296fa0a5a0
This reworks the block index code such that it loads all of the headers in the main chain at startup and constructs the full block index accordingly. Since the full index from the current best tip all the way back to the genesis block is now guaranteed to be in memory, this also removes all code related to dynamically loading the nodes and updates some of the logic to take advantage of the fact traversing the block index can longer potentially fail. There are also more optimizations and simplifications that can be made in the future as a result of this. Due to removing all of the extra overhead of tracking the dynamic state, and ensuring the block node structs are aligned to eliminate extra padding, the end result of a fully populated block index now takes quite a bit less memory than the previous dynamically loaded version. The main downside is that it now takes a while to start whereas it was nearly instant before, however, it is much better to provide more efficient runtime operation since that is its ultimate purpose and the benefits far outweigh this downside. Some benefits are: - Since every block node is in memory, the recent code which reconstructs headers from block nodes means that all headers can always be served from memory which is important since the majority of the network has moved to header-based semantics - Several of the error paths can be removed since they are no longer necessary - It is no longer expensive to calculate CSV sequence locks or median times of blocks way in the past - It will be possible to create much more efficient iteration and simplified views of the overall index - The entire threshold state database cache can be removed since it is cheap to construct it from the full block index as needed An overview of the logic changes are as follows: - Move AncestorNode from blockIndex to blockNode and greatly simplify since it no longer has to deal with the possibility of dynamically loading nodes and related failures - Rename RelativeNode to RelativeAncestor, move to blockNode, and redefine in terms of AncestorNode - Move CalcPastMedianTime from blockIndex to blockNode and remove no longer necessary test for nil - Change calcSequenceLock to use Ancestor instead of RelativeAncestor since it reads more clearly |
||
---|---|---|
addrmgr | ||
blockchain | ||
btcec | ||
btcjson | ||
chaincfg | ||
cmd | ||
connmgr | ||
database | ||
docs | ||
integration | ||
limits | ||
mempool | ||
mining | ||
peer | ||
release | ||
txscript | ||
wire | ||
.gitignore | ||
.travis.yml | ||
blocklogger.go | ||
blockmanager.go | ||
btcd.go | ||
CHANGES | ||
config.go | ||
config_test.go | ||
doc.go | ||
glide.lock | ||
glide.yaml | ||
goclean.sh | ||
LICENSE | ||
log.go | ||
params.go | ||
README.md | ||
rpcadaptors.go | ||
rpcserver.go | ||
rpcserverhelp.go | ||
rpcserverhelp_test.go | ||
rpcwebsocket.go | ||
sample-btcd.conf | ||
server.go | ||
service_windows.go | ||
signal.go | ||
signalsigterm.go | ||
upgrade.go | ||
upnp.go | ||
version.go |
btcd
btcd is an alternative full node bitcoin implementation written in Go (golang).
This project is currently under active development and is in a Beta state. It is extremely stable and has been in production use since October 2013.
It properly downloads, validates, and serves the block chain using the exact rules (including consensus bugs) for block acceptance as Bitcoin Core. We have taken great care to avoid btcd causing a fork to the block chain. It includes a full block validation testing framework which contains all of the 'official' block acceptance tests (and some additional ones) that is run on every pull request to help ensure it properly follows consensus. Also, it passes all of the JSON test data in the Bitcoin Core code.
It also properly relays newly mined blocks, maintains a transaction pool, and relays individual transactions that have not yet made it into a block. It ensures all individual transactions admitted to the pool follow the rules required by the block chain and also includes more strict checks which filter transactions based on miner requirements ("standard" transactions).
One key difference between btcd and Bitcoin Core is that btcd does NOT include wallet functionality and this was a very intentional design decision. See the blog entry here for more details. This means you can't actually make or receive payments directly with btcd. That functionality is provided by the btcwallet and Paymetheus (Windows-only) projects which are both under active development.
Requirements
Go 1.6 or newer.
Installation
Windows - MSI Available
https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd/releases
Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source
-
Install Go according to the installation instructions here: http://golang.org/doc/install
-
Ensure Go was installed properly and is a supported version:
$ go version
$ go env GOROOT GOPATH
NOTE: The GOROOT
and GOPATH
above must not be the same path. It is
recommended that GOPATH
is set to a directory in your home directory such as
~/goprojects
to avoid write permission issues. It is also recommended to add
$GOPATH/bin
to your PATH
at this point.
- Run the following commands to obtain btcd, all dependencies, and install it:
$ go get -u github.com/Masterminds/glide
$ git clone https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
$ glide install
$ go install . ./cmd/...
- btcd (and utilities) will now be installed in
$GOPATH/bin
. If you did not already add the bin directory to your system path during Go installation, we recommend you do so now.
Updating
Windows
Install a newer MSI
Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source
- Run the following commands to update btcd, all dependencies, and install it:
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
$ git pull && glide install
$ go install . ./cmd/...
Getting Started
btcd has several configuration options avilable to tweak how it runs, but all of the basic operations described in the intro section work with zero configuration.
Windows (Installed from MSI)
Launch btcd from your Start menu.
Linux/BSD/POSIX/Source
$ ./btcd
IRC
- irc.freenode.net
- channel #btcd
- webchat
Mailing lists
- btcd: discussion of btcd and its packages.
- btcd-commits: readonly mail-out of source code changes.
To subscribe to a given list, send email to list+subscribe@opensource.conformal.com
Issue Tracker
The integrated github issue tracker is used for this project.
Documentation
The documentation is a work-in-progress. It is located in the docs folder.
GPG Verification Key
All official release tags are signed by Conformal so users can ensure the code has not been tampered with and is coming from the btcsuite developers. To verify the signature perform the following:
-
Download the public key from the Conformal website at https://opensource.conformal.com/GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
-
Import the public key into your GPG keyring:
gpg --import GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
-
Verify the release tag with the following command where
TAG_NAME
is a placeholder for the specific tag:git tag -v TAG_NAME
License
btcd is licensed under the copyfree ISC License.