[ANN] iPOPO 0.7.0

[Thomas Calmant]

Hello, 

I'm happy to announce that iPOPO v0.7.0 has just been released!


What is iPOPO
=============

iPOPO is a Service-Oriented Component Model (SOCM) based on Pelix,
a dynamic service platform. Both are inspired on two popular Java
technologies for the development of long-lived applications:
the iPOJO component model and the OSGi Service Platform.
iPOPO enables to conceive long-running and modular IT services.

It is based on the concepts specified by OSGi:
  - Bundle: a Python module imported using Pelix and associated to a
  context. A bundle has a life-cycle (install, start, updated, stop,
  uninstall)
  - Service: a Python object registered in a service registry,
  associated to a specification and to properties.
  - Component: the instance of a class described/manipulated by iPOPO
  decorators

Components are bound together by the specification(s) of the service(s)
they provide. The required services are injected into components by iPOPO.

For more information about those concepts, see
https://ipopo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/refcards/index.html#refcards


iPOPO provides many services out-of-the-box, like an HTTP server,
local and remote shell, remote services...


iPOPO is released under the terms of Apache Software License 2.0


What's new in 0.7.0
===================

This version mainly adds:
    * Prototype Service Factories
    * Automatic release of consumed services when a bundle stops.
        This will avoid some stale references when using service
        factories.
       
        WARNING: This is an important change in behavior, which might
        break some projects which use stale references to pass
        information from one bundle version to another during an
        update (which is a bad way to do it).

    * Deprecation handling of the imp package
    * Added a Framework.delete() method to avoid the need to know
      about the FrameworkFactory class.

This release also removes some Python 2.6 compatibility code that was
remaining and which is not necessary anymore, as this version of
Python is not supported anymore by iPOPO.

Due to the behavior change caused by the automatic release of
consumed services, this release is version 0.7.0 instead of 0.6.6,
as it could break some existing code.


What's coming in 2018
=====================

2018 will be the year when iPOPO will get its Web Console. It will be
developed as a separate project (in fact, the project already exists
but is staled).

This might also be the year when Remote Service Admin will be added
to iPOPO, thanks to Scott Lewis!
See https://github.com/tcalmant/ipopo/issues/60 for more information.


You can take a look at the documentation at https://ipopo.readthedocs.io/
iPOPO is available on PyPI: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/iPOPO
Source is available on GitHub: https://github.com/tcalmant/ipopo
Feel free to send feedback on your experience of Pelix/iPOPO, via the mailing lists:

    User list : http://groups.google.com/group/ipopo-users
    Development list : http://groups.google.com/group/ipopo-dev


Have fun! and Happy New Year!
Thomas