Thread by @GuthL

Because this is how a weekend should look like, here a random thread on StarkNet architecture:

StarkNet is the result of our work on Cairo. Cairo is a language/VM optimized for ZKPs.
Cairo as a VM has the structure of CPU (CPU-AIR --> Cairo). 1/8

As a consequence, it can run with a single circuit (called AIR in the context of Starks) and prove multiple programs within the same proof.
Since we have a CPU, we can now program an Operating System. This is why the official name for StarkNet is StarkNet OS. 2/8

The StarkNet OS is responsible for every core protocol level program.
- State Management
- L1 <> L2 communication
- Contract Execution
- Cross contract calls
- Calling Cairo to run each program
- Tx structure
- Others... 3/8

Things that are not core protocol are bridges, accounts, escape hatch, and others.

A few cool differences with Ethereum:
1. Everything in StarkNet is a program of StarkNet, even wallets are contracts and implement as such. 4/8

2. We don’t have a notion of canonical bridges, anyone can deploy one. Direct consequence: Self-custody can be managed at the applicative level with great granularity.
3. StarkNet does not publish bytecode on L1, making it very cheap to deploy. 5/8

Direct consequence: One can have a relatively large contract beyond 32kb. Max size is not yet known but should be much larger.
Turning everything into a contract might be confusing for people familiar with Ethereum but it is worth it. 6/8

The advantages in terms of protocol simplicity and user UX (no more logical separation between Eth and rest of ERC20, no more need for the permit logic in ERC20,…) are tremendous.
This was my first attempt at describing StarkNet. 7/8

More posts will come as well as in-depth documentation.
In the mid-time, if you want to learn more about Cairo and StarkNet, stay tuned or join our Discord: discord.gg/9JX4sGHDHR 8/8