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.gitignore

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+*.swp
+*.swo

API-Encoding.md

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+# API Encoding (`xy_ABCD` strings)
+
+When you are interacting with Gajumaru you often encounter garbage strings like
+
+```
+cb_OwQELwGfAKAgjs50MOABi6flmiNru6qg/5U9bjKymkvlywP7RtPnWASG88h7
+th_2H8EreT7LNw43jEG9yL7yvSw3AHbG2TTimMgVTYVFwqh6ucSeV
+ak_2CNR6NcNj5cFUa28wmVNyptiadtqcsqhG8qoQpPwULfyLiFHD6
+```
+
+These are called "API strings" or "API encoding" in official lingo. Suppose you
+have a string `xy_ABCD`
+
+-   The `xy` prefix (`cb`, `th`, etc) indicates what sort of data is contained
+    in the rest of the string, and whether it is Base64 or Base58. (See [[
+    BaseN ]]).
+
+    Generally, anything that is both fixed-length and likely to be input
+    manually (e.g. public keys) is going to be Base58, else it will be Base64.
+
+-   The `ABCD` part is binary data (plus some check bytes) that is encoded
+    either in Base64 or Base58.
+
+    ```erlang
+    add_check_bytes(Bin) when is_binary(Bin) ->
+        <<CheckBytes:4/bytes, _/binary>> = crypto:hash(sha256, crypto:hash(sha256, Bin)),
+        <<Bin/binary, CheckBytes/binary>>.
+    ```
+
+    When you decode the `ABCD` stuff, it decodes to the binary data suffixed by
+    the 4 check bytes (i.e. the **output** of the `add_check_bytes/1` function
+    above).
+
+-   Sometimes the binary data is plain data (e.g. account public keys).
+    Sometimes it's compound data (e.g. a transaction).
+
+
+## Example: Decoding Public Keys
+
+For instance, account public keys are encoded in Base58 and have the prefix
+`ak_`
+
+To decode one, get out the actual bytes of the public key, and check the
+check bytes, I wrote this:
+
+```erlang
+do(["akd", AkStr]) ->
+    "ak_" ++ Base58Shit = AkStr,
+    CheckedBytes = gw_b58:dec(Base58Shit),
+    ShaSha4 =
+        fun(Bytes) ->
+            <<CheckBytes:4/bytes, _/binary>> = crypto:hash(sha256, crypto:hash(sha256, Bytes)),
+            CheckBytes
+        end,
+    <<DataBytes:(byte_size(CheckedBytes) - 4)/bytes,
+      CheckBytes:4/bytes>> = CheckedBytes,
+    io:format("~p~n", [DataBytes]),
+    case ShaSha4(DataBytes) =:= CheckBytes of
+        true  -> io:format("checksum: passed~n", []);
+        false -> io:format("checksum: failed~n", [])
+    end;
+```
+
+```
+[~] % gw akd ak_A3aMregStEULMXyPzNXWEfq1u75yM7BaQ5k8qVhCCpcvCr9Rx
+<<20,137,82,130,217,195,19,25,115,137,60,225,221,88,168,194,156,8,88,244,17,30,
+  121,7,114,180,61,27,194,44,94,166>>
+checksum: passed
+```
+
+## Compound Data (e.g. transactions)
+
+If it's compound data (i.e. it has fields), then the binary data you get
+out of the decode process is going to be encoded in RLP. (See
+[[ RLP ]])
+
+RLP-decode is going to give you a list-of-lists-of-\dots-of-binaries.
+
+RLP data you get from Gajumaru is going to be of the format
+
+```erlang
+[Tag, Version | Fields]
+```
+
+The `Tag` and `Version` are going to be binaries that you need to pretend are
+integers.
+
+The tag and version tell you what the format of the fields are going to be.
+
+These formats are documented in [[ Serialization ]].
+
+## The Representation Problem
+
+This problem of what is conceptually one piece of data having 4 different
+representations that you have to juggle between in your code, I call **The
+Representation Problem**. This is the hardest practical problem to deal with as
+a developer using Gajumaru.
+
+There is no real consistency or convention about when you use one
+representation over another.
+
+For instance, the public key I showed you above. When you encode it as an
+`ak_...` string, you use just the 32-byte public key.
+
+But when you are encoding that same key as a field to use in a spend
+transaction, you need to encode it as `<<1:8, Pubkey/binary>>`.
+
+Some functions you call from Erlang code take the public key as an argument.
+There is no consistency about whether they want the `ak_...` string or if they
+want the 32 bytes, etc.
+
+Sometimes the function you call wants some weird data structure. Like the `1:8`
+thing above corresponds to a convention about what sort of object the public
+key points to (because you can spend to a normal account, to a contract, to a
+name, etc; the number in the first byte indicates which type this is).  There
+was some function I called the other day which needed that information, but
+instead of sending it the 33-byte augmented public key, it wanted a tuple that
+was something like `{{type, account_pubkey}, {key, Bytes}}`.
+
+There is no consistency across different modules about which Erlang atoms are
+used. Sometimes it's `account_pubkey`, sometimes it's `account`.  It's hell.
+In practice you have to just look at the source code of the function you're
+calling and see what it expects.
+
+You also can't expect error messages that tell you what mistake you made
+and where, particularly when you're interacting with a node over HTTP
+(generally, HTTP wants API-encoded versions of things).
+
+The Representation Problem is a (moderate) annoyance to excellent programmers.
+The worst thing it can do is nerdsnipe you and foolishly make you think the
+problem has some elegant solution and then you spend months trying to solve it
+before you realize that there is no solution because the problem itself is
+wrong.
+
+This problem absolutely cripples average programmers trying to use Gajumaru.
+It's an open question about whether or not that's a good thing (average
+programmers probably shouldn't be anywhere near code that handles people's
+money), but also a question that is out of scope.
+
+There are many layers to the onion. Also there are multiple differnt onion
+schema that sometimes collapse down to the same inner onion and sometimes you
+have to traverse down one onion and up another and also the onion hates you and
+it's rotten and poisonous.
+
+All I can really do here is give you a field guide to how to deal with this
+problem in practice.  The best practical solution in general is to quit trying
+to make sense of computers and give up on this whole programming thing and
+become a beekeeper instead.

Home.md

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 # Gajumaru Wiki: Home
 
-## Quick Reference
+## Quick Reference
+
+1. [[ API Encoding ]] (`ak_...` garbage)
+2. [[ BaseN ]]
+3. [[ RLP ]]
+4. [[ Serializations ]]