Please describe your proposed solution.
Success stories:
1.Liquid Haskell: Improves software maintainability of large-scale Haskell codebases
Constrains:
The constraints in logic arise from classical temporal logics like the μ-calculus or CTL, which are unable to express "context-sensitive" requirements. To address this, a solution we propose is modelling branching behaviors of programs using nested trees instead of computation trees. This approach enables the definition of logics and automata on these structures, allowing the model checking problem to be formulated as whether the nested tree generated by a program satisfies a given property. This approach enhances the capabilities of software model checking. Reference: Software Model Checking Using Languages of Nested Trees
Relevant Issues:
A. Redesigning the Cardano node mainnet NixOS module:
- Update the NixOS module to allow for a configurable write directory.
- Adjust the configuration file to use the custom write directory.
- Update the documentation to provide instructions and considerations.
- Thoroughly test and validate the updated module.
By implementing these changes, IOHK can enhance the flexibility and customization options for Cardano node operators, accommodating diverse use cases and storage requirements.
B. Improving developer UI/UX:
- Create a Solidity-to-Cardano DSL translator for easy migration of Ethereum projects.
- Develop a Programming Computable Functions library for working with untyped lambda calculus in Cardano smart contracts.
- Integrate Template Haskell and NixOS to streamline Cardano application development.
- Optimize evaluation order and strictness for improved performance and resource usage of smart contracts and applications.
These improvements aim to enhance the development experience for Cardano developers, facilitating smoother transitions, leveraging expressive tools, and optimizing application performance.
By addressing these relevant issues, Cardano can enhance its usability, developer experience, and overall ecosystem performance.
C. The overzZzealous issue in Plutus Core, the smart contract language of Cardano blockchain, involves unexpected strict evaluation of boolean operators || and &&. This behavior negatively impacts performance, increases on-chain costs, and may cause validators to reject valid transactions. The project aims to address this issue and enhance the user experience for developers. Proposed solutions include modifying the language's semantics, introducing new operators with lazy evaluation, or encouraging developers to write tests to detect related issues. The objective is to improve performance, reduce costs, and communicate the changes effectively to the developer community.
D. The issues related to Plutus smart contracts are:
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Limited Compatibility: Plutus smart contracts may not be fully compatible with certain Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs), limiting their execution and deployment on specific hardware platforms. This could potentially hinder the wider adoption of Plutus-based applications.
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Parallelization and Security Concerns: While parallel execution of Plutus smart contracts can enhance performance and scalability, it also introduces complexities and potential security vulnerabilities. These challenges necessitate careful design and robust security measures.
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Scalability and Maintainability: As the complexity of smart contracts increases, it becomes critical to design Plutus contracts that are modular, reusable, and easily maintainable. Ensuring scalability is also important to handle a growing number of users and transactions on the blockchain.
These challenges underscore the need for improvements in Plutus and its development ecosystem. Enhancing compatibility, addressing parallelization and security issues, and promoting scalable and maintainable code can lead to a more robust and accessible environment for developing decentralized applications on the Cardano blockchain.
The proposed solution involves developing a Haskell-EDSL (Embedded Domain-Specific Language) optimized for open-source hardware. This aims to facilitate the creation of scalable sidechains on the Cardano blockchain. Our solution leverages concepts such as folds in Haskell, which can be translated to unimath via Coq, and modeling Git as a Higher Inductive Type. Additionally, we acknowledge that Agda is a correct implementation of Haskell, but the need to consider both the presence and absence of proof irrelevance, to ensure that correctness requirements have been code in the type beforehand. By implementing this optimized EDSL, the goal is to enhance the development and scalability of sidechains on the Cardano blockchain while ensuring correctness and compatibility with different proof systems.
To address the challenges in the Cardano ecosystem, Our proposed low-level Plutus variant EDSL offers simplified syntax, CQS/CQRS support, optimization for RISC-V and Pine64 hardware platforms, and comprehensive tooling and resources. These solutions aim to make development more accessible, maintainable and scalable while leveraging open-source architectures. The EDSL also promotes inclusivity and independence within the developer community, reducing barriers based on geography or economic circumstances. By implementing these features, the EDSL strives to create an efficient and innovative development environment for Cardano.
How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?
Our proposed solution addresses the challenge of scalability research and solutions within the Development and Infrastructure category of Project Catalyst. Specifically, we aim to tackle scalability through the implementation of sidechains on the Cardano blockchain using a Haskell-EDSL optimized for open-source hardware.
By leveraging sidechains, our solution enables the offloading of transactions from the main Cardano chain, thereby enhancing scalability. Sidechains act as parallel chains that can process transactions independently while remaining connected to the main chain. This approach allows for increased transaction throughput, reduced congestion, and improved overall network performance.
The benefits our solution brings to the Cardano ecosystem are significant. Firstly, it addresses one of the key challenges facing blockchain networks, which is scalability. By implementing sidechains, we enable Cardano to accommodate a larger number of transactions, supporting the growth and adoption of decentralized applications (dApps) on the platform. This scalability enhancement is crucial for Cardano to compete with other blockchain networks and attract users and developers.
Furthermore, our solution fosters innovation and development within the Cardano ecosystem. By providing a robust and optimized Haskell-EDSL for open-source hardware, we empower developers to build scalable sidechains and explore various use cases across different industries. This enables the creation of decentralized applications that can handle high transaction volumes, expanding the possibilities and utility of Cardano.
The impact of our project extends beyond funding the project team. It strengthens the Cardano ecosystem by:
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Attracting Developers: Our solution will attract developers who are seeking a scalable and efficient blockchain platform. By offering a powerful toolset for building sidechains, we encourage developers to contribute to the Cardano ecosystem, driving innovation and expanding the developer community.
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Enabling Diverse Use Cases: The scalability provided by sidechains opens up opportunities for diverse applications on Cardano. This not only attracts users to the ecosystem but also promotes the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions, supply chain management systems, gaming platforms, and identity verification systems, among others.
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Solving Scalability Challenges: Scalability is a critical problem for blockchain networks, and our solution directly addresses this challenge. By implementing sidechains and optimizing the underlying technology, we contribute to the long-term viability and sustainability of Cardano, making it more attractive to enterprises and institutions.
In terms of quantifiable impact, we anticipate a substantial increase in transaction throughput and capacity within a reasonable timeframe. While specific numbers will depend on network conditions, we expect a significant improvement in Cardano's ability to handle transactions, potentially increasing usage and attracting a larger user base. This growth in usage will contribute to the overall strength and development of the Cardano ecosystem.
Overall, our proposed solution brings tangible value to the Cardano ecosystem by addressing scalability challenges, attracting developers and users, enabling diverse use cases, and contributing to the growth and strength of the network.
How do you intend to measure the success of your project?
The core features and functionalities of the low-level Plutus variant EDSL described above will bring several benefits to developers and the Cardano ecosystem:
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Enhanced Developer Experience: The EDSL's accessible syntax and easy-to-understand language constructs will lower the entry barrier for developers, making it easier for them to write smart contracts and applications on the Cardano platform. This will attract a wider range of developers and foster a more inclusive and diverse development community.
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Improved Maintainability and Scalability: The inclusion of CQS/CQRS support in the EDSL will encourage developers to write smart contracts that are more maintainable and scalable. By separating read and write operations, the EDSL promotes better code organization and modular design, resulting in easier maintenance and future enhancements.
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Accelerated Development: Integration with popular development environments will streamline the development workflow and boost productivity. IDE plugins, syntax highlighting, autocompletion, and error checking will aid developers in writing code faster and with fewer errors, allowing for quicker development and deployment of smart contracts.
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Optimized Performance: The EDSL's performance optimization features will empower developers to create smart contracts that are more efficient and resource-friendly. By providing tools for profiling, benchmarking, and optimizing code, the EDSL will help developers fine-tune their smart contracts for optimal performance on the Cardano blockchain.
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Expanded Hardware Compatibility: The EDSL's compatibility with RISC-V and Pine64 hardware platforms will open up new possibilities for leveraging open-source architectures in the Cardano ecosystem. This broader hardware compatibility will encourage innovation and enable the development of applications that can harness the power of these architectures.
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Increased Reliability: The EDSL's robust testing framework and debugging tools will assist developers in identifying and resolving issues early in the development process. This will lead to the creation of more reliable and secure smart contracts on the Cardano network, enhancing the overall trust and confidence in the platform.
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Knowledge Sharing and Support: The availability of comprehensive documentation ( on a self hosted Matrix server, open for anyone and administered by tech team and will be converted to a wiki at release cycles), examples, and tutorials will facilitate the learning and adoption of the EDSL. This will foster a supportive and collaborative development community where knowledge sharing and support are readily available.
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Attracting New Developers: The EDSL's accessible and reliable nature, coupled with its benefits such as improved guarantees and ease of use, can attract a larger number of developers to the Cardano ecosystem. This influx of new developers will contribute to the growth and vitality of the ecosystem.
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Broader Adoption of Cardano: The combined benefits of the EDSL, including accelerated development, improved maintainability, and optimized performance, will make Cardano a more attractive platform for developers and enterprises. This broader adoption will result in an increased number of applications and use cases, strengthening the Cardano ecosystem as a whole.
Overall, the low-level Plutus variant EDSL has the potential to significantly enhance the development experience, scalability, performance, and adoption of the Cardano blockchain and its smart contract ecosystem.
Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?
We have a comprehensive plan to share the outputs and results of our project, ensuring broad dissemination and maximizing the impact of our completed project. Here are our plans to spread the project's outputs over a reasonable timescale:
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Documentation and Technical Resources: We will create detailed documentation, technical guides, and tutorials to facilitate the adoption and utilization of our Haskell-EDSL and sidechain solution. These resources will be openly available, allowing developers, researchers, and enthusiasts to access and leverage our work.
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Open-Source Contributions: We will actively contribute to the open-source community by sharing our codebase, libraries, and tools developed during the project. By collaborating with the wider community, we encourage others to build upon our work, enhance its capabilities, and contribute back to the ecosystem.
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Community Engagement and Events: We will organize workshops, webinars, and community meetups to engage with developers, blockchain enthusiasts, and stakeholders in the Cardano ecosystem. These events will provide opportunities to showcase our project's outputs, share our experiences and insights, and foster collaboration and knowledge exchange.
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Partnerships and Collaborations: We will actively seek partnerships with organizations and entities within the blockchain industry to explore opportunities for integrating our solution into existing platforms, applications, and use cases. By forming strategic collaborations, we can amplify the impact and reach of our project's outputs.
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Research and Development Collaboration: We anticipate that the results generated from our project will serve as a valuable foundation for further research and development activities. We will actively engage with academic institutions, research organizations, and industry experts to explore avenues for collaborative research, validate our findings, and contribute to advancements in distributed systems and blockchain technology.
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Publications and Conferences: We will disseminate our project's outputs and findings through publications in relevant academic journals, conferences, and industry forums. This will contribute to the academic and professional discourse surrounding blockchain scalability, distributed systems, and functional programming.
By following these plans, we aim to share the outputs, impact, and opportunities that arise from our completed project with a wide range of stakeholders. This includes developers, researchers, industry experts, community members, and organizations within the blockchain space. We will actively engage with these stakeholders to foster collaboration, encourage further innovation, and promote the adoption of our project's outcomes.
The results generated from our project will serve as a foundation for further research and development activities. We anticipate leveraging the insights and lessons learned to explore additional optimization techniques, further enhance the Haskell-EDSL, and extend the capabilities of our solution. The project's outcomes will provide valuable insights for academic research, enabling advancements in distributed systems, programming languages, and blockchain scalability. By continuing to collaborate with the community and research institutions, we will contribute to the ongoing development and refinement of blockchain technology.
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