As the final release date neared, the core development team focused more heavily on code optimization over introducing functionality. Inefficiencies in binary serialization, JSON deserialization, and an out-of-memory error in JSON serialization were all uncovered and rectified in August.

By mid July, the core development team had released N3 RC4, which included logic fixes for the network fee, verification fee, and gas limit calculations. Alongside other optimizations, this new version also improved the client’s compatibility with OSX and introduced the latest features, such as the getnetwork and getrandom syscalls.

The milestone N3 release was achieved on August 1st and deployed to MainNet on the 2nd. Minor updates on the 3rd and 6th followed in quick succession as core developers worked to fix an issue with VerifyStateIndependent and remove the recently added Refuel command on account of potential DoS vectors, for which it could behave as an amplifier.

Assorted other improvements have been completed in the remainder of August, intended for inclusion in the v3.0.3 planned for release in September. Examples include a fix for CheckWitness for custom contract groups, a new witness scope, and a fix for a bug in Storage.Put that caused a variation in node state.

https://github.com/neo-project

Work on the C# port of NeoFS has continued. The collaborative effort between developers from NGD and Neo SPCC has yielded the release of the NeoFS.API v3.0.0, and in July testing began on the Inner Ring nodes used to govern the storage network.

Through August, the team progressed on the NeoFS client and began running tests for the storage and CLI components.

As in previous months, the Microsoft alumni of the NGD Enterprise office have continued their work to make Neo the most developer-friendly blockchain platform. Ever since it was unveiled, the Neo Blockchain Toolkit has become a must-have tool in any developer’s arsenal.

Similar to Ethereum’s Truffle suite, the Neo Blockchain Toolkit provides a suitable local environment for spinning up private networks; creating, compiling, and deploying smart contracts; and performing invocations or automated testing.

While key components such as Neo Express can be used as standalone tools, the Toolkit truly shines when used together with the included DevTracker & Debugger within VS Code. With the GUI, developers can access all the same functionality in a more convenient form, while also taking advantage of the additional block/transaction exploration and debugging tools.

In August, N3 release versions of all the included components were published, and various updates have followed since then. The team also shipped a preview of the Smart Contract Debugger for Visual Studio, following requests from the Neo community. Other components are planned to follow in the near future.

Alongside language-agnostic development infrastructure, NGD Enterprise also frequently contributes to the ecosystem through new tutorials, example C# smart contracts, core development, and strategic outreach at the enterprise and government levels.

https://github.com/ngdenterprise

Through July, the team worked to enhance the NeoFS specification and launch its TestNet iteration, which aligned with N3 RC4. New versions of the HTTP and S3 gateways were released, upgrading them with various bug fixes and other improvements. Examples include support for HEAD requests in the HTTP gateway.

The team also released new utilities in this time: neofs-adm, used to simplify side chain deployment, and neofs-aio, an all-in-one docker image for running a full NeoFS network.

Neo SPCC went on to achieve N3 MainNet compatibility for NeoFS in August with the v0.23.1 node version. New features included a new API search prefix implementation and a proof of concept for enhancements to notary event listening.

Particular attention was also placed on the S3 gateway, resulting in performance improvements and other changes intended to enhance compatibility with AWS.

https://github.com/nspcc-dev/neofs-node

Under the hood, NeoFS makes heavy use of NeoGo. It’s no surprise then that Neo SPCC spent considerable effort improving the node with impressive optimizations. In July, most changes maintained a focus on core compatibility—the v0.96.0 releases were quickly put to test on the RC4 network as Neo SPCC’s council node.

The RC4 versions boasted a number of substantial improvements over the previous iterations: up to 5-10 times improvement in JSON and binary serialization or deserialization, and up to 5-6 times faster block processing from a TestNet dump. Various inconsistencies between the Go and C# implementations were corrected, and the team measured an estimated 10% TPS improvement.

The v0.97 releases, with MainNet compatibility, would follow closely afterwards in August. Alongside security research and a number of fixes, Neo SPCC also completed work on a P2P state exchange implementation that it had finished drafting in the previous month.

Final node optimizations also made their way into these MainNet-ready releases. In benchmark tests, NeoGo reached an impressive new high of 8,800 TPS measured in a networked test, while also reducing memory consumption when compared to the last round of benchmarking.

At this time, NeoGo remains the only alternative Neo node implementation capable of participating in consensus. This makes it a vital tool, both for helping ensure correctness across the core protocol and other infrastructure, and for improving the robustness of the N3 network itself.

Indeed, at the time of the report’s writing, the Neo SPCC council node has claimed the top spot as the most highly voted node on the network. This means NeoGo has already joined the ranks of the consensus nodes on the N3 MainNet, a milestone accomplishment in itself and a great step forward in decentralization.

https://github.com/nspcc-dev/neo-go

The team produced two milestone releases, v3.12.0 and 3.13.0, in July and August respectively. The former made the library compatible with the Neo N3 MainNet for the first time, while the latter tidied up key functionality, such as the APIs for transaction building and for retrieving values from contract storage in their appropriate types.

The newest versions also include a number of changes that improve neow3j’s integration with Neo Blockchain Toolkit components, including support for Neo Express-specific RPC calls. The team also added a new interface for use with NFT smart contracts.

Whether you want to write your smart contracts in Java, add wallet functionality to a JVM-based game, or parse network data retrieved over RPC, neow3j has the tools you need. AxLabs now sets its sights on future enhancements that will further boost the toolkit’s developer friendliness and accessibility.

https://github.com/neow3j/neow3j

COZ levelled up its Python contract compiler with support for various new builtins. Examples include the count method for lists, tuples, and strings, the is keyword, and reversed.

In July, the team added support for user module imports, making it possible for developers to compile contracts which import code from other modules. This solves the inability to compile multi-file contracts while also providing an avenue for vetted contract libraries, similar to OpenZeppelin on Ethereum.

By early August, MainNet-compatibility was completed, adding the missing interops from prior releases as well as the latest ones used for random numbers and network magic checks. The v0.9.0 release also packaged a new OracleRequestCode enum, intended to improve the developer experience when using the N3 oracle system.

https://github.com/CityOfZion/neo3-boa

As with Boa, Mamba received various updates through the months to maintain compatibility with N3 protocol development. Two N3-ready releases were published in August, v0.9.0 and v0.9.1, which adjusted for RC4 and the MainNet v3.0.2 core node builds.

Some new features were introduced in August, such as support for the new network and random number syscalls. However, these were mostly limited to changes made at the N3 protocol level, rather than direct functionality expansions to the SDK itself.

That doesn’t mean Mamba isn’t ready for integration with Python applications however—it can already be used as a simple node with fast blockchain synchronization, and following a fix added at the end of August, correctness has been audited up to MainNet height 127,057.

Likewise, wallet functionality also remains available in Mamba, giving developers a way to create/import wallets or sign transactions in their applications.

https://github.com/CityOfZion/neo-mamba