Solana Smart Contracts Can Now Be Written in Solidity Thanks to New Tool

The world of blockchain technology is constantly evolving. An exciting new development in the Solana ecosystem is the release of Solang, a tool that allows developers to write Solana smart contracts using the Solidity programming language. This opens up new possibilities for building decentralized applications (dApps) on Solana using a language that is already widely adopted.

Why this matters

Solidity is the most popular language for writing smart contracts, especially on Ethereum. However, Solana smart contracts have traditionally been written in Rust or C. This presents a learning curve for developers accustomed to Solidity. With Solang, they can leverage their existing knowledge.

Solang provides a bridge for Solidity developers to start building on the high-speed, low-cost Solana blockchain. It makes it simpler to port over existing Solidity smart contracts and opens the door for more developers to try out Solana.

1/ ?Introducing Solang: Building on Solana with Solidity

Today, @solanalabs announces Solang, a compiler enabling developers to write smart contracts on Solana in Solidity, the primary programming language of Ethereum.https://t.co/X703sAMJBC

Learn more?

— Solana (@solana) July 19, 2023

How Solang works

Solang takes Solidity code and compiles it into a Solana program written in Rust. This Rust program can then be deployed to the Solana blockchain. Solang supports the majority of Solidity syntax, making the transition seamless.

Behind the scenes, Solang converts Solidity’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) opcodes into Solana instructions. This enables the contract logic to execute on Solana’s runtime.

Use cases

Here are some examples of how Solang could be used:

• Port an existing Ethereum dApp like Uniswap or Aave to Solana
• Build a cross-chain dApp with shared Solidity contracts deployed on Ethereum and Solana
• Launch an NFT minting platform or marketplace using well-tested Solidity contracts
• Develop Solidity smart contracts that integrate with Solana’s ultra-fast transactions
• Create a DeFi protocol on Solana by forking and modifying Solidity code from Ethereum

Neon EVM brings Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to Solana

The Solana ecosystem is consistently becoming more friendly for developers accustomed to Ethereum. Recently, Neon has implemented the EVM as a Solana program. This allows unmodified Ethereum bytecode to be executed on Solana. For developers, using Neon EVM is meant to be as simple as changing their deployment scripts to point to Solana instead of Ethereum.

Behind the scenes, Neon EVM translates Ethereum contract calls to Solana transactions. Things like contract storage and events are emulated on Solana’s accounts and transaction logs.

Benefits for Ethereum developers

For Ethereum developers, Neon EVM promises faster and cheaper transactions when deploying on Solana. Congestion on Ethereum often leads to spikes in gas fees and sluggish confirmation times. Solana’s speed and scalability could provide welcome relief.

Neon EVM also opens up Solana’s feature set like on-chain programs and parallel transaction processing. Integrating Solana into their stack can greatly expand what Ethereum developers can build.

The possibilities are tremendous now that the popular Solidity language can interact with Solana’s innovative tech. Solang paves the way for Ethereum developers to expand their skills into the Solana ecosystem. With this new bridge between the two leading smart contract platforms, developers enjoy the best of both worlds.

The Solana community stands to benefit greatly from the influx of talent building on Solidity. As Solang adoption grows, we can expect to see more complex dApps launch on Solana. The possibilities are endless now the languages are unified.

Solana is one of the altcoins leading the XRP rally. Solana price is currently $27.32, up 23% in the last 7 days and 72% in the last 30 days. The creation of new DeFi opportunities with more dApps in the future could increase the transaction volume and number of users on the Solana network, as well as rocketing the price.