BlockStream, the developer of the Bitcoin layer 2 protocol protocol and led by Bitcoin Cypherpunk Adam Back, launched Simplicity, a new intelligent contract language designed for Bitcoin.
According to an announcement of Thursday shared with Cintelelegraph, smart contracts of simplicity will be integrated into Liquid. The company said that the move marks one step forward in the transformation of Bitcoin (BTC) of a secure value reserve in a programmable base for decentralized finances.
The company has also introduced SimplicityHL, a higher level implementation of language which facilitates easier development with increased abstraction.
A Blockstream representative told Cintelelegraph that this version of the language “is here and usable today”, with an integrated development environment on the web also available.
A different approach for a different architecture
Simplicity differs from Ethereum’s solidity language, largely due to the different underlying architectures of the two blockchains.
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This stems from different approaches and different architectures of Ethereum and Bitcoin networks, with solidity developed for the Ethereum virtual machine. The state is the agreed instantaneous of the network of all account sales and data stored in a given block.
Bitcoin uses the unit (UTXO) transaction output architecture, while the Ethereum network uses a network level. This difference manifests itself in the way in which the smart contracts of simplicity work, with a blockstream representative saying that “not relying on the world state is a big change”. “Each element of the state your contract needs must travel with the transaction.”
Blockstream researchers said Solidity developers will have to break their habit of reading variables accessible on a global scale and providing in place all the information necessary for each step. In such a system, two intelligent contracts cannot share the state or refer to the same variables; Everything must be explicitly transmitted in transactions. However, company representatives explained that this approach also has a positive impact:
“Even if something is wrong, only the specific part of your transaction graph contract is affected. It is a different state of mind compared to the world state, but it ultimately leads to safer and more contained contracts by design.”
Developers will not be able to use recursion or unlimited curls, which, which, is not necessary for ONCHAIN logic, either.
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The rise in programming languages of intelligent contracts specific to the domain
Simplicity joins an increasing list of intelligent contracts programming specific to the field.
Black, a programming language published in 2022 for the writing and verification of zero knowledge evidence (residence on ZK), was adopted in 2023 by the developers of the next Aztec of privacy and Ethereum Layer-2.
Noir has become an intelligent contract programming language specially designed for applications preserving confidentiality which deeply integrate the ZK-Impregnants into their architecture.
Another example is Leo, an intelligent contract programming language which also creates ZK resistant systems with closely linked syntax and confidentiality.
Ethereum Vyper is an EVM compatible language designed to reduce the attack surface, which is now used by certain Decentralized Ethereum (DEFI) protocols.
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Review: ZK’s intermediary provides intelligent contracts to Bitcoin – Bitcoinos and Starknet