Plinth (formerly Plutus Tx)

Plinth is a subset of Haskell designed for writing smart contract validators on Cardano. As a high-level, purely functional language, Plinth leverages Haskell's powerful type system to help developers write secure, reliable, and deterministic on-chain code.

Plinth compiles to Untyped Plutus Core (UPLC), the low-level lambda calculus language that actually executes on Cardano's blockchain. This architecture allows developers to write in familiar Haskell syntax while targeting Cardano's optimized execution environment.

Language Architecture

The term "Plutus" has historically caused confusion by referring to multiple components. To clarify:

Plinth (formerly Plutus Tx) is the high-level Haskell subset you write code in. Untyped Plutus Core (UPLC) is the low-level execution language that runs on-chain. Plinth is one of several languages that compile to UPLC, alongside Aiken, Plutarch, and others.

Plinth focuses exclusively on on-chain validator scripts that determine whether transactions can spend UTXOs, mint tokens, or perform other blockchain operations. For off-chain components like transaction building and wallet integration, you'll use standard Haskell libraries and tools.

Getting Started

Official Documentation: Visit the Plinth User Guide for comprehensive tutorials, language reference, and development guides.

Prerequisites: Plinth development requires familiarity with Haskell. If you're new to Haskell, consider starting with Learn You a Haskell or the Haskell and Crypto Mongolia 2020 course.

Resources

Plutus Pioneer Program: The Plutus Pioneer Program offers comprehensive training for Plinth development. The program includes interactive videos, exercises, and community support. Note that programming experience and familiarity with functional programming concepts are recommended.

Plutus Project-Based Learning (PPBL): PPBL from Gimbalabs provides a hands-on approach to learning Cardano development with real projects.

Development Platform: Demeter.run offers a web-based development environment with Plutus starter kits and a free tier for experimentation.