Litecoin MimbleWimble May Recap + Updates
This update was written and provided by Litecoin MimbleWimble lead developer. David Burkett.
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Coding and Testing
Over the last month we’ve made significant improvements to our code, including:
We consolidated our build process to support our existing release strategy. Because we originally intended to share the libmw codebase with Grin++, the new code used a different technology (cmake) for build management than the existing Litecoin code.
Due to significant differences between the Grin and MWEB protocols, that plan proved unfeasible, so there was no longer any reason to continue using two different build management solutions.
We now completely stop using cmake and include libmw code as part of existing (automake) builds. We also downgraded from C++17 to C++14 to support gitian builds, a method of producing verifiable releases.Removed unnecessary interfaces and boilerplate code. This also comes from the fact that we no longer need to share logic with Grin++.
We had a strict interface layer that prevented us from calling existing Litecoin code from within the new libmw library, which forced us to duplicate serialization, logging, and other infrastructure code within libmw.
Since Litecoin is now the only consumer of libmw, removing this artificial separation results in less code and fewer bugs overall.Automated build tasks for multiple platforms. Automated builds are working again on Linux, and now also generate a Windows build for each code commit.
This allows for faster feedback on changes and opens up opportunities for non-developers to help with testing without having to write the code themselves.
Review and Audit****
We’re still having trouble getting developers to review libmw code. The code has changed quite a bit since the PR was first submitted, so I’ll be closing it down and creating several smaller, newer, easier-to-understand PRs over the coming weeks.
I met with Quarkslab yesterday to discuss what needs to be audited, and I will continue to work with them over the next week or two as they gather the information they need to make an initial assessment and audit estimate.
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We remain on track for activation around the end of the year, barring any big surprises from the auditors.
