Ethereum: How to determine if the target network supports a given EVM opcode?

Determining EVM Opcodes on Target Networks: A Complete Guide

As a smart contract developer or security researcher, understanding the compatibility of your Ethereum-based project with different networks is essential to ensure seamless deployment and minimize the risks associated with bugs and vulnerabilities. One critical aspect that often goes unnoticed is the support for specific Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) opcodes on target networks.

In this article, we will dive into the world of EVM opcodes and provide a step-by-step guide on how to determine if a given EVM opcode is supported on a target network before deployment.

What are EVM opcodes?

EVM opcodes represent the instructions that the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) executes during its execution cycle. These instructions can be used for a variety of purposes, such as executing smart contract logic, interacting with external services, and managing state. The EVM uses a set of predefined opcodes to execute these instructions.

Why is EVM opcode support important?

It is critical to ensure that your EVM opcode is supported on the target network for several reasons:

• Bug avoidance: Not supporting an EVM opcode can result in unexpected behavior or errors when interacting with smart contracts running on that network.

• Security: Supporting a particular EVM opcode ensures that your contract’s security guarantees are not compromised by unknown or unsupported opcodes.

• Compliance: In some jurisdictions, using unsupported EVM opcodes can trigger regulatory requirements for smart contract deployment.

How ​​to determine if a target network supports a given EVM opcode

To determine if a target network supports a given EVM opcode, you can follow these steps:

• Check the Ethereum network’s EVM opcode list: Visit the official Ethereum website ([ and check the target network’s EVM opcode list.

• Check the EVM opcode registry

  : The EVM opcode registry is maintained by the Ethereum Foundation. You can search for the EVM opcode you are interested in to see if it is supported on different networks.

• Use a library or tool

  

  : There are several libraries and tools available to support EVM opcodes, such as evm-opcodes (a popular open source library) or solidity-coverage (a library for generating code coverage reports). You can use these libraries to check if an EVM opcode is supported on a target network.

• Test your contract: Once you have confirmed that the EVM opcode is supported, test your smart contract using the supported opcodes.

Example use cases:

• If you are developing a new Ethereum-based project and want to ensure that the delegatedStorageAt opcode is supported on the target network, you can use the following code:

pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
contract MyContract {
function testDelegatedStorageAt() public {
// Using the delegatedStorageAt opcode
}
}

• If you are a security researcher and want to identify potential vulnerabilities in an existing contract, you can use tools like solidity-coverage to analyze the code coverage of various EVM opcodes.

Conclusion

Determining whether a target network supports a given EVM opcode is essential to ensuring the integrity and security of your Ethereum-based project. By following these steps and using relevant libraries or tools, you can confidently deploy your smart contracts on supported networks while minimizing the risks associated with unknown or unsupported opcodes. Remember to stay up to date with the latest developments in the Ethereum ecosystem and ensure that your projects comply with regulatory requirements.

Additional Resources:

• Official Ethereum Documentation: [

• EVM Opcode Registry: [