• StarkNet has overhauled its in-house Cairo coding language to make Web3 development accessible to developers.
• The technical specifications of the Cairo 1.0 launch encompass improved syntax and language constructs, a holistic type system, intuitive libraries, optimized code and strong typing.
• The main addition to Cairo’s overhaul is Sierra, which acts as an intermediate representation layer between Cairo 1.0 and Cairo byte code.
Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform StarkNet recently released a revamp of its Cairo programming language to enable easier onboarding of new developers. The overhaul intends to allow developers with general coding experience to begin building decentralized applications on StarkNet’s Ethereum layer-2 network.
The technical specifications outlined in the Jan. 5 launch encompass a host of improvements to Cairo’s language, including improved syntax and language constructs, a holistic type system, intuitive libraries, optimized code and strong typing by demanding specification of data types.
The main addition to Cairo’s overhaul is Sierra, which stands for Safe Intermediate Representation. Sierra acts as a new intermediate representation layer between Cairo 1.0 and Cairo byte code, and is an important aspect of ensuring a permissionless network.
StarkWare co-founder and president Eli Ben-Sasson shared with Cointelegraph that making layer-2 development more accessible to developers of varying backgrounds was the main reason for Cairo’s revamp. He added that the primary drivers were safety and ease of use, and that conducting the overhaul presented a terrific opportunity to remove the entry for developers with conventional language backgrounds.
StarkNet hopes that with the revamp of Cairo, more developers will join the StarkNet network and begin creating decentralized applications, thus driving adoption and growth of the platform. Developers can now use Cairo in order to build applications that are secure, fast and easily upgradable on the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain.