Library structure

Bitcoin Core compilation outputs a number of libraries, some which are designed to be used internally, and some which are designed to be re-used by external applications. The internally-used libraries generally have unstable APIs making them unsuitable for re-use, but libbitcoin_kernel (still a WIP) is designed to be re-used by external applications.

Bitcoin Core has a guide which describes the various libraries, their conventions, and their various dependencies.

Bitcoin library dependency graph

flowchart TB

bitcoin-cli-->libbitcoin_cli;

bitcoind-->libbitcoin_node;
bitcoind-->libbitcoin_wallet;

bitcoin-qt-->libbitcoin_node;
bitcoin-qt-->libbitcoinqt;
bitcoin-qt-->libbitcoin_wallet;

bitcoin-wallet-->libbitcoin_wallet;
bitcoin-wallet-->libbitcoin_common;
bitcoin-wallet-->libbitcoin_util;

bitcoin-node-->libbitcoin_node;
bitcoin-node-->libbitcoin_ipc;
bitcoin-node-->libbitcoin_wallet;

bitcoin-gui-->libbitcoinqt;
bitcoin-gui-->libbitcoin_node;
bitcoin-gui-->libbitcoin_ipc;

libbitcoin_cli-->libbitcoin_common;
libbitcoin_cli-->libbitcoin_util;

libbitcoin_consensus-->libbitcoin_crypto;

libbitcoin_common-->libbitcoin_consensus;
libbitcoin_common-->libbitcoin_util;

libbitcoinkernel-->libbitcoin_crypto;

libbitcoin_node-->libbitcoin_common;
libbitcoin_node-->libbitcoin_util;
libbitcoin_node-->libbitcoin_zmq;

libbitcoinqt-->libbitcoin_cli;
libbitcoinqt-->libbitcoin_wallet;

libbitcoin_util-->libbitcoin_crypto;

libbitcoin_wallet-->libbitcoin_common;

libbitcoin_ipc-->libbitcoin_util;

libbitcoin_zmq-->libbitcoin_util;
libbitcoin_zmq-->libbitcoin_common;

classDef types fill:green,color:white,stroke:green;
class bitcoin-wallet,bitcoind,bitcoin-cli,bitcoin-qt,bitcoin-node,bitcoin-gui types

Dependency graph. Arrows show linker symbol dependencies. libbitcoin_crypto depends on nothing and is fundamental. libbitcoin_util depends on crypto. libbitcoinkernel (experimental kernel library) depends only on crypto.

It follows that API changes to the libraries which are internally-facing can be done slightly easier than for libraries with externally-facing APIs, for which more care for compatibility must be taken.

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