Copy editing introduction
Not sure how else to comment, but I'd encourage keeping the content timeless rather than an update. So don't talk about recent releases or next we're doing X. (just a suggestion ;)
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# What is Solana?
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# What is Solana?
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Solana is the name of an open source project that is implementing a new
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Solana is the name of an open source project that is implementing a new,
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high-performance, permissionless blockchain. Solana is also the name of a
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high-performance, permissionless blockchain. Solana is also the name of a
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company headquartered in San Francisco that maintains the open source project.
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company headquartered in San Francisco that maintains the open source project.
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# About this Book
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# About this Book
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This book describes the Solana open source project, a blockchain built from the
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This book describes the Solana open source project, a blockchain built from the
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ground up for scale. The book covers why to use it, how to use it, how it
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ground up for scale. The book covers why it's useful, how to use it, how it
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works, and why it will continue to work long after the company Solana closes
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works, and why it will continue to work long after the company Solana closes
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its doors. The goal of the Solana architecture is to demonstrate there exists a
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its doors. The goal of the Solana architecture is to demonstrate there exists a
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set of software algorithms that when used in combination to implement a
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set of software algorithms that when used in combination to implement a
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blockchain, removes software as a performance bottleneck, allowing transaction
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blockchain, removes software as a performance bottleneck, allowing transaction
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throughput to scale proportionally with network bandwidth. The architecture
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throughput to scale proportionally with network bandwidth. The architecture
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goes on to satisfy all three desirable properties of a proper blockchain: that
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goes on to satisfy all three desirable properties of a proper blockchain:
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it not only be scalable, but that it is also secure and decentralized.
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it is scalable, secure and decentralized.
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The architecture describes a theoretical upper bound of 710 thousand
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The architecture describes a theoretical upper bound of 710 thousand
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transactions per second (tps) on a standard gigabit network and 28.4 million
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transactions per second (tps) on a standard gigabit network and 28.4 million
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@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ solicitation for investment.
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# History of the Solana Codebase
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# History of the Solana Codebase
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In November of 2017 Anatoly Yakovenko published a whitepaper describing Proof
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In November of 2017, Anatoly Yakovenko published a whitepaper describing Proof
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of History, a technique for keeping time between computers that do not trust
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of History, a technique for keeping time between computers that do not trust
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one another. From Anatoly's previous experience designing distributed systems
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one another. From Anatoly's previous experience designing distributed systems
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at Qualcomm, Mesosphere and Dropbox, he knew that a reliable clock makes
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at Qualcomm, Mesosphere and Dropbox, he knew that a reliable clock makes
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Anatoly watched as blockchain systems without clocks, such as Bitcoin and
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Anatoly watched as blockchain systems without clocks, such as Bitcoin and
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Ethereum, struggled to scale beyond 15 transactions per second worldwide when
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Ethereum, struggled to scale beyond 15 transactions per second worldwide when
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centralized payment systems such as Visa required peaks of 65,000. Without a
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centralized payment systems such as Visa required peaks of 65,000 tps. Without a
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clock, it was clear they'd never graduate to being the global payment system or
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clock, it was clear they'd never graduate to being the global payment system or
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global supercomputer they had dreamed to be. When Anatoly solved the problem of
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global supercomputer most had dreamed them to be. When Anatoly solved the problem of
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getting computers that don’t trust each other to agree on time, he knew he had
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getting computers that don’t trust each other to agree on time, he knew he had
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the key to bring 40 years of distributed systems research to the world of
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the key to bring 40 years of distributed systems research to the world of
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blockchain. The resulting cluster wouldn't be just 10 times faster, or a 100
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blockchain. The resulting cluster wouldn't be just 10 times faster, or a 100
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times, or a 1,000 times, but 10,000 times faster right out of the gate!
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times, or a 1,000 times, but 10,000 times faster, right out of the gate!
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Anatoly's implementation began in a private codebase and was implemented in the
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Anatoly's implementation began in a private codebase and was implemented in the
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C programming language. Greg Fitzgerald, who had previously worked with Anatoly
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C programming language. Greg Fitzgerald, who had previously worked with Anatoly
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at semiconductor giant Qualcomm Incorporated, encouraged him to reimplement the
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at semiconductor giant Qualcomm Incorporated, encouraged him to reimplement the
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project in the Rust programming language. Greg had worked on the LLVM compiler
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project in the Rust programming language. Greg had worked on the LLVM compiler
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infrastructure, which underlies both the Clang C/C++ compiler as well as the
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infrastructure, which underlies both the C lang C/C++ compiler as well as the
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Rust compiler. Greg claimed that the language's safety guarantees would improve
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Rust compiler. Greg claimed that the language's safety guarantees would improve
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software productivity and that its lack of a garbage collector would allow
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software productivity and that its lack of a garbage collector would allow
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programs to perform as well as those written in C. Anatoly gave it a shot and
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programs to perform as well as those written in C. Anatoly gave it a shot and
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called Loom.
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called Loom.
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Around the same time, Ethereum-based project Loom Network sprung up and many
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Around the same time, Ethereum-based project Loom Network sprung up and many
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people were confused if they were the same project. The Loom team decided it
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people were confused about whether they were the same project. The Loom team decided it
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would rebrand. They chose the name Solana, a nod to a small beach town North of
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would rebrand. They chose the name Solana, a nod to a small beach town North of
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San Diego called Solana Beach, where Anatoly, Greg and Stephen lived and surfed
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San Diego called Solana Beach, where Anatoly, Greg and Stephen lived and surfed
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for three years when they worked for Qualcomm. On March 28th, the team created
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for three years when they worked for Qualcomm. On March 28th, the team created
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In June of 2018, the team scaled up the technology to run on cloud-based
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In June of 2018, the team scaled up the technology to run on cloud-based
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networks and on July 19th, published a 50-node, permissioned, public testnet
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networks and on July 19th, published a 50-node, permissioned, public testnet
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consistently supporting bursts of 250,000 transactions per second. In the most
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consistently supporting bursts of 250,000 transactions per second. In a later release in
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recent release, v0.10 Pillbox, the team published a permissioned testnet
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December, called v0.10 Pillbox, the team published a permissioned testnet
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running 150 nodes on a gigabit network and demonstrated soak tests processing
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running 150 nodes on a gigabit network and demonstrated soak tests processing
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an *average* of 200 thousand transactions per second with bursts over 500
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an *average* of 200 thousand transactions per second with bursts over 500
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thousand. The project was also extended to support on-chain programs written in
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thousand. The project was also extended to support on-chain programs written in
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the C programming language and run concurrently in a safe execution environment
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the C programming language and run concurrently in a safe execution environment
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called BPF. Next step: going permissionless.
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called BPF.
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# What is a Solana Cluster?
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# What is a Solana Cluster?
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A sol is the name of Solana's native token, which can be passed to nodes in a
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A sol is the name of Solana's native token, which can be passed to nodes in a
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Solana cluster in exchange for running an on-chain program or validating its
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Solana cluster in exchange for running an on-chain program or validating its
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output. The Solana protocol defines that only 1 billion sols will ever exist,
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output. The Solana protocol defines that only 1 billion sols will ever exist,
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but that the system may perform micropayments of fractional sols and that a sol
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but that the system may perform micropayments of fractional sols, and that a sol
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may be split as many as 34 times. The fractional sol is called a *lamport*. It
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may be split as many as 34 times. The fractional sol is called a *lamport*. It
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is named in honor of Solana's biggest technical influence, [Leslie
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is named in honor of Solana's biggest technical influence, [Leslie
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Lamport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Lamport). A lamport has a value
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Lamport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Lamport). A lamport has a value
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