If you are new to Saito and want to start using the network to play around with software development, you probably want our install instructions for the Saito client. This is the server that runs on saito.io and supports most of the web3 applications in common use. This page is for developers who want a deeper understanding of what Saito is and its parts.
Specifically, if you download the Saito Repository you'll see there are a number of sub-folders organized in two main directories. The node sub-directory contains the main Saito client and is what 99% of developers will want to install and use. It is coded in NodeJS and most development work is in javascript. The rust subdirectory contains more specialized and high-performance software coded in the Rust programming language, including a version of the client that simply focuses on high-performance routing.
This page offers a quick introduction to the various major software packages that combine to form the Saito project. It is intended to provide a brief overview for developers and is of primary use to those who wish to do lower-level consensus development.
The 'official' Saito-Lite client is written in NodeJS and designed to run web3 applications and support browser wallest. If you are developing apps or want to run a node on the network this is most likely the software you want. All of the applications available on saito.io were built atop this client and application developers will find it immediately useful for building peer-to-peer applications.
Embedded within the Saito application above is a special core of Rust-software with the cryptographic functions and consensus logic used by the blockchain. A version of this is compiled and included by default in the NodeJS application, but it is available for inspection and development in the main repository. Those interested in blockchain operations can find the main files at /saito/rust/saito-core/src/core/consensus.
This distribution contains a pure Rust implementation of Saito Consensus in the the form of a Rust client. This is a high-performance client designed for high-throughput nodes. It differs from the NodeJS client in that it does not support offering web3 applications or data to connecting clients.
The software in the Saito-Core repository is made available to the NodeJS javascript client as a binary WASM file. The code in this directory provides the support needed to generate this file. The installation instructions below include instructions on compiling this package and linking it with the NodeJS package.
This file contains the javascript handles for interacting with the WASM file produced by the Saito-WASM package. It works together with this package to define the interface through which javascript applications can send requests down to the core Rust data-layer and fetch results back.