Architecture¶
This document describes, in detail, the architecture of plasma-core.
If you’re a new contributor to plasma-core, welcome!
Hopefully this document will help you better understand how plasma-core works under the hood.
plasma-core 101¶
plasma-core is composed of a set of services that, when woven together, form (almost) a complete node!
Each of these services performs a very specific role.
A more in-depth explanation of each individual service is available in the Service API Reference section of our documentation.
Architecture Diagram¶
This diagram shows the basic architecture of plasma-core:
PG Plasma Architecture Diagram
External services¶
plasma-core talks to three external services: Ethereum, the plasma chain Operator, and user applications.
These three services are outside of the scope of plasma-core.
Instead, plasma-core provides interfaces through which it can talk to and hear from these external services.
ContractService¶
ContractService handles interactions with the plasma chain contract, like submitting deposits or starting withdrawals. Non-contract specific Ethereum interactions are handled by ETHService.
ETHService¶
ETHService exposes the functionality necessary to read information from Ethereum.
ETHService is used for non-contract specific interactions.
OperatorService¶
As its name suggests, OperatorService handles all communication with the plasma chain operator. This includes sending and receiving plasma chain transactions.
JSONRPCService¶
The JSONRPCService acts as a handler for commands sent by user applications.
By default, applications must interact directly with JSONRPCService.
plasma-core can be extended to expose additional interfaces to JSONRPCService, such as an HTTP API.
Internal services¶
The remaining services of plasma-core manage things internally.
SyncService¶
Possibly the most important internal service, SyncService ensures that your node always has the latest transactions.
SyncService watches Ethereum for any new plasma chain blocks and automatically pulls any necessary information from the Operator.
SyncService makes sure your balances are always up-to-date and that you can always send transactions when you need to!
ChainService¶
ChainService is another extremely important internal service.
ChainService manages plasma-core’s internal blockchain.
This includes storing any necessary transaction and block information.
ChainService also handles returning information about the stored local state with convenient wrapper functions.
GuardService¶
GuardService takes on the important role of keeping your funds safe at all times.
The GuardService keeps a constant eye on Ethereum and blocks others from trying to move funds without your permission.
GuardService queries Ethereum through the ETHService and pulls other relevant user data from ChainService.