setup

node/peer

go to /core_protocol/database and run cargo build --release
go to /core_protocol/virtual_machine and run cargo build --release
go to /core_protocol/ and run containers with docker compose up

node explorer

go to /explorer/ and run container with docker compose up

core protocol

node/peer: each node maintais its own copy of the blockchain state and interact with others nodes to reach consensus.
consensus mechanism (proof-of-work): nodes mine new blocks by solving computational puzzles, ensuring consensus across the network.
every action in the protocol is triggered by a transaction:
- normal currency transaction: transfers funds from one address to another.
- contract creation: deploys a new smart contract.
- contract execution: executes functions of a deployed smart contract.

state

each state (global_state, receipts, storage/contract) is mantained as a pair of in-memory and on-disk data structure:

the in-memory structure is a custom merkle-patricia-trie
the on-disk structure is a key-value database implemented at /core_protocol/database

this structure allows for easy and fast write/lookup on the trie (in-memory) and enables state reversion using the database.

both the database and virtual_machine are implemented in Rust, and exposed as library via FFI

virtual_machine

virtual machine executions are handled by a server module, wich is responsible to spawn VMs and handle data requests from chain (like getting and address state, or fetching contract's storage)
the virtual machine core is implemented as a state machine, this design allows it to request data and be polled by the server in a synchronous and single-threaded manner, which is required to avoid issues with FFI.