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Navigating the Documentation

These docs are targeted at Solidity developers who want to build privacy applications. Since Aztec smart contracts are written in Noir, those familiar with Rust will find the developer experience to be similar since Noir is Rust-based.

The differences between Ethereum development and Aztec development are detailed in these docs but the high-level differences that will need to be understood are:

  1. How public and private state is managed.
  2. How to write Aztec smart contracts with Noir and Aztec.nr.

Getting started on Sandbox or Testnet

Get started developing on Aztec by running the sandbox or interacting with testnet.

The differences between sandbox and testnet:

Sandbox (Local Development)
  • Runs locally on your machine
  • No proving by default (faster development)
  • No fees
  • Instant block times
  • Test accounts automatically deployed
  • Ideal for rapid development and testing
Testnet (Remote Network)
  • Remote environment with network of sequencers
  • Always has proving enabled (longer transaction times)
  • Always has fees enabled (need to pay or sponsor fees)
  • ~36 second block times, longer L1 settlement
  • No automatic test accounts
  • Ideal for production-like testing

Concepts

Guides

  • Smart contracts
    • Write a counter smart contract
    • Write a token smart contract
    • Write a contract with partial notes