Glossary
Alphabetical list of common terms used in this codebase.
| Term | Definition | Where Used |
|---|---|---|
| ABI | Contract interface encoding rules for calldata and return values. | crates/vm-spec, crates/contract-sdk, contracts/ashen-sdk |
| Access List | Declared storage keys/ranges to pre-warm for deterministic execution. | crates/vm-runtime, crates/vm-spec |
| AOT | Ahead-of-time compilation tier for contract execution. | crates/vm-aot, crates/vm-runtime |
| BLS | Boneh-Lynn-Shacham signatures used for validator keys. | src/consensus, crates/keystore |
| Borsh | Binary serialization format used for on-chain types. | crates/contract-sdk, vm-types, contracts/* |
| BMT | Binary Merkle Tree used for authenticated data structures. | src/storage |
| Calldata | Input bytes passed to a contract call. | crates/vm-runtime, crates/contract-sdk, crates/contract-rt |
| Checkpoint | Persisted height used for fast sync and pruning. | src/consensus, src/application |
| DAP | Debug Adapter Protocol for stepping through contract execution. | Debugging Guide |
| DKG | Distributed key generation for validator crypto material. | src/consensus |
| ECDSA (ecrecover) | Signature recovery syscall for secp256k1. | crates/vm-spec, crates/vm-precompiles |
| ECVRF | Verifiable random function (ed25519) syscall. | crates/vm-spec, crates/vm-precompiles |
| Epoch | Consensus time period for validator set changes. | src/consensus, crates/contract-sdk::host |
| Gas Schedule | Table of per-opcode/syscall costs. | crates/vm-gas, crates/vm-runtime |
| IDL | Interface definition language for contract ABIs. | contracts/*/*.idl, crates/idl-abi-gen, crates/vm-tooling |
| JIT | Just-in-time compilation tier for contract execution. | crates/vm-jit, crates/vm-runtime |
| Keccak256 | Hash used for event selectors and EVM-compatible ops. | crates/vm-precompiles, contracts/ashen-sdk/crypto.zig |
| Mempool | Pending transaction pool. | src/application, src/consensus |
| MMR | Merkle Mountain Range used in QMDB for append-only logs. | src/storage |
| Precompile | Native host implementation of a crypto/utility function. | crates/vm-precompiles, crates/vm-runtime |
| QMDB | Authenticated append-only database with ordered keys. | src/storage/state |
| Reentrancy Guard | Contract-level protection against reentrant calls. | contracts/ashen-sdk/guards.zig, crates/contract-sdk |
| Snapshot | Captured VM/host state for rollback or testing. | crates/vm-runtime/src/journal.rs, crates/vm-test-harness |
| State Root | Merkle root commitment to account and contract state. | src/storage, src/core |
| Syscall | VM-to-host call interface. | crates/vm-spec, crates/vm-runtime/src/syscalls.rs |
| TIBE | Threshold identity-based encryption used in consensus schemes. | src/consensus |
| Tiered Execution | Interpreter/JIT/AOT stack used by the runtime. | crates/vm-runtime, crates/vm-interpreter |
| Transaction (Tx) | Signed payload applied to chain state. | src/core, src/application |
| VM | Deterministic RISC-V virtual machine for contracts. | crates/vm-* |
| Warm Storage Keys | Keys preloaded into the storage cache for a call. | crates/vm-runtime, crates/vm-spec |