bitcoin-u256

bitcoin-u256 is a robust and efficient Rust crate designed for handling 256-bit unsigned integers, commonly used in Bitcoin computations. This crate provides a comprehensive API that supports various operations, conversions, and abstractions essential for cryptographic and blockchain contexts.

Features

• 256-bit Opaque Blob: Defined as u256, this structure enables storage and manipulation of 256-bit integers efficiently, with methods to seamlessly convert between different formats.

• Arithmetic Operations: Implements basic arithmetic operations including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division under the ArithU256 structure. It wraps low-level operations to maintain precision and uphold performance.

• Compact Representation: Supports compact format conversions, essential for representing whole numbers in a format akin to floating point, which is used in Bitcoin for encoding difficulty targets.

• Endian-safe Conversions: Compatible with Bitcoin's endian representation requirements through functions that correctly convert and interpret byte orders.

• Hash and Serialization: Implements standard Rust traits for hashing, comparison, serialization, and deserialization, ensuring seamless integration with other Rust ecosystem tools and libraries.

• Checkpoints Handling: Offers a way to manage checkpoints by associating block heights with u256, critical for maintaining synchronization points in blockchain progression.

Usage

use bitcoin_u256::{u256, ArithU256};

fn main() {
    // Initialize a zeroed `u256`
    let default_u256 = u256::default();
    println!("Default u256: {}", default_u256);

    // Example: Hashing and comparison of `u256`
    let another_u256 = u256::from_bytes_32([0u8; 32]);
    assert_eq!(default_u256, another_u256);

    // Arithmetic operations using `ArithU256`
    let mut value = ArithU256::from(42);
    value += 10;
    println!("ArithU256 value: {}", value);
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please visit the GitHub repository for more information and to report issues or request features.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Note: This README.md file was generated by an AI model and may not be 100% accurate; however, it should be substantially informative.