first pass through CHANGELOGS to extract 4_1_release_notes. [ci skip]

Extract **notable changes**, **deprecations** and **removals** from
each CHANGELOG.

I tried to reference the commits and pull requests for new features
and deprecations.

In the process I also made some minor changes to the CHANGELOGS.

The 4_1_release_notes guide is declared WIP.

1 files changed, 257 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md b/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
index 5f71d537db..a6ea24a38e 100644
--- a/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
+++ b/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ Ruby on Rails 4.1 Release Notes
 
 Highlights in Rails 4.1:
 
-* ...
-* ...
+* Action View extracted from Action Pack
 
 These release notes cover only the major changes. To know about various bug
 fixes and changes, please refer to the change logs or check out the
@@ -75,8 +74,29 @@ Please refer to the
 [Changelog](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/4-1-stable/railties/CHANGELOG.md)
 for detailed changes.
 
+### Removals
+
+*   Removed `update:application_controller` rake task.
+
+*   Removed deprecated `Rails.application.railties.engines`.
+
+*   Removed deprecated threadsafe! from Rails Config.
+
+*   Remove deprecated `ActiveRecord::Generators::ActiveModel#update_attributes` in
+    favor of `ActiveRecord::Generators::ActiveModel#update`
+
+*   Remove deprecated `config.whiny_nils` option
+
+*   Removed deprecated rake tasks for running tests: `rake test:uncommitted` and
+    `rake test:recent`.
+
 ### Notable changes
 
+* `BACKTRACE` environment variable to show unfiltered backtraces for test
+  failures. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/84eac5dab8b0fe9ee20b51250e52ad7bfea36553))
+
+* Expose MiddlewareStack#unshift to environment configuration. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12479))
+
 
 Action Mailer
 -------------
@@ -87,6 +107,9 @@ for detailed changes.
 
 ### Notable changes
 
+*   Instrument the generation of Action Mailer messages. The time it takes to
+    generate a message is written to the log. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12556))
+
 
 Active Model
 ------------
@@ -95,8 +118,16 @@ Please refer to the
 [Changelog](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/4-1-stable/activemodel/CHANGELOG.md)
 for detailed changes.
 
+### Deprecations
+
+* Deprecate `Validator#setup`. This should be done manually now in the
+  validator's constructor. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/7d84c3a2f7ede0e8d04540e9c0640de7378e9b3a))
+
 ### Notable changes
 
+* Added new API methods `reset_changes` and `changes_applied` to
+  `ActiveModel::Dirty` that control changes state.
+
 
 Active Support
 --------------
@@ -105,8 +136,64 @@ Please refer to the
 [Changelog](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/4-1-stable/activesupport/CHANGELOG.md)
 for detailed changes.
 
+
+### Removals
+
+* Remove deprecated `String#encoding_aware?` core extensions (`core_ext/string/encoding`).
+
+* Remove deprecated `Module#local_constant_names` in favor of `Module#local_constants`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `DateTime.local_offset` in favor of `DateTime.civil_from_fromat`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `Logger` core extensions (`core_ext/logger.rb`).
+
+* Remove deprecated `Time#time_with_datetime_fallback`, `Time#utc_time` and
+  `Time#local_time` in favor of `Time#utc` and `Time#local`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `Hash#diff` with no replacement.
+
+* Remove deprecated `Date#to_time_in_current_zone` in favor of `Date#in_time_zone`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `Proc#bind` with no replacement.
+
+* Remove deprecated `Array#uniq_by` and `Array#uniq_by!`, use native
+  `Array#uniq` and `Array#uniq!` instead.
+
+* Remove deprecated `ActiveSupport::BasicObject`, use
+  `ActiveSupport::ProxyObject` instead.
+
+* Remove deprecated `BufferedLogger`, use `ActiveSupport::Logger` instead.
+
+* Remove deprecated `assert_present` and `assert_blank` methods, use `assert
+  object.blank?` and `assert object.present?` instead.
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* Deprecated `Numeric#{ago,until,since,from_now}`, the user is expected to
+  explicitly convert the value into an AS::Duration, i.e. `5.ago` => `5.seconds.ago`
+  ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12389))
+
 ### Notable changes
 
+* Add `ActiveSupport::Testing::TimeHelpers#travel` and `#travel_to`. These
+methods change current time to the given time or time difference by stubbing
+`Time.now` and
+`Date.today`. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12824))
+
+* Added `Numeric#in_milliseconds`, like `1.hour.in_milliseconds`, so we can feed
+  them to JavaScript functions like
+  `getTime()`. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/423249504a2b468d7a273cbe6accf4f21cb0e643))
+
+* Add `Date#middle_of_day`, `DateTime#middle_of_day` and `Time#middle_of_day`
+  methods. Also added `midday`, `noon`, `at_midday`, `at_noon` and
+  `at_middle_of_day` as
+  aliases. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/10879))
+
+* Add `String#remove(pattern)` as a short-hand for the common pattern of
+  `String#gsub(pattern,'')`. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/5da23a3f921f0a4a3139495d2779ab0d3bd4cb5f))
+
+* Remove 'cow' => 'kine' irregular inflection from default
+  inflections. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/c300dca9963bda78b8f358dbcb59cabcdc5e1dc9))
 
 Action Pack
 -----------
@@ -115,8 +202,36 @@ Please refer to the
 [Changelog](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/4-1-stable/actionpack/CHANGELOG.md)
 for detailed changes.
 
+### Removals
+
+*   Remove deprecated Rails application fallback for integration testing, set
+    `ActionDispatch.test_app` instead.
+
+*   Remove deprecated `page_cache_extension` config.
+
+*   Remove deprecated constants from Action Controller:
+
+        ActionController::AbstractRequest  => ActionDispatch::Request
+        ActionController::Request          => ActionDispatch::Request
+        ActionController::AbstractResponse => ActionDispatch::Response
+        ActionController::Response         => ActionDispatch::Response
+        ActionController::Routing          => ActionDispatch::Routing
+        ActionController::Integration      => ActionDispatch::Integration
+        ActionController::IntegrationTest  => ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
+
 ### Notable changes
 
+* Take a hash with options inside array in
+  `#url_for`. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/9599))
+
+* Add `session#fetch` method fetch behaves similarly to
+  [Hash#fetch](http://www.ruby-doc.org/core-1.9.3/Hash.html#method-i-fetch),
+  with the exception that the returned value is always saved into the
+  session. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12692))
+
+* Separate Action View completely from Action
+  Pack. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/11032))
+
 
 Active Record
 -------------
@@ -125,8 +240,148 @@ Please refer to the
 [Changelog](https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/4-1-stable/activerecord/CHANGELOG.md)
 for detailed changes.
 
+### Removals
+
+* Remove deprecated nil-passing to the following `SchemaCache` methods:
+  `primary_keys`, `tables`, `columns` and `columns_hash`.
+
+* Remove deprecated block filter from `ActiveRecord::Migrator#migrate`.
+
+* Remove deprecated String constructor from `ActiveRecord::Migrator`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `scope` use without passing a callable object.
+
+* Remove deprecated `transaction_joinable=` in favor of `begin_transaction`
+  with `:joinable` option.
+
+* Remove deprecated `decrement_open_transactions`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `increment_open_transactions`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `PostgreSQLAdapter#outside_transaction?`
+  method. You can use `#transaction_open?` instead.
+
+* Remove deprecated `ActiveRecord::Fixtures.find_table_name` in favor of
+  `ActiveRecord::Fixtures.default_fixture_model_name`.
+
+* Removed deprecated `columns_for_remove` from `SchemaStatements`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `SchemaStatements#distinct`.
+
+* Move deprecated `ActiveRecord::TestCase` into the rails test
+  suite. The class is no longer public and is only used for internal
+  Rails tests.
+
+* Removed support for deprecated option `:restrict` for `:dependent`
+  in associations.
+
+* Removed support for deprecated `delete_sql` in associations.
+
+* Removed support for deprecated `insert_sql` in associations.
+
+* Removed support for deprecated `finder_sql` in associations.
+
+* Removed support for deprecated `counter_sql` in associations.
+
+* Removed deprecated method `type_cast_code` from Column.
+
+* Removed deprecated options `delete_sql` and `insert_sql` from HABTM
+  association.
+
+* Removed deprecated options `finder_sql` and `counter_sql` from
+  collection association.
+
+* Remove deprecated `ActiveRecord::Base#connection` method.
+  Make sure to access it via the class.
+
+* Remove deprecation warning for `auto_explain_threshold_in_seconds`.
+
+* Remove deprecated `:distinct` option from `Relation#count`.
+
+* Removed deprecated methods `partial_updates`, `partial_updates?` and
+  `partial_updates=`.
+
+* Removed deprecated method `scoped`
+
+* Removed deprecated method `default_scopes?`
+
+* Remove implicit join references that were deprecated in 4.0.
+
+* Remove `activerecord-deprecated_finders` as a dependency
+
+* Usage of `implicit_readonly` is being removed`. Please use `readonly` method
+  explicitly to mark records as
+  `readonly. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/10769))
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* Deprecate `quoted_locking_column` method, which isn't used anywhere.
+
+* Deprecate the delegation of Array bang methods for associations.
+  To use them, instead first call `#to_a` on the association to access the
+  array to be acted
+  on. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12129))
+
+* Deprecate `ConnectionAdapters::SchemaStatements#distinct`,
+  as it is no longer used by internals. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/10556))
+
 ### Notable changes
 
+* Added `ActiveRecord::Base.to_param` for convenient "pretty" URLs derived from
+  a model's attribute or
+  method. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12891))
+
+* Added `ActiveRecord::Base.no_touching`, which allows ignoring touch on
+  models. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12772))
+
+* Unify boolean type casting for `MysqlAdapter` and `Mysql2Adapter`.
+  `type_cast` will return `1` for `true` and `0` for `false`. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12425))
+
+* `.unscope` now removes conditions specified in
+  `default_scope`. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/94924dc32baf78f13e289172534c2e71c9c8cade))
+
+* Added `ActiveRecord::QueryMethods#rewhere` which will overwrite an existing,
+  named where condition. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/f950b2699f97749ef706c6939a84dfc85f0b05f2))
+
+* Extend `ActiveRecord::Base#cache_key` to take an optional list of timestamp
+  attributes of which the highest will be used. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/e94e97ca796c0759d8fcb8f946a3bbc60252d329))
+
+* Added `ActiveRecord::Base#enum` for declaring enum attributes where the values
+  map to integers in the database, but can be queried by
+  name. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/db41eb8a6ea88b854bf5cd11070ea4245e1639c5))
+
+* Type cast json values on write, so that the value is consistent with reading
+  from the database. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12643))
+
+* Type cast hstore values on write, so that the value is consistent
+  with reading from the database. ([Commit](https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/5ac2341fab689344991b2a4817bd2bc8b3edac9d))
+
+* Make `next_migration_number` accessible for third party
+  generators. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12407))
+
+* Calling `update_attributes` will now throw an `ArgumentError` whenever it
+  gets a `nil` argument. More specifically, it will throw an error if the
+  argument that it gets passed does not respond to to
+  `stringify_keys`. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/9860))
+
+* `CollectionAssociation#first`/`#last` (e.g. `has_many`) use a `LIMIT`ed
+  query to fetch results rather than loading the entire
+  collection. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/12137))
+
+* `inspect` on Active Record model classes does not initiate a new
+  connection. This means that calling `inspect`, when the database is missing,
+  will no longer raise an exception. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/11014))
+
+* Remove column restrictions for `count`, let the database raise if the SQL is
+  invalid. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/10710))
+
+* Rails now automatically detects inverse associations. If you do not set the
+  `:inverse_of` option on the association, then Active Record will guess the
+  inverse association based on heuristics. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/10886))
+
+* Handle aliased attributes in ActiveRecord::Relation. When using symbol keys,
+  ActiveRecord will now translate aliased attribute names to the actual column
+  name used in the database. ([Pull Request](https://github.com/rails/rails/pull/7839))
 
 Credits
 -------