performance improvements release.

    * Some new integration methods were added (high order methods for triangles such as "IM_TRIANGLE(19)" from P. Solin, K. Segeth and I. Dolezel: "Higher-Order & Finite Element Methods", Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, 2003).
    * Performance of interpolation and geometric transformation inversion was much improved.
    * Support for emc2 meshes

The Gmm++ library has been much improved version 1.6 and version 1.5. We have especially focused on its robustness.

    * Many bugs were fixed, especially for complex matrices.
    * QR algorithms were introduced for dense matrices.
    * A LAPACK/ATLAS interface is available.
    * SuperLU 2.0 interface.
    * Small simplification in linalg_traits structure.
    * Generic resize procedures for vector and matrices were introduced.
    * It is possible to use a column or row matrix view of a vector with gmm::row_vector and gmm::col_vector.
    * Generic gmm::reshape and gmm::conjugated functions.
    * Intensive tests with random type of matrices and vectors.
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2003/07/25 Getfem++ 1.5 and Gmm++ 1.5 released
First standalone release of Gmm++, which now includes some preconditioners and harwell-boeing/matrix-market data file support. It is now possible to use high precision computations of elementary integrals with the (optional) QD library. Quadrature data has been moved into data files in the cubature/ directory. Initial support for XFem. Mesh slices in getfem++ and getfem-matlab. The Matlab interface was merged into a single giant mex-file.
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2003/03/03 Getfem++ 1.4 released
The Matlab interface is now fully working and documented. Huge speed improvement on elementary computations. New generic assembly procedures. Introduction of Gmm++.
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2002/09/24 Getfem++ 1.3 released
Introduction of hierarchical and composite FEMs and integration methods.
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2002/08/21 Getfem++ 1.2 released
Introduction of the Hermite element (not fully working). Support for non-tau-equivalent elements. Introduction of a consistent naming system for FEMs, geometric transformations and integration methods.
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2002/07/18 Getfem++ 1.1 released
Many improvements.
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2002/06/28 Getfem++ 1.0 released
First public release. 
