76 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
[](https://travis-ci.org/apoelstra/rust-bitcoin)
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# Rust Bitcoin Library
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Library with support for de/serialization, parsing and executing on data
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structures and network messages related to Bitcoin and other blockchain-based
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currencies.
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[Documentation](https://www.wpsoftware.net/rustdoc/bitcoin/)
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Supports (or should support)
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* De/serialization of Bitcoin protocol network messages
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* De/serialization of blocks and transactions
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* Script de/serialization and execution
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* Blockchain validation and utxoset building
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* Private keys and address creation, de/serialization and validation (including full BIP32 support)
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* Pay-to-contract support as in Appendix A of the [Blockstream sidechains whitepaper](https://www.blockstream.com/sidechains.pdf)
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# Usage
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To use rust-bitcoin, just add the following to your Cargo.toml.
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```toml
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[dependencies]
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bitcoin = "0.3"
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```
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# Known limitations
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## Consensus
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This library **must not** be used for consensus code (i.e. fully validating
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blockchain data). It technically supports doing this, but doing so is very
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ill-advised because there are many deviations, known and unknown, between
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this library and the Bitcoin Core reference implementation. In a consensus
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based cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin it is critical that all parties are
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using the same rules to validate data, and this library is simply unable
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to implement the same rules as Core.
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Given the complexity of both C++ and Rust, it is unlikely that this will
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ever be fixed, and there are no plans to do so.
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## Memory Usage
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Currently this library's UTXO-set support is limited to an in-RAM hash tree.
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It can be serialized and deserialized to disk to avoid recomputing it all
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the time, but needs to be in memory to be used, which currently requires
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several gigabytes of RAM.
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Patches are welcome. This is a priority but not a high one, due to lack of
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developer time.
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## Documentation
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Currently the [documentation](https://www.wpsoftware.net/rustdoc/bitcoin/)
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is very sparse. Patches to add usage examples and to expand on existing
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docs would be extremely appreciated.
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# Policy on Altcoins/Altchains
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Patches which add support for non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies by adding constants
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to existing enums (e.g. to set the network message magic-byte sequence) are
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welcome. Anything more involved will be considered on a case-by-case basis,
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as the altcoin landscape includes projects which [frequently appear and
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disappear, and are poorly designed anyway](https://download.wpsoftware.net/bitcoin/alts.pdf)
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and keeping the codebase maintainable is a large priority.
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In general, things that improve cross-chain compatibility (e.g. support for
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cross-chain atomic swaps) are more likely to be accepted than things which
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support only a single blockchain.
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