STARK – David Barreto's Blog

Beyond the Blockchain

25 November, 20221 July, 2022 by David Barreto

tl;dr;

StarkWare has a set of software tools that allows for the creation of cryptographic proofs that attest to the computational integrity of the execution of a computer program
Cryptographic proofs enable regular computers (ex. a laptop) to keep supercomputers in check
Blockchains guarantee computational integrity by replying the same transaction over and over
Although used to create an Ethereum layer 2, this technology can be used outside of the blockchain as well
This technology can be the tool of choice for Enterprises

Four Challenges to StarkNet’s Success

23 June, 202222 June, 2022 by David Barreto

tl;dr

Vendor lock-in: difficulty moving away from StarkWare’s ecosystem
System centralization: the Sequencer and the Prover are operated by StarkWare
Steep learning curve: Cairo is hard to learn and the documentation has gaps
Upgradable smart contracts: StarkWare can make changes at any time

Starknet’s Architecture Review

14 August, 202321 June, 2022 by David Barreto

The architecture shown in this article has inaccuracies. Do not use it as a reference until updated (if ever). In the meantime, refer to the official Starknet docs.

tl;dr

Starknet’s user accounts (wallets) are implemented as smart contracts.
The system has 3 off-chain components (Sequencer, Prover and Full Nodes) and 2 on-chain (Verifier and Core).
The current system architecture is able to handle more transactions than Ethereum but with a higher delay for finality.
A dual checkpoint mechanism has been proposed to reduce time to finality without compromising cost.
An L2 transaction can be on any of these states: NOT_RECEIVED, RECEIVED, PENDING, ACCEPTED_ON_L2, ACCEPTED_ON_L1 or REJECTED.