Changelog
All notable changes to bench51. The format follows Keep a Changelog and versions follow Semantic Versioning.
0.3.0 - 2026-11-01
Added
- Vim keybindings in the GUI editor, on by default: Normal, Insert, Visual
and Visual Line modes, motions with counts, operators with text objects,
registers, undo/redo,
.repeat, macros, search with highlighting, and:w :q :wq :e :make. A block cursor and a mode line show the state, andgdjumps to a label's definition. - A Settings menu with Keybindings (Vim / Standard) and Theme, and a
--keymap vim|standardflag.
Changed
- Theme moved from the View menu to Settings.
- The terminal app moved from
src/tocrates/bench51-tui(packagebench51-tui, binary stillbench51); the repository root is now a plain workspace. From source:cargo install --path crates/bench51-tui.
Fixed
--theme,--keymapand--clockno longer overwrite the saved settings; they only apply to that run.
0.2.0 - 2026-11-01
Added
- bench51-gui, a desktop IDE laid out like Keil µVision: menus, toolbar, Project window, editor with breakpoint and error gutter, Build Output, and in a debug session the Registers, Disassembly, Memory, Symbols, UART #1, Ports, Timers and Interrupts windows. Windows dock and tab anywhere; the edit and debug layouts are remembered separately.
- Monochrome, dot-matrix design in dark and light themes (follows the system by default), with Space Grotesk, Space Mono and Doto bundled.
- µVision's keys (F7, Ctrl-F5, F5, F10/F11, Ctrl-F10/F11, F9) with the TUI's as aliases; find (Ctrl-F); inline memory editing; clickable SFR bits and port pins; drag-and-drop to open files.
- Prebuilt releases for Linux (x86_64, aarch64), Windows (x86_64) and macOS
(Apple silicon, Intel), with one-line installers:
install.shfor Linux and macOS,install.ps1for Windows. - CI on Linux, Windows and macOS.
Changed
- The assembler, simulator and debugger session moved into a shared
bench51-corecrate used by both front ends. The terminal app behaves as before. - Unsafe code is forbidden across the workspace.
[0.1.0] - 2026-10-23
Added
bench51, a terminal (TUI) 8051 IDE: editor, two-pass assembler for the full instruction set with Keil-style listing and Intel HEX output, simulator with timers, interrupts, UART and ports, and a debugger with breakpoints, stepping and memory poke.- Headless assembly with
bench51 --assemble. - Opening Intel HEX files as disassembled, re-assemblable source.