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Core Aptos Technology

Aptos adopts a novel approach to transaction flow by separating, pipelining, batching, and parallel execution into separate, independent stages. This design maximizes throughput and resource use while reducing complexity. This also improves development cycles, as each stage can be developed as its own distinct entity rather than as a tightly interwoven structure.

Although the ledger’s written state of the ledger is temporarily paused during the ordering and batching process, the transaction execution and dissemination are continuously performed by the validators in the background. This means that even though the ledger's state is momentarily paused, transactions are still being processed and disseminated by validators.

Additionally, Aptos requires that all transactions undergo sequencing, regardless of whether they interact with the same assets or not. This means that even if multiple transactions don't have any interactions with one another, they'll still be temporarily paused to be written to the ledger in the same batch of transactions. This approach helps to maintain the universal ledger’s integrity while ensuring transactions are recorded in a consistent and accurate manner.

Source: Aptos white paper

Another noteworthy aspect of Aptos’ unique design approach is the decoupling of the consensus phase from non-agreement tasks, such as transaction dissemination and execution. This reduces operational complexity and allows block metadata and proof ordering to function effectively with lower bandwidth requirements compared to existing models. The result of this design is an increase in network throughput and a reduction in latency.

What is Parallel Execution?

Parallel execution in cryptocurrency refers to the ability to process and execute multiple transactions simultaneously rather than sequentially. In traditional cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, transactions are executed one after the other in a linear order to ensure that one transaction’s outcome does not conflict with the next. Parallel execution is a way to increase a cryptocurrency network’s scalability and can help to reduce latency and improve network performance.

In a parallel execution setup, multiple transactions are grouped together and processed in parallel by different validators on the network. This helps the network to handle a higher TPS, allowing for increased throughput and scalability. To ensure that the transactions are processed in the correct order, the blockchain network may implement consensus algorithms and protocols to establish the transaction order and reach agreement between all participating validators.

Aptos uses parallel execution to achieve a theoretically limitless capacity for scaling network throughput, particularly as demand and use grow. The testnet’s transactional output currently stands at around 4,000 TPS, but Aptos Labs intends to maximize the network’s potential to an estimated 100k+ TPS. This raises questions about how Aptos maintains consensus in regard to transaction order and how it differentiates between independent and conflicting transactions.

Data Storage

In traditional blockchain designs, executed transactions are all stored permanently on the ledger, generally resulting in a data accumulation problem known as state bloat. State bloat leads to increasing memory requirements for validators, resulting in reduced decentralization and efficiency as validators struggle to keep up with the system’s memory requirements. The Aptos blockchain is structured like a Merkle tree, significantly reducing the storage demands of validator nodes. Furthermore, nodes can trim certain transactions and event data to minimize storage requirements. These optimizations help to alleviate the storage load on other nodes in the system. This is crucial because the system can't expand effectively with significant barriers to entry for new nodes due to state bloat. Aptos has intentionally included a way to alleviate this problem in its architecture, which should help distribute the system easier over time. 

Move Programming Language

With the blockchain economy facing a large number of security breaches from smart contract loopholes, persistent security concerns have led developers to search for more appealing designs and programming languages. For this reason, Aptos has chosen to use the Move programming language. Move is also used by other projects, including:

• Sui Network
• Pontem
• Parachain
• Celo

Move is a new smart contract programming language that emphasizes safety and flexibility for developers. Move integrates formal verification within its development process, providing an advantage to projects such as Aptos, as it helps to ensure security of the code being used within the earliest stages of product development. A core function of the language, Move Prover, serves as the verification tool and provides developers with the assurance that their code is correct.

Move is memory-safe, expressive, and based on the widely used Rust programming language. This helps to make it a more attractive option for developers as there's crossover knowledge from Rust to Move. This is less applicable to other languages, such as Solidity. This can, theoretically, help Aptos to attract more development talent to its ecosystem. 

The use of resources in Move inspired by linear logic helps in improving security by preventing certain issues. The concept of custom resource types in Move ensures that a resource can only be moved and never cloned or deleted, making it more secure. The Move modules, similar to smart contracts, control the procedures for creating, updating, and deleting declared resources. The enforcement of data abstraction in Move modules leads to cleaner code structures, making it easier to navigate and reducing the risk of human error. The Move Prover, with its flexible programming architecture, can formally validate the characteristics of Move modules, making it an important tool in ensuring the code’s security and reliability.