Aeternity compiler introduced for accessible programming language.

The Lexon (LEX) smart contract programming language introduced a compiler on August 3, enabling developers to create contracts in Lexon that can be transformed into Solidity, Sophia, or JavaScript, as stated by Lexon founder Henning Diedrich in an interview with Cointelegraph. This compiler operates on the Aeternity (AE) blockchain network and requires LEX tokens as payment for each compilation cycle.

Referred to as “the computer language anyone can read,” Lexon is designed to resemble a typical written or spoken language. The current iteration is specifically crafted to mimic standard English.

Lexon (left) being compiled into Solidity (right). Source: Lexon

In a discussion with Cointelegraph, Diedrich highlighted three primary advantages of the language and compiler for developers and users. Firstly, it serves as an educational resource for teaching smart contract programming. Remix, a widely-used tool for learning Solidity, has created a Lexon plugin that allows learners to draft agreements in Lexon and view their translations in Solidity, helping them grasp the meaning of the Solidity code in simple terms. Diedrich believes this can aid students in understanding the workings of Solidity and smart contracts.

Secondly, contracts can be authored in Lexon to render them “self-documenting.” Rather than requiring a technical writer to produce documentation explaining the code’s functionality, the code can be articulated in a manner that is comprehensible to the general public. While programmers have attempted to create algorithms that generate documentation from code, Lexon takes a different approach by making the code itself readable, according to Diedrich.

Thirdly, Lexon can facilitate the creation of enhanced graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in a more automated fashion. “You can leverage the richness of the information to develop superior GUIs, as you can generate more from [this] human way of articulating the logic than you can when starting from a third-generation language like Solidity,” Diedrich noted.

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Diedrich warned that the compiler can only perform one-way translations, from Lexon to another language. It is not capable of converting another programming language back into Lexon. This limitation means it cannot be utilized, for instance, to simplify the debugging of smart contracts that were not originally written in Lexon, as he elaborated:

“Natural language is, of course, significantly richer than third-generation languages like Solidity. […] The act of omitting details is something that the compiler does. […] This initial translation phase loses so much information that reversing it is quite challenging. […] Because it can never be as effective as Lexon itself.”

Nonetheless, he contended that if Lexon were to gain traction as a standard language for smart contract programming, it would enable more individuals to comprehend how Web3 applications operate, achieving a similar goal to what a Solidity-to-Lexon compiler would provide.

Diedrich mentioned that the team selected Aeternity due to its low gas fees and high scalability. They are currently distributing LEX in exchange for AE tokens.

The complexity of reading Solidity contracts remains a significant hurdle for decentralized finance users. Individuals without coding knowledge often depend on smart contract security auditors to assess whether a contract is vulnerable, which can expose them to undiscovered exploits. On July 2, an attacker withdrew over $1 million from users’ accounts on the Chibi Finance app without authorization in an incident labeled by security analysts as a “rug pull.” The attacker utilized a function called “panic” to deplete the funds, and most users were unaware of this function’s existence.

In another instance on July 28, investors invested at least $2 million into the Pond0x (PNDX) memecoin only to discover that its transfer function permitted anyone to transfer Pond0x coins without the owners’ approval. The Pond0x token rapidly plummeted in value to nearly zero.