• Anshika Bhalla
• November 29, 2022

Ehtereum undoubtedly topped the chart of the most popular blockchain used for developing blockchain projects. It was only a matter of time until smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain could be coded in a language other than Solidity. One language that allows Ethereum experts to create smart contract source code that is simpler to interpret is Vyper. 

Vyper vs. Solidity became one of the most difficult-to-resolve conflicts in smart contract development. Both programs were developed with the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem in mind. When Solidity seemed to have won the competition, Vyper started an entirely new ecosystem with its simplicity and individuality. 

Several Solidity and Vyper contracts dominate the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem with similar functionalities in performing transactional programming. This article will discuss features of both Solidity and Vyper and will attempt to uncover which is “better” for writing smart contracts.

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What exactly is a Smart Contract Code in Ethereum blockchain?

In brief, a smart contract code can be understood between two persons expressed in computer code. Blockchains evolved into the foundation of an online, public record of transactions. While the Ethereum blockchain pioneered a new technical revolution, smart contracts acted as its underlying power source.

The very first Ethereum-based contracts were developed with limited amounts of capabilities. Still, they became the bedrock of the whole Ethereum ecosystem. Any individual can develop an entire contract with various data types available. These smart contracts gradually created a  network of intelligent interactions, the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

EVM is a software or platform per se that acts like a decentralized system that enables the execution of innumerable Ethereum blockchain-based smart contracts and projects. The EVM sits atop Ethereum’s hardware and node network stack, serving as the foundation for Ethereum’s extensive operating system.

The need to write smart contracts in blockchain platforms

For a new software developer, mastering scalable software requires years of effort. Thus, specified programming languages can aid development. The languages make it simpler for developers to comply with the code.

Compilers exist to help computers understand logic written as codes. Software used for compilation aids in converting linguistic code into compact, machine-readable code.

Solidity vs Vyper: Rivals with the same goal.

Both may be used to answer queries and develop software for creating new coins or implementing existing blockchain technology.

However, Solidity, a high-level language, can raise concerns associated with function overloading. Thus, before diving into Solidity, it is crucial to substantiate the upper bound of any programming language. Solidity offers superior official documentation.

Contrastingly, Vyper is beginner friendly with a low-level coding and language framework. Solidity and Vyper cover a wide variety of DeFi and class inheritance algorithms. 

What is Solidity?

The Solidity software is an Ethereum blockchain standard. The bytecode of Solidity is similar to the EVM bytecode. The majority of blockchain experts are accustomed to the Solidity programming language.

Solidity’s online editor offers exciting functionalities, which makes most blockchain organizations want particular experts with Solidity knowledge and experience. The vast majority of developer tools are created for Solidity. Examples include the Truffle design, which Solidity created. Solidity was also used to create OpenZeppelin, the foundation for smart contracts.

Choosing Solidity can be highly convenient as it is more universally compliant. However, some concerns are associated with Solidity. Sometimes the syntax is illegible and difficult to understand. Additionally, it is difficult to monitor the smart contract to ensure its security. This results in some blockchain experts choosing an alternate smart contract language to develop, known as Vyper.

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The uses of Solidity

Solidity is a high-level, object-oriented program used to build smart contracts. Programs known as smart contracts control how accounts behave within the Ethereum network. 

Can Solidity be claimed as better than Vyper?

The answer is both yes and no. While Solidity can be challenging for beginners, it comes with a much-extended ecosystem compared to Vyper. Additionally, Solidity features OpenZeppelin, a platform for auditing. Developers create deterministic applications, recursive calls, signed integers, above code, dynamic size arrays, two functions, and pure functions.

What is Vyper?

Targeting the EVM, Vyper is a python based, contract-oriented programming language. Vyper aids in making smart contract code easier to read and understand. Vyper uses a pythonic framework to develop smart contracts, making its syntax very familiar. It seeks to create Ethereum-based virtual systems comprehensible for even beginner blockchain developers.

Vyper uses a comprehensible and basic syntax. The main goal of Vyper is to prevent developers from writing deceptive codes. 

The lack of function overloading and other repetitive features, such as decimal fixed-point numbers, makes Vyper a comparatively friendly language for new developers. It can be comprehensively learned in a week.

Can Vyper be called better than Solidity?

• Vyper offers a mechanism to audit contracts and uses fewer feature sets than Solidity to ensure contract security. The parties concerned can now more easily audit code thanks to the new capabilities of Vyper. 
• Simplicity is the primary design objective of Vyper, making Vyper codes more readable than codes written in Solidity.  Moreover, auditing a Vyper smart contract is also simpler and crucial for security. However, this feature makes Vyper, when compared to Solidity, relatively more primitive. 
• The absence of dynamic arrays in Vyper can make working a little difficult. Vyper is the most human-readable Ethereum blockchain technology for smart contract security. 
• A host of other features and modifiers for writing smart contracts are also not supported in Vyper.
• Vyper’s major drawback is that it is incompatible with the Ethereum community’s development tools. For example, Vyper does not come built with a substitute for OpenZeppelin. This implies that you have to re-implement several OpenZeppelin smart contracts. 
• The Solidity code of OpenZeppelin defects Vyper’s enhanced security features. Moreover, many blockchain technology firms do not require developers with Vyper capabilities. This makes it challenging for Vyper developers to monetize their Vyper competencies when looking for a job in the blockchain platform.    

The pros of using Solidity

• A vast amount of tutorials and educational resources are available online.
• A large number of developer tools, such as Remix, an online editing application that can be used for writing smart contracts, are available.
• Development suites for writing, testing, and deploying smart contracts, such as Hardhat and Truffle, can be accessed.
• Aave and UniSwap, two major players in blockchain technology, are written using Solidity.
• Support for strings and dynamic size arrays is available.
• Exception handling has been recently added to Solidity’s repository.

Cons

• Possibilities of overflow, translating to storing too large values, can occur.
• Several contracts developed using were found to have major vulnerabilities which went undetected during testing/development.

The pros of using Vyper

• Python developers will make it easier to start.
• For the sake of readability and security, it strives to be transparent.
• In recent times, there has been a rise in development tools such as Brownie and Etherscan.
• DeFi protocols like Curve use it to create their contracts.
• The limitations on array and string make it less vulnerable to attacks.
• Any function call’s gas usage can have an exact upper bound calculated.

Cons

• Lacks community support.
• Functionalities such as modifiers, recursive calls, class inheritance, and dynamic data types are absent.
• Being under development, several Solidity features are yet to be available in Vyper.

Solidity vs Vyper

Conclusion

Most developers will likely find Solidity meeting their demands for smart contracts. However, Vyper is a great option for individuals who demand the highest levels of security. Considering that Solidity and Vyper are capable tools of maximizing the benefits of utilizing the Ethereum blockchain, there is no obvious winner. They are rather two complementary programming languages for Ethereum experts and developers. Best bet? Developers seeking to master blockchain coding should master both languages.

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