Quote from: Ullo on April 06, 2015, 05:10:34 PM

INode

Bytecoin network basics

Bytecoin depends on its peer-to-peer network, basic unit of which is a node. The most common node that you may find in the network is Bytecoin Reference Client daemon (bytecoind).

There are two general types of nodes:

Seed is a node that allows inbound connections.
Peer is a node that doesn't allow inbound connections (e.g. if its user chooses so or due to firewall network rules). Since all the nodes are frequently asking other seed nodes if anything new has happened in the network (a new block mainly), peers are still perfectly synced.

Bytecoin IWallet and ITransaction

While INode is capable of relaying and processing blocks, it cannot access any information regarding user funds or create transactions. However, there are certain applications (e.g. wallets) that require such methods.

Bytecoin team wanted to give a varying level of access to CryptoNote transactions core with two API interfaces:

IWallet operates on the business logics level. It is useful if you simply need to receive and send transactions, without going into CryptoNote protocol details. Should you require to transfer money with IWallet, you just need to indicate the receiver's address, the amount, and the mixing level. IWallet will do the hard work for you, as it will select the inputs, and then create, validate, sign, and broadcast the transaction.
ITransaction is a low-level interface that gives full access to CryptoNote transactions engine. It is designed for those applications that require strict control of transaction creation process. For instance, ITransaction allows you to select specific inputs, and has separate methods for signing and broadcasting a transaction. It also provides access to multisig functionality.

Both API interfaces are capable of doing exactly the same, but with varying level of detalization. That is why IWallet belongs to Bytecoin high-level API, while ITransaction is low-level.

Both new simplewallet and the upcoming Bytecoin Wallet have IWallet in their core. Just like INode interface can boast with better performance than legacy bytecoind, IWallet is a faster version of legacy simplewallet source code. As of version 1.0.3 simplewallet has migrated to this interface, which reduced the time required to process a single block by 15%.

To be precise, new Bytecoin simplewallet is a basic console program that uses IWallet and proxying INode. On the other hand, Bytecoin GUI Wallet utilizes IWallet and in-process INode (which automatically runs as proxying in case you already have an instance of bytecoind launched).

We expect the vast majority of applications to choose IWallet, while ITransaction is for those who require CryptoNote transactions fine-tuning. For instance, this level of access may be required by such services as payment processors. These applications often have their own custom logic of transaction creation and various complicated modules. ITransaction allows to split the transfer process according to the architecture needs.

Moreover, ITransaction also gives access to multisignature API that is capable of powering on-blockchain escrow services and foundation wallets. Bytecoin multisig belongs to M-of-N scheme. We will be covering multisignature in details in one of the next blog posts, but here you may find its description in laymen terms.

Hi, people from Bytecoin team. First of all, thank you for your work and for your attempt to explain all hardcore things to average users.
But I think more specified documentation on new Bytecoin features (at least, INode and IWallet) is needed. Developers should be provided with detailed explanation, pics and so on. Would you be so kind to tell me where I can get it? Is there something like docs section at Bytecoin website?