Solidity Cheat Sheet

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Structure of a Smart Contract

SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT

Specify that the source code is for a version of Solidity of exactly 0.8.17: pragma solidity 0.8.17;

Specify any imports: import "./MyOtherContract.sol";

A contract is a collection of functions and data (its state) that resides at a specific address on the blockchain.

contract HelloWorld {

// The keyword "public" makes variables accessible from outside a contract and creates a function that other contracts or SDKs can call to access the value.

string public message;

// The keyword "private" makes variables only accessible from the contract code itself. It does not mean the data is secret. 

address private owner;

event MessageUpdated(string indexed newMessage);
error NotOwner(address owner, address sender);

// any struct and enum types

modifier onlyOwner {
        if (msg.sender != owner) {
            revert NotOwner(owner, msg.sender);
        }
        _;
}

// A special function only run during the creation of the contract

constructor(string memory initMessage) {

        // Takes a string value and stores the value in the memory data storage area, setting `message` to that value

        message = initMessage;

        // setting owner as contract creator

        owner = msg.sender;
}

// An externally accessible function that takes a string as a parameter and updates `message` only for the defined owner.

function update(string memory newMessage) external onlyOwner {
        message = newMessage;
        emit MessageUpdated(newMessage);
    }
}

Variable Types

State variables can be declared private or public. Public will generate a public view function for the type. In addition they can be declared constant or immutable. Immutable variables can only be assigned in the constructor. Constant variables can only be assigned upon declaration.

Simple Data Types

bool true or false
uint (uint256) unsigned integer with 256 bits (also available are uint8…256 in steps of 8)
int (int256) signed integer with 256 bits (also available are int8…256 in steps of 8)
bytes32 32 raw bytes (also available are bytes1…32 in steps of 1)

Address

address: 0xba57bF26549F2Be7F69EC91E6a9db6Ce1e375390 myAddr.balance

Payable address also has myAddr.transfer which transfers Ether but reverts if receiver uses up more than 2300 gas. It’s generally better to use .call and handle reentrancy issues separately:

(bool success,) = myAddr.call{value: 1 ether}("");
require(success, "Transfer failed");

Low-level call sends a transaction with any data to an address: myAddr.call{value: 1 ether, gas: 15000}(abi.encodeWithSelector(bytes4(keccak256("update(string)")), “myNewString”))

Like call, but will revert if the called function modifies the state in any way: myAddr.staticcall

Like call, but keeps all the context (like state) from current contract. Useful for external libraries and upgradable contracts with a proxy: myAddr.delegatecall

Mapping

A hash table where every possible key exists and initially maps to a type’s default value, e.g. 0 or “”.

mapping(KeyType => ValueType) public myMappingName;
mapping(address => uint256) public balances;
mapping(address => mapping(address => uint256)) private _approvals;

Set value: balances[myAddr] = 42;
Read value: balances[myAddr];

Struct

struct Deposit {
  address depositor;
  uint256 amount;
}

Deposit memory deposit;
Deposit public deposit;
deposit = Deposit({ depositor: msg.sender, amount: msg.value });
deposit2 = Deposit(0xa193, 200);

Read value: deposit.depositor;
Set value: deposit.amount = 23;

Enums

enum Colors { Red, Blue, Green };
Color color = Colors.Red;

Arrays

uint8[] public myStateArray;
uint8[] public myStateArray = [1, 2, 3];
uint8[3] public myStateArray  = [1, 2, 3];
uint8[] memory myMemoryArray = new uint8[](3);
uint8[3] memory myMemoryArray = [1, 2, 3];

myStateArray.length;

Only dynamic state arrays:

myStateArray.push(3);
myStateArray.pop();

Special Array bytes: bytes memory/public data. More space-efficient form of bytes1[].

Special Array string: string memory/public name. Like bytes but no length or index access.

Control Structures

  • if (boolean) { … } else { … }
  • while (boolean) { … }
  • do { … } while (boolean)
  • for (uint256 i; i < 10; i++) { … }
  • break;
  • continue;
  • return
  • boolean ? … : …;

Functions

function functionName([arg1, arg2...]) [public|external|internal|private] [view|pure] [payable] [modifier1, modifier2, ...] [returns([arg1, arg2, ...])] {}
function setBalance(uint256 newBalance) external { ... }
function getBalance() view external returns(uint256 balance) { ... }
function _helperFunction() private returns(uint256 myNumber) { ... }
  • Function call for function in current contract: _helperFunction();
  • Function call for function in external contract: myContract.setBalance{value: 123, gas: 456 }(newBalance);
  • View functions don’t modify state. They can be called to read data without sending a transaction.
  • Pure functions are special view functions that don’t even read data.
  • Payable functions can receive Ether.

Function Modifiers

modifier onlyOwner {
  require(msg.sender == owner);
  _;
}

function changeOwner(address newOwner) external onlyOwner {
  owner = newOwner;
}

Fallback Functions

contract MyContract {
    // executed when called with empty data, must be external and payable
    receive() external payable {}

    // executed when no other function matches, must be external, can be payable
    fallback() external {}
}

Contracts

contract MyContract {
    uint256 public balance;
    constructor(uint256 initialBalance) { balance = initialBalance; }
    function setBalance(uint256 newBalance) external { balance = newBalance; }
}
  • MyContract myContract = new MyContract(100);
  • MyContract myContract2 = MyContract(0xa41ab…);
  • this: current contract
  • address(this): current contract’s address

Inheritance

contract MyAncestorContract2 {
    function myFunction() external virtual {}
}

contract MyAncestorContract1 is MyAncestorContract2 {
    function myFunction() external virtual override {}
}

contract MyContract is MyAncestorContract1 {
    function myFunction() external override(MyAncestorContract1, MyAncestorContract2) {}
}
  • Call first ancestor function: super.myFunction()
  • Call specific ancestor function: MyAncestorContract2.myFunction()

Abstract Contracts

Abstract contracts cannot be instantiated. You can only use them by inheriting from them and implementing any non implemented functions.

abstract contract MyAbstractContract {
 function myImplementedFunction() external {}
 function myNonImplementedFunction() external virtual; // must be virtual
}

Interfaces

Interfaces are like abstract contracts, but can only have non-implemented functions. Useful for interacting with standardized foreign contracts like ERC20.

interface MyInterface {
 function myNonImplementedFunction() external; // always virtual, no need to declare specifically
}

Libraries

library Math {
    function min(uint256 a, uint256 b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
        if (a > b) { return b; }
        return a;
    }

  function max(uint256 a, uint256 b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
        if (a &lt; b) { return b; }
        return a;
    }
}

contract MyContract {
    function min(uint256 a, uint256) public pure returns (uint256) {
        return Math.min(a,b);
    }

    function max(uint256 x) public pure returns (uint256) {
        return Math.max(a,b);
    }
}

// Using LibraryName for type:

library Math {
    function ceilDiv(uint256 a, uint256 b) internal pure returns (uint256) {
        return a / b + (a % b == 0 ? 0 : 1);
    }
}

contract MyContract {
    using Math for uint256;
    function ceilDiv(uint256 a, uint256) public pure returns (uint256) {
        return x.ceilDiv(y);
    }
}

Events

Events allow for efficient look up in the blockchain for finding deposit() transactions. Up to three attributes can be declared as indexed which allows filtering for it.

contract MyContract {
    event Deposit(
        address indexed depositor,
        uint256 amount
    );

    function deposit() external payable {
        emit Deposit(msg.sender, msg.value);}
}

Checked or Unchecked Arithmetic

contract CheckedUncheckedTests {
    function checkedAdd() pure public returns (uint256) {
        return type(uint256).max + 1; // reverts
    }

    function checkedSub() pure public returns (uint256) {
        return type(uint256).min - 1; // reverts
    } 

    function uncheckedAdd() pure public returns (uint256) {
        // doesn’t revert, but overflows and returns 0
        unchecked { return type(uint256).max + 1; } 
    }

    function uncheckedSub() pure public returns (uint256) {
        // doesn’t revert, but underflows and returns 2^256-1
        unchecked { return type(uint256).min - 1; }
    }
}

Custom Types: Example with Fixed Point

type FixedPoint is uint256

library FixedPointMath {
    uint256 constant MULTIPLIER = 10**18;

    function add(FixedPoint a, FixedPoint b) internal pure returns (UFixed256x18) {
        return FixedPoint.wrap(FixedPoint.unwrap(a) + FixedPoint.unwrap(b));
    }

    function mul(FixedPoint a, uint256 b) internal pure returns (FixedPoint) {
        return FixedPoint.wrap(FixedPoint.unwrap(a) * b);
    }

   function mulFixedPoint(uint256 number, FixedPoint fixedPoint) internal pure returns (uint256) {
        return (number * FixedPoint.unwrap(fixedPoint)) / MULTIPLIER;
    }

    function divFixedPoint(uint256 number, FixedPoint fixedPoint) internal pure returns (uint256) {
        return (number * MULTIPLIER) / Wad.unwrap(fixedPoint);
    }

    function fromFraction(uint256 numerator, uint256 denominator) internal pure returns (FixedPoint) {
      if (numerator == 0) {
        return FixedPoint.wrap(0);
      }

      return FixedPoint.wrap((numerator * MULTIPLIER) / denominator);
    }
}

Error Handling

error InsufficientBalance(uint256 available, uint256 required)

function transfer(address to, uint256 amount) public {
    if (amount > balance[msg.sender]) {
        revert InsufficientBalance({
            available: balance[msg.sender],
            required: amount
        });
    }

    balance[msg.sender] -= amount;
    balance[to] += amount;
}

Alternatively revert with a string:

  • revert(“insufficient balance”);
  • require(amount <= balance, “insufficient balance”);
  • assert(amount <= balance) // reverts with Panic(0x01)

Other built-in panic errors:

0x00 Used for generic compiler inserted panics.
0x01 If you call assert with an argument that evaluates to false.
0x11 If an arithmetic operation results in underflow or overflow outside of an unchecked { ... } block.
0x12 If you divide or modulo by zero (e.g. 5 / 0 or 23 % 0).
0x21 If you convert a value that is too big or negative into an enum type.
0x22 If you access a storage byte array that is incorrectly encoded.
0x31 If you call .pop() on an empty array.
0x32 If you access an array, bytesN or an array slice at an out-of-bounds or negative index (i.e. x[i] where i >= x.length or i < 0).
0x41 If you allocate too much memory or create an array that is too large.
0x51 If you call a zero-initialized variable of internal function type.

Global Variables

Block

block.basefee (uint256) Current block’s base fee (EIP-3198 and EIP-1559)
block.chainid (uint256) Current chain id
block.coinbase (address payable) Current block miner’s address
block.difficulty (uint256) Outdated old block difficulty, but since the Ethereum mainnet upgrade called Paris as part of ‘The Merge’ in September 2022 it is now deprecated and represents prevrandao: a value from the randomness generation process called Randao (see EIP-4399 for details)
block.gaslimit (uint256) Current block gaslimit
block.number (uint256) Current block number
block.timestamp (uint256) Current block timestamp in seconds since Unix epoch
blockhash(uint256 blockNumber) returns (bytes32) Hash of the given block - only works for 256 most recent blocks

Transaction

gasleft() returns (uint256) Remaining gas
msg.data (bytes) Complete calldata
msg.sender (address) Sender of the message (current call)
msg.sig (bytes4) First four bytes of the calldata (i.e. function identifier)
msg.value (uint256) Number of wei sent with the message
tx.gasprice (uint256) Gas price of the transaction
tx.origin (address) Sender of the transaction (full call chain)

ABI

abi.decode(bytes memory encodedData, (...)) returns (...) ABI-decodes the provided data. The types are given in parentheses as second argument. Example: (uint256 a, uint256[2] memory b, bytes memory c) = abi.decode(data, (uint256, uint256[2], bytes))
abi.encode(...) returns (bytes memory) ABI-encodes the given arguments
abi.encodePacked(...) returns (bytes memory) Performs packed encoding of the given arguments. Note that this encoding can be ambiguous!
abi.encodeWithSelector(bytes4 selector, ...) returns (bytes memory) ABI-encodes the given arguments starting from the second and prepends the given four-byte selector
abi.encodeCall(function functionPointer, (...)) returns (bytes memory) ABI-encodes a call to functionPointer with the arguments found in the tuple. Performs a full type-check, ensuring the types match the function signature. Result equals abi.encodeWithSelector(functionPointer.selector, (...))
abi.encodeWithSignature(string memory signature, ...) returns (bytes memory) Equivalent to abi.encodeWithSelector(bytes4(keccak256(bytes(signature)), ...)

Type

type(C).name (string) The name of the contract
type(C).creationCode (bytes memory) Creation bytecode of the given contract.
type(C).runtimeCode (bytes memory) Runtime bytecode of the given contract.
type(I).interfaceId (bytes4) Value containing the EIP-165 interface identifier of the given interface.
type(T).min (T) The minimum value representable by the integer type T.
type(T).max (T) The maximum value representable by the integer type T.

Cryptography

keccak256(bytes memory) returns (bytes32) Compute the Keccak-256 hash of the input
sha256(bytes memory) returns (bytes32) Compute the SHA-256 hash of the input
ripemd160(bytes memory) returns (bytes20) Compute the RIPEMD-160 hash of the input
ecrecover(bytes32 hash, uint8 v, bytes32 r, bytes32 s) returns (address) Recover address associated with the public key from elliptic curve signature, return zero on error
addmod(uint256 x, uint256 y, uint256 k) returns (uint256) Compute (x + y) % k where the addition is performed with arbitrary precision and does not wrap around at 2··256. Assert that k != 0.
mulmod(uint256 x, uint256 y, uint256 k) returns (uint256) Compute (x * y) % k where the multiplication is performed with arbitrary precision and does not wrap around at 2··256. Assert that k != 0.

Misc

bytes.concat(...) returns (bytes memory) Concatenates variable number of arguments to one byte array
string.concat(...) returns (string memory) Concatenates variable number of arguments to one string array
this (current contract’s type) The current contract, explicitly convertible to address or address payable
super The contract one level higher in the inheritance hierarchy
selfdestruct(address payable recipient) Destroy the current contract, sending its funds to the given address. Does not give gas refunds anymore since LONDON hardfork.

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