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ZKsync Blog > 2024 Recap: Transforming Devel...
Published Jan 24, 2025
2024 Recap: Transforming Developer Experience on ZKsync
TL;DR: Over the past year, we’ve made building on ZKsync easier and more enjoyable with better tools, integrations, and resources. Highlights include a unified Hardhat plugin, enhanced Foundry and Viem support, the launch of ZKsync SSO and the ZK Stack CLI, and integrations with Alchemy, Chainlink, and Etherscan. Combined with redesigned docs, new tutorials, and exciting updates for 2025 like EVM bytecode equivalence, there’s never been a better time to build on ZKsync!
Over the last year, we’ve been on a mission to make building on ZKsync easier, faster, and more enjoyable. Developer experience has been a big focus for us, and a lot has changed in just 12 months.
It’s not just about the tools we’ve built (though we’re pretty excited about those too). We’ve reworked our documentation to make it clearer and more useful, added deeper integrations with popular frameworks, and made using third-party tools with ZKsync easier. Whether you’re building apps on Era or want to launch your own ZK chain, we want everything to feel seamless.
In this post, we’ll walk you through the key improvements we’ve made and how they’ve transformed the developer experience on ZKsync.
Developer tools: faster, smarter development
We’ve introduced new tools and strengthened integrations with leading frameworks and services.
One of the biggest ways we’ve improved the developer experience on ZKsync is by leveling up our tooling. Whether you use Foundry or Hardhat to write smart contracts or explore new ways to enhance your app’s UX, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what’s new.
Hardhat simplified
We’ve combined all ZKsync plugins (like hardhat-zksync-deploy, hardhat-zksync-upgradable, hardhat-zksync-solc, etc) into a single, streamlined plugin: hardhat-zksync. Now, you get all ZKsync-specific features with one installation. But that’s not all. The updated plugin now supports EVM-like scripts, so there’s no need to rewrite your deployment or proxy upgrade scripts for ZKsync. Migrating your projects to ZKsync just got a whole lot easier.
Find more info in our docs.
Foundry-zksync
Foundry has quickly become the go-to framework for smart contract developers, and for good reason—its performance and testing capabilities are unmatched. We knew we had to prioritize Foundry support, and now, Foundry-zksync offers an almost identical experience as its Ethereum counterpart.
Here’s what’s new:
- EraVM Support: Full integration with our custom compilers and virtual machine ensures smooth testing and deployment.
- Anvil-zksync: Formerly known as
era-test-node, this tool is now automatically installed and allows super fast testing and network forks. - Foundry Book for ZKsync: We’ve written a dedicated version of the Foundry Book that includes step-by-step tutorials to help you get started.
See the foundry-zksync installation details.
Viem and Wagmi: First-class support
Viem is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries, thanks to its speed, modularity, and developer-friendly APIs. With viem/zksync, you now get first-class support for ZKsync-specific features, including:
- Native Account Abstraction: Smart account classes and helpers for paymaster transactions.
- Contract Deployment: Simplify and streamline your smart contract workflows.
- L1-L2 Communication: Easily bridge the gap between Ethereum and ZKsync chains.
This integration ensures compatibility with tools like Wagmi, a popular library for building Web3 frontends. Developers can now use Wagmi out of the box with ZKsync to create modern, responsive, and feature-rich dApp interfaces.
Check out the Viem ZKsync docs.
ZKsync SSO: Revolutionizing UX
User experience is key to onboarding millions of people to Web3, and ZKsync SSO takes things to the next level. This SDK is designed to make integrating modular smart accounts into web applications easier than ever. Here’s what it offers:
- Modular Smart Accounts: Based on ERC-7579 for maximum flexibility.
- Passkeys: Enable biometric authentication for a passwordless experience.
- Sessions: No more manually signing every transaction—users can enjoy seamless interactions.
- Spending Limits: Add an extra layer of security with controlled transaction parameters.
With ZKsync SSO, building user-friendly dApps becomes simpler than ever. Y
Try a live demo of SSO here and get started in our docs.
ZK Stack CLI: a new tool for chain operators
With the launch of the Elastic Network, we knew many developers would want to explore running a ZK chain locally. The ZK Stack CLI simplifies the process of creating and managing an Elastic Chain ecosystem and ZK chains, giving developers more control and flexibility to build and test their ideas.
Try ZK Stack CLI.
Compiler Updates
In 2024, both the zksolc and zkvyper compilers closely tracked their L1 counterparts, unifying the interfaces and supporting new Solidity and Vyper releases within a week of their release.
Alongside compatibility updates, we introduced the following performance improvements and features:
- Deploy-Time Linking: We introduced support for deploy-time linking, which allows you to resolve addresses of libraries after a contract is compiled.
- Faster Compilation Times: Compilation times were halved by implementing the industry-standard LLVM-based post-compile-time (deploy-time) linker. If you're working on a large project and regularly compiling contracts, upgrading to the latest version could significantly speed up the development.
- Gas Consumption Reduction: As per our benchmarks contracts are now consuming 10% less gas. If you’re preparing an upgrade for your contracts, make sure to update the version of the compiler. Your users may notice the difference in a good way.
- Vyper v0.4.0 Support: Despite numerous breaking changes, we duplicated our test database to allow running our CI for both vyper v0.3.x and v0.4.x languages.
- Unification of Interfaces: Standard JSON and combined JSON I/O have been unified to become closer to their solc counterparts, as well as to provide a predictable protocol for tooling such Foundry and Hardhat.
- Disassembler: We implemented an LLVM-based disassembler. If you're interested in inspecting the EraVM bytecode of your contract, pass the compiled contract to
zksolcwith the --disassembleoption. - IPFS Hash Format: Unblocked several large projects by allowing them to use this method of metadata hashing with IPFS services.
- Multi-Language Support: Allowed compilation Yul, LLVM IR, EraVM Assembly with the same workflow as Solidity and Vyper. The support on the tooling side is yet to come.
Remix Plugin: Code in your browser
In collaboration with Nethermind, we launched a plugin for the beloved browser-based IDE, Remix. This makes it possible to build and deploy contracts directly from your browser.
Check out the guide to get started.
Third-party integrations
Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with some of the most popular tools and services in the Web3 space to make ZKsync Era even more developer-friendly. Here’s a quick rundown of the key integrations.
Etherscan: your favourite explorer, now on Era
The most popular block explorer, Etherscan, is now available on ZKsync Era. Whether you’re debugging, tracking transactions, or just exploring the ZKsync Era network, you can do it all in a familiar interface. Start exploring Era on Etherscan.
Chainlink: price feeds and CCIP
Chainlink price feeds are now live on ZKsync Era, providing secure and accurate data for DeFi protocols. Additionally, Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) integration opens up new possibilities for cross-chain applications. These two products were top requirements from many teams and we’re excited to have them available now.
Alchemy: full suite of tools
One of the most popular RPC and tooling providers, Alchemy has fully integrated ZKsync Era. Developers now have access to robust support for RPC nodes as well as additional APIs like the Token API, NFT API, Transfers API, Webhooks, Subgraphs, and more—making it easier than ever to build and scale dApps on ZKsync. Start building with Alchemy on ZKsync.
Native USDC powered by Circle
Native USDC issued directly by Circle is now available on ZKsync Era. This is a big step for DeFi and payments on the network. To avoid confusion, the bridged version of USDC (used in most DeFi apps on ZKsync Era) was renamed to USDC.e. Read the announcement here.
Thirdweb: all-in-one development tools
Thirdweb has added full support for ZKsync Era across all their tools, including:
- Template smart contracts
- CLIs
- Developer utilities
If you’re using Thirdweb to kickstart your projects, you can now leverage their entire suite of tools on ZKsync Era without extra setup.
Documentation & Support: Empowering Developers
We’ve reimagined how developers interact with our resources, from updated documentation to improved support.
- Redesigned Docs: A cleaner, more intuitive site for faster navigation. See the new docs.
- Content Reorganization: Whether you’re building apps on Era, exploring the protocol, or running your own ZK chain, finding what you need is easier than ever.
- Developer Discussions Portal: the ZKsync developer discussions portal has become the to go-to place for devs to get support and help each other. We’ve doubled down our efforts to make sure no question gets unanswered. Visit the discussions portal.
Tutorials and Education: Leveling up your skills
We’ve also introduced new educational content to help developers sharpen their skills and explore ZKsync:
- Quickstart Guides and Tutorials: With the new documentation, we released a new quickstart and 101 sections to help you hit the ground running.
- Cyfrin Updraft Courses: We partnered up with Patrick Collins, one of the most popular educators in the web3 space, and all their courses are now updated with new sections on ZKsync topics. Courses cover blockchain basics, Solidity, Foundry, and Python/Vyper fundamentals. See all courses.
- Community Code: An open source portal with more than 25 tutorials submitted by Matter Labs and community members.
- Hands-On Video Tutorials:
- Developer Experience on ZKsync
- Anvil-zksync walkthrough
- Chainlink data feeds on ZKsync
- Building web3 apps with web2 UX with SSO
- Alchemy Learn series:
- Paymasters
- Smart accounts
- Build a web3 app: Part 1 & Part 2
Looking ahead: What’s Next for 2025
With the recently announced 2025 protocol roadmap, we’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on ZKsync. Big updates like EVM bytecode equivalence are on the way, and we’re doubling down on improving the developer experience.
Here are some of the areas we’re focusing on:
- Foundry: Ensuring complete ZKsync support for all remaining features, so building with Foundry feels seamless and intuitive.
- Improved Debugging Tools: Giving developers better ways to troubleshoot, test, and optimize their smart contracts.
- Third-Party Integrations: Expanding our Chainlink partnership and bringing more tools into the ecosystem.
- ZKsync SSO: Launching the first stable version of the library to make Web3 onboarding smoother than ever.
We’ll share a detailed developer experience roadmap for 2025 in the upcoming weeks. Stay tunned!
We’re dedicated to making ZKsync the best platform for building the future of Web3. With everything we’ve accomplished and what’s coming next, there’s no better time to dive in.
Visit our docs to start building on ZKsync. Let’s create something amazing together!
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