Retention at Rank 3

Member details

• Matrix username: @jan:parity.io
• Polkadot address: 15tRXfXoZXkjScB3Awv8s2saPjaicKYAyL1WZ3JP5kycoG9n
• Current rank: 3
• Date of initial induction: seeding
• Date of last report: 2024/05/09
• Area(s) of Expertise/Interest: Substrate, virtual machines, WebAssembly, host <-> runtime interface, performance, JAM, compilers and toolchains

Reporting period

• Start date: 2024-05-10
• End date: 2025-01-06

Evidence

Most of my time was spent working on PolkaVM, which, while being one of many implementations of PVM (as described in the JAM Graypaper), is also the main vehicle for prototyping of any new additions to the PVM spec before they end up in the Graypaper.

In total I've made 250+ new commits to the PolkaVM repository, totaling over 50k+ lines of code and 50+ PRs, with too many changes to comprehensively list here; anyone interested in the gory details can take a look at the list of commits and/or the list of PRs I have made. My work has also directly resulted in numerous changes to the PVM spec.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Prototype of 64-bit PVM support in PolkaVM, which we've then added to the Graypaper:
  • PRs in PolkaVM (there were many more, these are just a few major ones): https://github.com/paritytech/polkavm/pull/182 https://github.com/paritytech/polkavm/pull/206 https://github.com/paritytech/polkavm/pull/210
  • My HackMD describing the changes: https://hackmd.io/@hQTcJMiNR_K6HAoF_nY4qw/BkwgsG4Jye
  • Changes to the PVM spec: https://github.com/gavofyork/graypaper/pull/136
• Design work on the bit-manipulation instruction set extension based on RISC-V's Zbb
  • Implemented in this PR by Aman, which I've mentored and reviewed: https://github.com/paritytech/polkavm/pull/204
  • My HackMD describing the changes: https://hackmd.io/@koute/SJxTlrxN1g
  • Changes to the PVM spec: https://github.com/gavofyork/graypaper/pull/176
• Dynamic page faulting-related research and implementation (this is necessary to support inner PVMs in JAM)
  • Based on this experience this resulted in some changes to the inner PVM hostcalls in JAM, e.g. https://github.com/gavofyork/graypaper/pull/135/commits/21e264d72c2f353892fe69adc54eeb98f05611b7
• Prepared the initial set of PVM test vectors
• Many toolchain improvements, culminating in being able to finally write and build Rust programs targeting PolkaVM/PVM using a fully upstream rustc, instead of having to use a custom fork.

I have also been closely collaborating with the Smart Contracts team within Parity to help bring Smart Contracts to the Asset Hub on Polkadot, where PolkaVM will be used as the VM of choice. This work is currently still in-progress, with the first prototype already deployed on Westend.

I have also consulted on the PolkaVM parachains runtimes MVP, although I haven't directly contributed code to that effort in polkadot-sdk.

Finally, I have hosted a guest talk during the Polkadot Blockchain Academy in Singapore regarding PolkaVM and PVM.

In the next six months I plan to continue to focus on PolkaVM, help get the PVM spec finalized for JAM 1.0, and support the Smart Contracts team.

Voting record

I admit my voting record activity is not as high as it should be; I will make a conscious effort to do better and vote more often.