Skip to content
Open
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
59 changes: 59 additions & 0 deletions GLOSSARY.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
# Glossary

Short, strict definitions of terms used in the technical docs: common
terminology across projects. A new definition must not introduce ambiguity
into the glossary: conflicting terminology must be resolved. An entry links
at most one external reference — the most authoritative source to research
further. Definitions should include the exact names a term goes by in other
places — code identifiers, crate or method names.

Entries are alphabetical.

---

**Bulletin** — The Polkadot Bulletin chain

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

#3

Suggested change
**Bulletin** — The Polkadot Bulletin chain
**Levity** (a.k.a Bulletin) — The Polkadot Bulletin chain

([polkadot-bulletin-chain](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-bulletin-chain)):
a *system chain* that provides storage. Calls are feeless; instead they are
gated by an authorization model —
an account is authorized in advance to upload, and authorizations expire.
Data is uploaded by submitting extrinsics; the uploaded data itself is kept
in off-chain storage, not in the runtime state, and has a retention period.

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

It's not kept in runtime state but it is kept by all collators. Important distinction to Web3 Storage where collators wouldn't keep any of the data


**Fellowship runtimes** — The production runtimes of Polkadot, Kusama and
their *system chains*, maintained by the Polkadot Technical Fellowship in
Comment on lines +22 to +23

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Suggested change
**Fellowship runtimes** — The production runtimes of Polkadot, Kusama and
their *system chains*, maintained by the Polkadot Technical Fellowship in
**Fellowship runtimes** — The production runtimes of Polkadot and Kusama, maintained by the Polkadot Technical Fellowship in

[polkadot-fellows/runtimes](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes) and
enacted via on-chain referenda. The runtimes developed there are based on a
specific *SDK release* and released on their own cycle.

**HOP** — Hand-Off Protocol: a JSON-RPC protocol (`sc-hop`) exposed by
*Bulletin* collators. Bulletin-authorized accounts submit data that resides
on that one collator node only, addressed to one or more recipients (one-time
public keys) who claim it. Data not claimed within a configurable retention
period is promoted best-effort: submitted to *Bulletin* as an extrinsic.

**Node** — The binary running a chain: networking, database, consensus, RPC.
Runtime state is opaque data to it; a chain spec defines what it runs —
genesis state, including the runtime, chain id and bootnodes. It exposes
JSON-RPC on one port for external clients and the P2P protocols on another
for other nodes. It can run in different modes — collator/validator, bootnode,
or a regular RPC node; whether it prunes block history and runtime state, or
keeps all of it (archive node), is an orthogonal choice.

**Pallet** — A FRAME module implementing one domain of runtime logic — its
storage, calls, events and errors. A runtime is composed of pallets
(`pallet-balances`, `pallet-staking`, …).

**Runtime API** — A versioned interface (`sp-api`) the Wasm runtime exposes

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

sp-api should be link?

to the node, invoked on a specific block's state (block building, transaction
validation, metadata, …). Not the node's JSON-RPC: RPC is served by the node
to external clients, a runtime API is called by the node into the runtime.

**SDK release** — A versioned release (`stableYYMM`) of

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

There are also patch releases

[polkadot-sdk](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk), the crate set that
node and runtime implementations build against. Ships on a regular cadence,
independent of *Fellowship runtimes* releases.

**System chain** — A parachain that is part of the network's protocol itself.
Runs on behalf of the network; its runtime lives in the *Fellowship
runtimes*. Uses a para ID below 2000 — the range that is not publicly
registrable (`LOWEST_PUBLIC_ID` in polkadot-sdk).

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

also here link would be nice.

I think we should cross-link whenever possible (fixed commit not master).