The Soroban software development kit (SDK), designed for developers to build smart contracts on the Stellar network, has launched its v28 upgrade. Soroban leverages the Rust programming language and enables advanced development for Stellar’s smart contract platform.
Protocol 28 Launch and Features
The Build on Stellar X account announced that Soroban SDK v28 now supports Protocol 28, which was activated on Stellar’s mainnet on September 16. Protocol 28 introduced several key technical advancements, including faster consensus mechanisms, atomic upgrades for groups of contracts, and enhanced methods for migrating contract data in a safer, standardized way.
The mainnet activation of Protocol 28 marked a significant update for Stellar’s smart contract ecosystem, aligning Soroban SDK development with the latest network capabilities.
Soroban’s v28 release incorporates improvements directly linked to Protocol 28. These enhancements focus on streamlining the development, deployment, and migration of smart contracts on Stellar.
Soroban SDK v28 Technical Improvements
Soroban SDK v28 introduces substantial changes in the build system, as well as new behaviors that improve contract data migration and add new functions for developers. Highlights of this release include Spec Shaking v2, tools for contract data migration, sparsely published events, executable references, and native contracts that may be uploaded in test environments.
Spec Shaking v2, in particular, alters how specifications are included within smart contracts. Drawing on techniques similar to dead code elimination in compiler design, the SDK now emits specification entries for all items, while the build system in stellar-cli strips out unused entries. This process helps reduce the size and complexity of deployed contracts.
Previously, when storing a struct—a data structure—on the Stellar ledger, the key map for that struct had to match exactly, requiring every field to be present. With v28, the SDK introduces more flexibility in mapping, enhancing contract compatibility and data integrity for developers working on the platform.
Mini dictionary: Soroban SDK, a Rust-based toolkit enabling developers to write, test, and deploy smart contracts within the Stellar ecosystem, streamlining the process of integrating blockchain-based business logic on Stellar’s global network.
Stellar’s 11th Anniversary and Ongoing Milestones
Stellar, a blockchain payment network launched in 2015, is currently marking its 11th anniversary. Over more than a decade, Stellar has focused on creating infrastructure to facilitate faster and more accessible movement of money worldwide, with applications ranging from cross-border payments to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).
Recently, Stellar reported surpassing 22,000 RWA holders, underscoring the network’s expanding footprint in bridging blockchain and traditional finance sectors. RWAs, or real-world assets, represent off-chain assets such as fiat currencies or commodities, brought onto a blockchain for enhanced efficiency and transparency.
Tomer Weller, head of product at the Stellar Foundation, highlighted a key detail about the network’s history: September 30 marks the anniversary of Stellar’s “new” network, which was introduced with its current infrastructure in 2015. The original version of Stellar, launched in 2014, used the native token known as “Stellars” with the ticker STR before the transition to today’s format.
Spec Shaking v2 introduces compiler-inspired dead code elimination, ensuring that unused specification entries are stripped from deployments, resulting in more efficient contract binaries for developers working with Soroban SDK on Stellar.
