We invited Michael Klein (Software Engineer at Aztec) to join a fireside chat with Jon Stephens (CEO & Co-founder of Veridise) to talk about the Noir programming language, a core component of the Aztec Network.
The conversation covered Noir’s design decisions, developer experience, tooling landscape, and of course, security-related topics.
We also touched on how Noir compares to other ZK domain-specific languages, privacy considerations, metaprogramming, how Noir and zkVMs differ from each other, and the role of formal verification.
A frequently asked question was also addressed: Can Noir be used outside of the Aztec Network?
See the full list of timestamps below.
About Aztec Network & Noir
Aztec is a privacy-first Layer 2 on Ethereum, focused on bringing privacy to the decentralized internet. As part of this mission, Aztec developed Noir — an open-source Domain-Specific Language for safe and seamless construction of privacy-preserving zero-knowledge programs, requiring no previous knowledge on the underlying mathematics or cryptography.
Conversation highlights
Here’s a breakdown of the topics covered:
- 00:17 — Introduction: Aztec & Noir programming language
- 00:57 — Why Aztec decided to build its own ZK language
- 02:22 — Overview of Noir and its developer experience
- 03:20 — How Noir compares to other ZK DSLs
- 04:33 — Unconstrained functions
- 06:19 — What Noir offers that other zk DSLs don’t
- 07:00 — Tools that are currently missing in Noir
- 08:24 — How the Noir ecosystem might evolve & new tools
- 09:19 — Metaprogramming in Noir and what it enables
- 11:28 — Improved succinctness & metaprogramming
- 13:56 — Who can use Noir and whether it’s tied to Aztec
- 15:17 — The types of vulnerabilities that are top of mind
- 17:15 — Work done to ensure optimization passes are valid
- 18:20 — Formal verification (SMT solvers) considerations
- 19:18 — Types of bugs devs may unintentionally introduce
- 21:18 — How entropy could lead to privacy leaks
- 23:35 — Guardrails built into Noir to prevent such issues
- 24:50 — How common such vulnerabilities might be
- 26:13 — Noir circuits vs zkVMs in terms of privacy
- 28:16 — Local proving systems vs. proving networks
- 29:36 — How devs can evaluate if SMT solvers are right for them
Learn more
- Noir Language: https://aztec.network/noir
- Aztec Network: https://aztec.network/
Stay tuned for more fireside chats on zero-knowledge and blockchain security here on the Veridise blog.
