Architecture Overview
Dolphin enables Python-to-Solana development through a sophisticated compilation pipeline that transforms Python code into native Solana programs. This page explains how Dolphin works under the hood.
Key Concepts
Dolphin's architecture is built around three main principles:
Python Frontend: Provide a clean, Pythonic interface for defining Solana programs
IR-Based Transformation: Use an Intermediate Representation (IR) as a bridge between languages
Native Compilation: Generate standard Solana BPF bytecode for optimal performance
High-Level Overview
sequenceDiagram
participant Dev as Developer
participant Py as Python Frontend
participant IR as Intermediate Representation
participant Rust as Rust Backend
participant BPF as Solana BPF
Dev->>Py: Writes Python code
Py->>IR: Parse to IR
IR->>Rust: Generate Rust code
Rust->>BPF: Compile to BPF
BPF-->>Dev: Deployable programComponents
Parser & IR Gen
Python
Convert Python to IR
parser.py, ir_gen.py
IR Definitions
Both
Cross-language data contract
ir.py (Py), ir.rs (Rust)
Code Generator
Rust
Convert IR to Solana code
codegen.rs
Compiler Driver
Rust
Build pipeline management
mod.rs, generator/
How It Works
Python Parsing: The Python parser reads your code and identifies Dolphin-specific decorators, types, and structures
IR Generation: Your program is converted into a language-agnostic intermediate representation (IR)
Rust Generation: The IR is transformed into Solana-compatible Rust code
BPF Compilation: Standard Solana tooling compiles the Rust code to BPF bytecode
Common Misconceptions
❌ "PyO3 is used to run Python on Solana" ✅ Reality: PyO3 is only used during development time to share IR definitions between the Python-based frontend and Rust-based compiler
❌ "Python code is directly executed on-chain" ✅ Reality: Python is compiled to standard Solana programs through multiple transformation stages
For a deeper dive into specific components, continue to Compilation Pipeline and Key Components.
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