What's new in h5py 2.4
======================

Build system changes
--------------------

The setup.py-based build system has been reworked to be more maintainable, and
to fix certain long-standing bugs.  As a consequence, the options to setup.py
have changed; a new top-level "configure" command handles options like
``--hdf5=/path/to/hdf5`` and ``--mpi``.  Setup.py now works correctly under
Python 3 when these options are used.

Cython (0.17+) is now required when building from source on all platforms;
the .c files are no longer shipped in the UNIX release.  The minimum NumPy
version is now 1.6.1.

Files will now auto-close
-------------------------

Files are now automatically closed when all objects within them
are unreachable. Previously, if File.close() was not explicitly called,
files would remain open and "leaks" were possible if the File object
was lost.

Thread safety improvements
--------------------------

Access to all APIs, high- and low-level, are now protected by a global lock.
The entire API is now believed to be thread-safe.  Feedback and real-world
testing is welcome.

External link improvements
--------------------------

External links now work if the target file is already open.  Previously
this was not possible because of a mismatch in the file close strengths.

Thanks to
---------

Many people, but especially:

* Matthieu Brucher
* Laurence Hole
* John Tyree
* Pierre de Buyl
* Matthew Brett
