The New Year is going to see a new phase of development here at doublethinkco.

You’re going to see a lot more hands-on work from this old soldier. I’m planning to finally get my hands dirty in the C++ code and start making concrete strides towards a C++ Light Client after our porting diversion.

Anthony Cros has laid the foundations in the last few months. He has ground his way through lots of unglamorous build system work to give us the cross-build scripts inside webthree-umbrella-cross, and has got us working C++ cross-builds on:

Jolla Phone (Sailfish OS)

Meizu MX4 (Ubuntu Phone)

Raspberry Pi Zero, B and 2 (Raspbian)

Odroid XU3 (Ubuntu MATE)

Beagleboard Black (Debian)

Wandboard Quad (Debian)

Our flagship target device (Gear S2 smartwatch) is still fluttering just a fingertip beyond of our grasp, but it will happen soon, along with various other target devices – some rational (Android, iOS, Intel), some whimsical (N900, N9).

Anthony has wrapped up his contract for doublethinkco, and will be moving on to other projects. I would just like to take the opportunity to think him profoundly for everything he’s done. I think it’s fair to say that he have both learnt a lot in the process, and have equally high hopes for Ethereum.

So … it’s just me for now, but that’s fine. I’ve been a professional developer for nearly 20 years, with the vast majority of that on resource-constrained devices (games consoles) in C++. It will be a lot of fun.

I was only able to make occasional contributions in the past few months due to full-time work commitments at TD Securities in Toronto, where I met Anthony and many others in the Ethereum community. I’m back in Vancouver now and am working as a part-time contractor and consultant, so am able to leach a lot more of my own time into Ethereum work.

Pull requests for Light Client support have been making their way into the Go client. There is more to do, but the LES/1 protocol is largely defined. LES/2 is starting to take shape.

It is time for somebody to grasp the nettle and start bringing C++ Light Client support to life, and it looks like I am the itchiest person 🙂

Best wishes to you all for the holiday season and New Year!