Part IV: Using libraries to optimize contract size
The topic of discussion in this article series has been the ways a smart contract developer can optimize the contractโs bytecode size & never hit the threshold of 24.576 kb.
So here is another crucial development pattern you can use to lower the bytecode size of your contract.
It's actually quite simple
Use Libraries in Smart Contracts
How does it HELP?
๐ Using libraries in Solidity can help in minimizing contract bytecode size by reducing code duplication across multiple contracts.
๐ When the same functionality is required in multiple contracts, the code for that functionality can be written in a separate library contract and then linked to the other contracts that require it.
๐ This reduces the amount of code that needs to be deployed to the blockchain, which can significantly reduce the cost of deploying and interacting with the contracts.
Some more reasons why using libraries in Solidity can help minimize contract bytecode size and enhance overall performance:
๐ข Code reusability: Libraries allow developers to write code once and reuse it in multiple contracts, rather than duplicating the same code across multiple contracts. This reduces the amount of code that needs to be deployed and stored on the blockchain.
๐ข Smaller contract size: Because the library code is stored in a separate contract, the size of the contract that uses the library is smaller. This can significantly reduce the cost of deploying and interacting with the contract.
๐ข Easier to maintain: Using libraries can make contracts easier to maintain, as changes can be made to the library code without affecting the contracts that use it. This can also help to reduce the risk of bugs and vulnerabilities in the contract code.
๐ข Improved security: Libraries can be audited separately from the contracts that use them, which can improve security by allowing for more focused security reviews. I
Moreover, by reducing code duplication and improving code reuse, libraries can help to reduce the risk of vulnerabilities in the contract code.
๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ( ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐) ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ฌ:
๐ While developing your smart contract, if one of the main reasons behind using Libraries is to optimize for the contract's bytecode size, then you should ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.
๐ Attaching internal visibility to library functions will eventually add those functions in the main contract during compilation, which won't really help us in bytecode size reduction.
๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ as that would help keep them in a separate library contract and also help with optimization.
Overall, using libraries in Solidity is a powerful tool for minimizing contract bytecode size and improving the efficiency and security of smart contract development.