Prepare for release v1.8.0

Author: vgvassilev

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.8.0;dev
+1.8.0

docs/ReleaseNotes.md

@@ -22,34 +22,75 @@ Some of the major new features and improvements to CppInterOp are listed here.
 Generic improvements to CppInterOp as a whole or to its underlying
 infrastructure are described first.
 
+This release focuses on improving runtime introspection, extending the JIT and
+incremental compilation capabilities, introducing a new API dispatch mechanism,
+and delivering numerous robustness and correctness fixes across the interpreter
+and code generation layers.
+
 ## External Dependencies
 
 - CppInterOp now works with:
   - llvm21
 
+
 ## Introspection
 
--
+- Adds `GetDoxygenComment()` to extract Doxygen documentation comments from
+  C++ declarations.
+- Adds `GetSpellingFromOperator` and `GetOperatorFromSpelling` helpers.
+- Adds `GetPointerType` and improved `GetReferencedType` with rvalue support.
+- Adds `GetReferenceValueKind`, replacing `IsLValueReferenceType` and
+  `IsRValueReferenceType`.
+- Adds type qualifier utilities: `HasTypeQualifier`, `RemoveTypeQualifier`, and
+  `AddTypeQualifier`.
+- Improved type printing and reflection:
+  - `GetCompleteName` now includes template parameters.
+  - Fixed handling of default arguments and return types in templated functions.
+- Adds `IsLambdaClass` and multiple fixes for templated and forward-declared
+  entities.
+- Improves correctness of variable offsets, base class introspection, and method
+  lookup.
 
-## Just-in-Time Compilation
 
--
+## Just-in-Time Compilation
 
-## Incremental C++
+- Adds full support for --Out-of-Process JIT--, including documentation and test
+  infrastructure.
+- Improves clang-repl integration and symbol handling across LLVM 18–21.
+- Adds `DefineAbsoluteSymbol` to define injected symbols in the JIT.
+- Major improvements to `JitCall` and runtime code generation:
+  - Constructor call support and improved handling of arrays in
+    construct/destruct APIs.
+  - Support for move semantics (e.g. `std::unique_ptr`).
+  - Fixes for lambdas as return types, duplicate symbols, enums vs. functions,
+    and namespace conflicts.
+  - Improves diagnostics in `JitCall::AreArgumentsValid`.
 
--
 
-## Misc
+## Incremental C++
 
--
+- Adds Cling transaction guards to prevent crashes in `GetNamed` and
+  `GetAllCppNames`.
+- Improves interpreter lifetime management and ownership semantics.
+- Stabilizes successive `Declare` calls and template instantiation workflows.
+- Improves integration with LLJIT and incremental execution.
 
-## Fixed Bugs
 
-[XXX](https://github.com/compiler-research/CppInterOp/issues/XXX)
+## Misc
 
-<!---Get release bugs
- git log v1.7.0..main | grep 'Fixes|Closes'
- --->
+- Introduces a new __API Dispatch mechanism__:
+  - Allows using CppInterOp without direct linking via runtime symbol dispatch
+    (`CppGetProcAddress`).
+  - Prevents LLVM/Clang symbol leakage into client applications.
+  - Enables safe dynamic loading of CppInterOp alongside other LLVM-based
+    libraries.
+  - Current limitations:
+    - Overloaded public APIs are not supported.
+    - API must be initialized via `LoadDispatchAPI` before use.
+    - Default arguments are not available in dispatched calls.
+- Improves Emscripten support, CI pipelines, and deployment examples.
+- Reorganizes public headers (`CppInterOp.h`) into a dedicated include path.
+- Numerous improvements to CMake configuration, CI workflows, and documentation.
 
 ## Special Kudos
 
@@ -60,7 +101,15 @@ FirstName LastName (#commits)
 
 A B (N)
 
-<!---Find contributor list for this release
- git log --pretty=format:"%an"  v1.7.0...main | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn |\
-   sed -E 's,^ *([0-9]+) (.*)$,\2 \(\1\),'
---->
+Matthew Barton (61; CI, Emscripten & deployment work, build and workflow maintenance)
+Aaron Jomy (36; API dispatch, JIT / JitCall improvements, extensive tests and docs)
+Vipul Cariappa (34; template & codegen fixes, type-reflection and interpreter robustness)
+Vassil Vassilev (12; interpreter lifecycle, test coverage, refactorings and cleanup)
+Abhinav Kumar (2; out-of-process JIT implementation and related integration)
+Aditya Pandey (2; GetDoxygenComment API and README/build corrections)
+Vincenzo Eduardo Padulano (1; target-existence checks and robustness fixes)
+Stephan Hageboeck (1; test/build adjustments and gtest compatibility)
+Mattias Ellert (1; platform-correctness tests for struct sizing)
+Jonas Hahnfeld (1; conditional LLVM option handling / build integration)
+Anutosh Bhat (1; compatibility fix for CLANG_VERSION_MAJOR > 21)
+