NEST 3.8-rc2

NEST 3.8 is the result of 441 commits by 16 developers since NEST 3.7 which was released on 2024-04-12.

This release adds models with exact and simplified NMDA dynamics, as well as improvements and corrections of model documentation. For the first time, the release contains documentation of the expected performance for established neuronal network models of different sizes. On the technical side, an important bug in slicing node collections has been fixed, and various issues caused by version updates of other tools such as NumPy and Python on MacOS have been addressed.

Enhancements

• Add benchmark results to docs
• Add models with exact and simplified NMDA dynamics according to Brunel and Wang (2001)
• Update documentation for iaf_psc_exp
• Add "How NEST Works" diagram and text to NEST docs index page
• Add note on parameter corrections for the AMAT2 model (Heiberg et al 2018)

Bug Fixes

• Correct errors in slicing of node collections
• Fix MUSIC support in NEST
• Make test log parsing more robust
• Fix corner case for node collections
• Change numpy datatype to adapt to NumPy 2.0
• Fix Boost dependency for iaf_bw_2001 model
• Fix uploading of CI artifacts
• Hike Python version for macOS tests to 3.12

Maintenance

• Add warning concerning order of parameter creation and change in number of threads
• Add What's New section for 3.8 in docs
• Update benchmark result docs
• Apply security best practices – Update pre-commit configuration
• Clarify documentation related to recorders and recording backends
• Improve speed of dump_connections() in layer_impl.h
• Add microcircuit rate verification comments
• Improve glossary references in documentation
• Fix Izhikevich model equation in the documentation
• Replace aliases that have been removed with NumPy 2.0
• Update VM Badge to v3.7
• Fix minor Sphinx warnings related to broken links
• Fix conductance based neuron model header files
• Fix broken attribution link in docs