changelog.md

Version 3.1.0
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Sadly we found an issue that couldn't be solved in a backwards compatible way:
* 719 getJavadoc, getJavadocComment and getComment could return null. Our promise was to return Optional, so that is what they do now.

New:
* 658 718 we have created a metamodel. It gives information about the structure of the various AST nodes, as if you are introspecting them. 
* 353 visitors are no longer hand made, they are now generated from the metamodel. This should make them 100% reliable.
Affected visitors are: GenericVisitorAdapter, EqualsVisitor, VoidVisitorAdapter, VoidVisitor, GenericVisitor, HashCodeVisitor, CloneVisitor.
If you want to generate your own visitors, you can use the VisitorGenerator class.

Version 3.0.1
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* 699 433 325 Javadoc can now be parsed
* 703 696 added NodeWithOptionalScope
* 702 FieldAccessExpr now implements NodeWithSimpleName, *which means that "field" has been renamed to "name"*
* 707 706 improve range of array types and levels
* 709 smaller improvements and fixes

Version 3.0.0
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* 695 697 689 680 693 691 682 690 677 679 688 684 683 smaller improvements and fixes

Version 3.0.0-RC.4
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* 668 669 TypeDeclarationStmt became LocalClassDeclarationStmt
* 347 665 every node now has some documentation
* 660 670 673 four types of import declaration have been merged back into the old ImportDeclaration
* 659 The pretty printer can now take customized visitors 
* 650 671 672 674 524 smaller improvements and fixes

Version 3.0.0-RC.3
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* 639 622 632 657 656 652 653 647 648 645 194 643 630 624 628 627 626 625 623 cleanups, small fixes, and general housekeeping

Version 3.0.0-RC.2
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* 593 EmptyImportDeclaration and NonEmptyImportDeclaration have been removed
* 612 VariableDeclaratorId has been removed. It has been substituted by "SimpleName name"
* 614 617 the list of tokens has been linearized and simplified
* 615 support for arrays has once more been changed. See [the issue](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/592) 
* 580 453 380 618 580 611 610 424 608 smaller improvements and fixes

Version 3.0.0-RC.1
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* 499 601 renames many fields to be more consistent
* 596 605 602 604 smaller improvements and fixes

Version 3.0.0-alpha.11
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* 547 595 Node.range is now using Optional instead of Range.UNKNOWN
* 584 588 548 585 bug fixes and improvements

Version 3.0.0-alpha.10
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* 578 579 577 575 290 570 568 567 562 564 551 bug fixes and improvements

Version 3.0.0-alpha.9
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* 403 358 549 Make all names nodes: either SimpleName or Name. This makes every name in the AST visitable. NameExpr is now a wrapper to use SimpleName in an expression.
* 516 536 use Optional<> for return values.
* 556 557 558 550 small improvements and fixes.
* 560 559 make nodes observable.

Version 3.0.0-alpha.8
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* 344 529 turn DumpVisitor into an official PrettyPrinter
* 532 508 427 530 531 513 528 cleanups

Version 3.0.0-alpha.7
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* 515 roll back attempt at using Optional
* 522 504 make NodeList not a Node (restores parent/children behaviour to before alpha.4)
* 527 526 rename getChildrenNodes to getChildNodes
* 525 495 520 bug fix

Version 3.0.0-alpha.6
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* 503 modified ImportDeclaration hierarchy to have getters for static and "asterisk" again
* 506 bug fix

Version 3.0.0-alpha.5
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* 451 null is no longer allowed in the AST. [See last post in issue](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/451)
* 501 421 420 316 use a special type of list for nodes: NodeList. [See last post in issue](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/421)

Version 3.0.0-alpha.4
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* 463 471 nodes can now be removed easily
* 491 import handling changed. Instead of "ImportDeclaration", we now have the four types of import as described in the JLS. [See issue](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/491)
* 452 355 474 494 various improvements
* 493 492 485 Simplify the JavaParser interface

Version 3.0.0-alpha.3
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* 112 237 466 465 461 460 458 457 fundamentally changes how we deal with arrays. [It is explained in the last post here](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/237)
* 472 456 makes the "data" field on every node more structured.
* 477 468 refactor TypeArguments. You will find that TypeArguments is no longer a type, it is just a list in some nodes.
* 482 adds the "nodeTypes" packages to the osgi export.
* 479 476 makes all setters on nodes return this so they become chainable.
* 473 437 clean up CloneVisitor.

Version 3.0.0-alpha.2
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* 157 a new parser frontend, check https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/447 for explanations
* 435 more builder methods like 400 and 405
* 111 440 443 444 445 446 bugs & cleanups

Version 3.0.0-alpha.1
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* 400 405 introduce many "builder" style methods for constructing code. Thanks DeepSnowNeeL!
* 409 remove ASTHelper (methods are now on specific Node subclasses)
* 414 JavaParser can now be instantiated and reused. InstanceJavaParser removed
* 418 417 411 408 bugs
* 367 420 407 402 various cleanups

Version 2.5.1
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* 394 OSGi manifest added
* 391 fix ModifierVisitor NullPointerException bug
* 385 a few new parse methods
* 386 fix dumping an empty import (a single ; after the package declaration)

Version 2.5.0
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API breaking changes:

* 191: moved TreeVisitor to visitor package
* 368, 162, 303, 302, 360: use correct type in some places.
* 371: code is now compiled with Java 8
* 342, 331: ModifierVisitorAdapter detects and removes broken nodes
* 328, 270: upgrade JavaCC (use TokenMgrException now)
Other changes:

* 297: enable access to tokens.
* 341, 361: node positions are now OO
* 211, 373: escaping of \n \r for string literals
* 336, 276, 141: JavaDoc support now works
* 337, 281: reorganize the stream reading code
* 343, 309, 332, 57: take advantage of common interfaces
* 329, 326, 327: deal with platform issues
* 163, 236, 252, 296, 269, 339, 321, 322, 252, 253, 293, 295: various fixes
* 310, 311, 313, 301, 294: some code clean-ups 

Version 2.4.0
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* several fixes in DumpVisitor for bugs due to lazy initialization
* make TypeDeclaration implements DocumentableNode directly
* TypedNode interface introduced
* introduce MultiBoundType
* refactored IntersectionType and UnionType
* refactored CatchClause
* parsing annotations in throws declarations
* parse orphan semicolons in import statements
* added PackageDeclaration.getPackageName
* solved issue with newlines in string literals
* fixed handling of UnknownType in EqualsVisitor
* improvements to CommentsParser
* removing old grammar

Version 2.3.0
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* ClassOrInterfaceType implements NamedNode
* DumpVisitor can now be extended
* Improved documentation
* AST: lists are now lazy initialized

Version 2.1.0-SNAPSHOT
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* Features
  * [#75 performance improvement for `PositionUtils.sortByBeginPosition`](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/75)
  * [#64 In getDeclarationAsString parameter names should be optional](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/64)
* Bugfixes
  * [#79 Fix NPE in `ConstructorDeclaration.getDeclarationAsString`](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/79)
  * [#86 Add missing functions to ModifierVisitorAdapter](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/86)
  * [#82 set LambdaExpr as parent of its child nodes](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/82)
  * [#87 implement `setJavadoc` and `getJavadoc` at various classes](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/87)
  * [#96 Fixed encoding issue in `Javaparser.parse`](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/96)
  * [#85 Casting a lambda expression causes a parsing failure](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/85)
  * [#88 `MethodReferenceExpr` and `TypeExpr` don't set themselves as parents](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/88)
* Internal
  * [#89 CommentsParser.State contains unused fields](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/issues/89)
  * Switched from drone.io to [Travis](https://travis-ci.org/javaparser/javaparser)
  * [#105 Enforce compiling the library for a certain Java version](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/pull/105)

[Code changes](https://github.com/javaparser/javaparser/compare/javaparser-parent-2.0.0...master)

Version 2.0.0
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* support Java 8