Yellowing Paper: What's Delaying a Crucial Ethereum Update?

[Cordillerabit]

The technical paper that's meant to provide the definitive rules for all computers running ethereum's software is falling out of date.

Called the Yellow Paper, the document is what ethereum developers use as a reference when coding, and it's what clients rely on to stay on the same page with the network (without, say, creating bugs that could fracture it).

However, changes to the document haven't been made in over a year, putting a strain on efforts to further the capabilities of the world's second-largest blockchain by market value.

Instead of a clear-cut guide, developers must rely on "community consensus" to ensure things are functioning correctly, core developer Nick Johnson said at the recent meeting. And as the network struggles to keep up with adoption (see: CryptoKitties' popularity), the urgency for ethereum to adapt its code has perhaps never been so stark.

Indeed, with talk of possible fixes for network congestion growing, new attention is being paid to perceived issues with the Yellow Paper.

Aiding frustrations is that consensus bugs that emerged in the run-up to ethereum's recent hard fork upgrade – called Byzantium – might have been mitigated with a more accurate, cross-client reference point.

As Johnson said during the meeting:

"If you want to build something that can sync the chain before the current hard fork, then you’re out of luck. You need to get out of bad information, and there’s actually no formal specification for that other than older versions of the Yellow Paper."

https://www.coindesk.com/yellowing-paper-whats-delaying-crucial-ethereum-update/