Ethereum is one of the decentralized software platforms, which runs on blockchain and has smart contracts functionality. Using Ether, which is the 2nd-largest cryptocurrency by volume after Bitcoin, people can interact with the platform. Ethereum is commonly used by developers, but it can also be used by anyone who invests in crypto for its potential to be worth more over time.
What comes to smart contracts, simply put they allow users to make transactions without a trusted central authority, giving participants full ownership and visibility into transaction data, as transaction records are immutable, verifiable, and securely distributed across the network.
One of the greatest things about the platform is that relatively developer-friendly languages are used to write Ethereum smart contracts. The two most popular languages are:
- Solidity
- Vyper
But the question is: which language to choose for your first Ethereum project?
- For those developers who had some experience with JavaScript or C++ before, Solidity is a better choice, as its syntax will seem simpler.
- Vyper’s syntax will seem simpler for those familiar with Python.
- The main advantage of Solidity for the moment is that it is widely used by Ethereum developers, so there is a variety of beginner resources available, as well as tools that make developers’ life easier.
- Although, Vyper is a newer language, its developers learned from Solidity, so the language was designed to address security issues that Solidity had. It was also planned to be simpler and easier to audit.
- Solidity supports dynamic size arrays and strings. In the above code, developers can vary the length of the string.
- There is a limitation on the string and array, which makes the contract less prone to attacks.
- Moreover, as it is widely used, Solidity has extensive community support.
- A major point to note is that Vyper is still under development! Therefore, many features available in Solidity, are currently not available in Vyper.
As you can see, both languages have their pros and cons. Which language to choose is better to decide on a case-by-case basis, but even though most of the contracts are currently written in Solidity, Vyper has many advantages as well and is doing a great job improving the security of smart contracts.
Lera Maslova
Business Development Manager
