Solana Changelog: EpochStakes, SolFuzz, and Optimizations

In the latest episode of the Solana Changelog, Nick from the Solana Foundation DevRel team and Jacob dive deep into the recent developments and improvements in the Solana ecosystem. This comprehensive update covers everything from governance proposals to performance optimizations and new developer tools, showcasing Solana's continuous evolution and commitment to enhancing its blockchain infrastructure.

Governance Proposal: Rewarding Validators with Full Priority Fees

One of the most significant discussions in this changelog revolves around a new governance proposal aimed at distributing all priority fees to validators responsible for packing blocks. This proposal is a continuation of a previously accepted idea and represents a crucial step in Solana's ongoing efforts to refine its economic model and incentivize network participants.

Currently, the proposal is under a feature gate, which means it's ready for implementation but requires an official vote to activate. As Jacob explains, "Part of the process for general changes on Solana is first you kind of talk about the idea, let's consider the idea stage within the SIMD process. Then you draft a SIMD, you get it reviewed, and then for some changes that affect economics, like this change, which is this is specifically SIMD 96 if you wanna read more about it."

The proposal's journey through Solana's governance process demonstrates the network's commitment to transparency and community-driven decision-making. If approved, this change could significantly impact validator economics and potentially enhance network security by providing stronger incentives for validators.

The Voting Process for Economic Changes

Jacob provides insight into the voting mechanism for proposals that affect Solana's economics: "This affects economics on the network, so it has to be voted on the validators. But what will happen will this is locked behind a feature gate and this will be put up for a vote to all validators based off a stake weight."

This stake-weighted voting system ensures that validators with more stake have a proportionally larger say in network decisions, aligning voting power with network investment. The process requires reaching a quorum, after which the feature gate can be activated, implementing the change network-wide.

SIMD-149: Migrating Snapshot Epoch Stakes

Another significant development discussed in the changelog is SIMD-149, which proposes migrating snapshot epoch stakes. This improvement document addresses the need for versioning in Solana's snapshot system, a critical component for network resilience and upgradability.

Nick explains the importance of this SIMD: "The way this is that there's a current snapshot version that needs some changes, and this is kind of thinking ahead of like, 'Hey, if I ever need to make changes to the snapshot version or the snapshot structure, and we have multiple clients on the network, I need to be able to have versioning on it.'"

By implementing versioning for snapshots and adding a new field for epoch stakes, SIMD-149 aims to enhance the network's ability to handle rewards distribution when rebooting from a snapshot mid-epoch. This forward-thinking approach demonstrates Solana's commitment to maintaining a robust and flexible infrastructure.

Performance Optimizations: Reducing Replay Time and Deserialization

The changelog highlights several significant performance improvements recently merged into the Solana codebase. Nick praises the work of Alessandro, who has contributed two major optimizations:

1. Program Cache Improvement: By optimizing the way the runtime handles write locks, Alessandro's changes have resulted in a substantial 20-25% reduction in replay performance. This improvement is particularly noteworthy as it affects the entire validator set, potentially leading to faster transaction processing and improved network efficiency.

2. Deserialization Optimization: Building on the program cache improvements, Alessandro has also enhanced the deserialization process, further boosting performance. Nick notes, "You can see the full flame graphs here on the PRs. So really cool, really great performance improvements that are gonna kind of cover the entire validator set."

These optimizations showcase Solana's ongoing commitment to enhancing its core infrastructure, ensuring the network can handle increasing demand while maintaining high performance.

Load Balancing Improvements

Jacob discusses another performance-related improvement, focusing on load balancing within the validator nodes: "There's some more work being done on the 118 scheduler. This is so that it can load balance by CU's whenever, so we have a lot of traffic going in to a validator."

The new scheduler aims to improve the distribution of computational units (CUs) across validator threads, potentially leading to more efficient resource utilization and improved transaction processing capabilities.

Vote Program Enhancement

Richie from FunNet Firedancer has contributed a valuable improvement to Solana's VOTE program. Nick clarifies, "This is not a security bug. It's just a crash that happens whenever you do testing. So this is to the VOTE program. They don't add it away to just make sure it doesn't panic whenever you reach a specific type of state."

This enhancement, discovered through fuzz testing, adds robustness to the VOTE program by preventing unnecessary panics during certain state conditions. It's a testament to the value of comprehensive testing methodologies in improving blockchain infrastructure.

SolFuzz: A New Fuzz Testing Framework

The changelog introduces SolFuzz, a new fuzz testing library created by Richard and the Firedancer team. Jacob explains the significance of this tool: "They've been using this within the Solana runtime to catch a bunch of different bugs and fix them so that they can, one, figure out bugs that might happen in the future, and two, make sure that they can test both multiple clients' runtimes at the same time."

SolFuzz represents a significant advancement in Solana's testing capabilities, allowing developers to identify potential issues across different client implementations. This proactive approach to bug detection and resolution contributes to the overall stability and reliability of the Solana network.

Create Solana DAP Update

The changelog highlights an important update to the Create Solana DAP tool, which now incorporates Anchor version 0.30.0. Nick explains the significance: "When you use the Create Solana DAP CLI tool, generate a scaffold for your application, the anchor programs that get generated from that now use anchor 0.30 by default, and which means you can benefit from all of those ideal improvements that Acaran and the rest of the anchor team has been working so very hard about shipping those out."

This update streamlines the development process for Solana applications, allowing developers to leverage the latest improvements in the Anchor framework right from the project initialization stage.

Triton's Cascade: Improving Transaction Delivery

Brian Long from Triton has introduced Cascade, a new transaction delivery network aimed at addressing issues related to stake-weighted quality of service. Jacob comments on the importance of this development: "It's really cool to see this type of thing happen. I continually want to see more things that make transaction delivery even better, especially with deploying programs."

Cascade represents an important step forward in optimizing transaction processing on Solana, potentially alleviating some of the challenges developers face when deploying programs to the network.

Anchor i11n: Enhancing Instruction Introspection

The changelog also mentions a new tool called Anchor i11n, developed by Dean McLittle. Jacob describes it as "basically a way for you to look at instructions that are within your transaction. It's a bunch of helper macros without having to run your own distillation."

This tool simplifies the process of analyzing transaction instructions, potentially saving developers time and effort in their workflow. It's another example of the Solana community's efforts to create tools that enhance the developer experience.

Stack Exchange Contributions

The hosts give a shout-out to active contributors on Solana's Stack Exchange, highlighting the importance of community-driven knowledge sharing. Nick mentions, "Huge shout out for all the Stack Exchange people this week. We had the top of the list here is Drew, who I believe is on the TinyDancer team. And then we have Jimmy and Stevie is on there. Everyone's crushing on Stack Exchange this week."

These contributions to Stack Exchange play a crucial role in supporting developers and fostering a collaborative ecosystem around Solana.

Conclusion: Solana's Continuous Improvement

This Solana Changelog episode demonstrates the blockchain's commitment to ongoing improvement and innovation. From governance proposals and performance optimizations to new developer tools and testing frameworks, Solana continues to evolve and strengthen its position in the blockchain space.

The diverse range of topics covered – from core protocol enhancements to developer experience improvements – showcases the multifaceted approach Solana is taking to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape.

As the ecosystem continues to grow and mature, these regular updates and improvements will play a crucial role in maintaining Solana's position as a leading blockchain platform for developers and users alike. The collaborative effort between the core team, external contributors, and the wider community exemplifies the decentralized ethos that underpins the project's success.

Facts + Figures

• A governance proposal is under consideration to distribute all priority fees to validators packing blocks, currently awaiting an official vote.
• SIMD-149 proposes migrating snapshot epoch stakes and introducing versioning for snapshots.
• Recent performance optimizations have reduced replay time by 20-25%.
• The new 118 scheduler aims to improve load balancing by CUs across validator threads.
• SolFuzz, a new fuzz testing framework, has been introduced to enhance bug detection across different Solana client implementations.
• Create Solana DAP tool now incorporates Anchor version 0.30.0 by default.
• Triton has introduced Cascade, a new transaction delivery network to improve stake-weighted quality of service.
• Anchor i11n, a new tool for instruction introspection, has been developed by Dean McLittle.
• Stack Exchange continues to be an active platform for Solana developers, with notable contributions from community members.

Questions Answered

What is the current status of the proposal to reward validators with full priority fees?

The proposal to reward validators with full priority fees is currently under a feature gate and awaiting an official vote. It has already been accepted in principle, but needs to go through the formal governance process for implementation. This change would significantly impact validator economics by allowing them to receive all priority fees for blocks they pack, instead of burning half of the fees.

How does Solana's governance process work for economic changes?

Solana's governance process for economic changes involves multiple steps. First, an idea is proposed and discussed within the SIMD (Solana Improvement Document) process. Once a SIMD is drafted and reviewed, changes that affect network economics are put to a vote among validators. The voting power is based on stake weight, meaning validators with more stake have a proportionally larger say. If the proposal reaches quorum, it can then be implemented by activating the relevant feature gate.

What is SIMD-149 and why is it important?

SIMD-149 proposes migrating snapshot epoch stakes and introducing versioning for Solana's snapshot system. This improvement is important because it allows for future changes to the snapshot structure while maintaining compatibility across multiple clients on the network. It also adds a new field for epoch stakes to help with reward distribution when rebooting from a snapshot mid-epoch, enhancing the network's flexibility and robustness.

What performance improvements have recently been made to Solana?

Recent performance improvements to Solana include optimizations to the program cache and deserialization process. These changes have resulted in a 20-25% reduction in replay time, which affects the entire validator set. Additionally, work is being done on the 118 scheduler to improve load balancing of computational units (CUs) across validator threads, potentially leading to more efficient resource utilization and improved transaction processing capabilities.

What is SolFuzz and how does it benefit Solana development?

SolFuzz is a new fuzz testing framework created by the Firedancer team. It's used within the Solana runtime to catch and fix potential bugs, as well as to test multiple client runtimes simultaneously. This tool enhances Solana's ability to identify and resolve issues across different implementations, contributing to the overall stability and reliability of the network. SolFuzz represents a significant advancement in Solana's testing capabilities and proactive approach to maintaining a robust blockchain infrastructure.

What updates have been made to the Create Solana DAP tool?

The Create Solana DAP tool has been updated to incorporate Anchor version 0.30.0 by default. This means that when developers use the tool to generate a scaffold for their application, the Anchor programs created will use the latest version of Anchor. This update allows developers to immediately benefit from the latest improvements and features in the Anchor framework, streamlining the development process for Solana applications.

What is Cascade and how does it improve Solana's transaction delivery?

Cascade is a new transaction delivery network introduced by Triton to address issues related to stake-weighted quality of service on Solana. While specific details weren't provided in the changelog, it's designed to improve transaction delivery, particularly for deploying programs. This development aims to optimize transaction processing on Solana, potentially alleviating challenges developers face when interacting with the network.

What is Anchor i11n and how does it help developers?

Anchor i11n is a new tool developed by Dean McLittle for instruction introspection in Solana transactions. It provides a set of helper macros that allow developers to easily examine instructions within a transaction without needing to run their own distillation process. This tool simplifies the analysis of transaction instructions, potentially saving developers time and effort in their workflow and enhancing the overall developer experience on Solana.