Solana Blockchain Basics
Understanding Solana's core concepts and architecture
Solana is a high-performance blockchain designed for decentralized applications and crypto-currencies. Learn the fundamental concepts that make Solana unique and powerful.
What Makes Solana Different?
High Performance
Up to 65,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality.
Low Cost
Transaction fees typically under $0.00025, making it accessible for all.
Proof of History
Innovative consensus mechanism for timestamps without coordination.
Single Global State
No sharding required - all data lives on one blockchain.
Core Concepts
1. Accounts
In Solana, everything is an account. Unlike Ethereum, Solana stores both code and data in accounts.
- Executable Accounts: Store program code (smart contracts)
- Data Accounts: Store program state and user data
- System Accounts: Regular user wallets (hold SOL)
Key Properties:
- Address: 32-byte public key
- Lamports: SOL balance (1 SOL = 1 billion lamports)
- Owner: Program that can modify the account
- Data: Arbitrary data stored in the account
- Executable: Flag indicating if account contains a program
2. Transactions & Instructions
A Transaction is a message sent to the blockchain containing:
- One or more instructions
- List of accounts to read/write
- Signatures from required parties
- Recent blockhash (for deduplication)
An Instruction is a call to a program with:
- Program ID to invoke
- Accounts the instruction will access
- Data to pass to the program
3. Programs (Smart Contracts)
Solana programs are the on-chain smart contracts. They are:
- Written in Rust (primarily) or C
- Compiled to BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) bytecode
- Stateless - all state is stored in separate accounts
- Can call other programs (Cross-Program Invocation)
4. Program Derived Addresses (PDAs)
PDAs are special accounts derived from a program ID and seeds:
- Deterministically generated addresses
- Not on the ed25519 curve (no private key)
- Only the program can "sign" for the PDA
- Used for program-controlled accounts
Solana's Architecture
Proof of History (PoH)
Solana's key innovation - a cryptographic clock that proves time has passed:
- Creates a historical record that proves events occurred in a specific order
- Allows validators to process transactions without coordinating timestamps
- Enables high throughput without sacrificing decentralization
Tower BFT Consensus
Solana's Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism:
- Built on top of Proof of History
- Validators vote on blocks using their stake
- Achieves finality in ~400ms
Sealevel - Parallel Runtime
Solana's parallel transaction processing engine:
- Executes thousands of contracts in parallel
- Uses GPU for signature verification
- Optimizes for modern hardware
Key Features
SPL Tokens
The Solana Program Library Token standard:
- Fungible tokens (like ERC-20)
- NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)
- Associated token accounts for simplified management
Rent
Solana charges "rent" to store data on-chain:
- Accounts must maintain minimum balance to be "rent-exempt"
- Rent-exempt threshold: ~2 years of rent upfront
- Prevents blockchain state bloat
Development Workflow
Write Program
Write Solana program in Rust using native Rust or Anchor framework.
Build & Test
Build program to BPF bytecode and test locally with test validator.
Deploy
Deploy to devnet for testing, then to mainnet for production.
Integrate
Build frontend using web3.js or other SDKs to interact with program.
Important Resources
- Solana Docs: docs.solana.com
- Solana Cookbook: solanacookbook.com
- Program Examples: GitHub
- Solana Stack Exchange: Q&A Community
Next Steps
Ready to start building? Learn the Anchor Framework to simplify Solana program development!