# NEWS for Ruby 3.4.0 This document is a list of user-visible feature changes since the **3.3.0** release, except for bug fixes. Note that each entry is kept to a minimum, see links for details. ## Language changes * `it` is added to reference a block parameter. [[Feature #18980]] * Keyword splatting `nil` when calling methods is now supported. `**nil` is treated similar to `**{}`, passing no keywords, and not calling any conversion methods. [[Bug #20064]] ## Core classes updates Note: We're only listing outstanding class updates. ## Stdlib updates The following default gems are updated. * RubyGems 3.6.0.dev * bundler 2.6.0.dev * erb 4.0.4 * fiddle 1.1.3 * io-console 0.7.2 * irb 1.11.1 * net-http 0.4.1 * reline 0.4.2 * stringio 3.1.1 * strscan 3.0.9 The following bundled gems are updated. * minitest 5.21.2 * net-ftp 0.3.4 * net-imap 0.4.9.1 * net-smtp 0.4.0.1 * rbs 3.4.3 * typeprof 0.21.9 * debug 1.9.1 The following bundled gems are promoted from default gems. * mutex_m 0.2.0 * getoptlong 0.2.1 * base64 0.2.0 * bigdecimal 3.1.6 * observer 0.1.2 * abbrev 0.1.2 * resolv-replace 0.1.1 * rinda 0.2.0 * drb 2.2.0 * nkf 0.2.0 * syslog 0.1.2 * csv 3.2.8 See GitHub releases like [GitHub Releases of Logger](https://github.com/ruby/logger/releases) or changelog for details of the default gems or bundled gems. ## Supported platforms ## Compatibility issues ## Stdlib compatibility issues ## C API updates ## Implementation improvements ## JIT [Feature #18980]: https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/18980 [Bug #20064]: https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/20064