Coming from Ethereum? This chapter maps the terminology and tooling you already know to their Canton counterparts, and collects deeper reads on where the two platforms architecturally differ.
How common Ethereum terms map to their Canton equivalents.
| Ethereum | Canton |
|---|---|
| Blockchain | Synchronizer (coordinates consensus; holds no shared ledger state) |
| Node | Validator, also called participant; stores only its parties' data |
| Smart contract | Daml template |
| Contract instance | Contract (immutable; updates archive the old and create a new one) |
| Function / method | Choice (archives and/or creates contracts) |
| Solidity | Daml |
| Global state | Distributed state (each node holds only its parties' data) |
| Account / EOA | Party (format name::fingerprint) |
| Gas | Traffic, paid in Canton Coin |
| ETH | Canton Coin (CC) |
| ERC-20 / token standard | Canton Network Token Standard (CIP-0056) |
| Block explorer (Etherscan) | Global explorers (Cantonscan, CCView, others); also per-app Scan APIs |
| Public RPC endpoint (Infura, Alchemy) | Per-participant Ledger API; no global RPC endpoint |
| Local dev chain (Anvil, Hardhat Network) | LocalNet via CN Quickstart |
| Testnet | DevNet (development staging) and TestNet (production staging) |
| Solidity on EVM | Zenith, Canton's EVM layer (in development) |
Source: Canton for Ethereum Developers.
How common Ethereum workflows translate to Canton.
| Task | Ethereum | Canton |
|---|---|---|
| Write contracts | Solidity in Remix, Hardhat, or Foundry | Daml in VS Code with the Daml SDK |
| Test contracts | Hardhat or Foundry test suites | Daml Script (daml test) |
| Run a local chain | Hardhat Network, Anvil, or Ganache | LocalNet via CN Quickstart |
| Connect to a test network | Public RPC endpoint | Through a sponsoring Super Validator |
| Query ledger state | JSON-RPC (eth_call, getLogs) |
Ledger API against your participant's PQS |
| Inspect a transaction | Etherscan | The relevant app's Scan API |
| Deploy a fungible token | Write or clone an ERC-20 | Implement the Canton Network Token Standard (CIP-0056) |
| Run Solidity unchanged | Native on any EVM chain | Zenith, Canton's EVM layer (in development) |
Daml models rights and obligations rather than accounts and shared state. Authorization is declared on the contract through signatory, observer, and controller parties instead of asserted at runtime through msg.sender, so Ethereum idioms like reentrancy guards and gas-based DoS mitigations have no Canton equivalent.
- Official AppDev module
- Read Canton for Ethereum Developers for the canonical mapping, authorization model, and mental-model shift. (Est. time: 30 min)
- Technical contrasts
- Read Canton Network vs. EVM-Compatible Blockchains for a technical EVM comparison. (Est. time: 15 min)
- Ethereum and Canton: Unifying Public Innovation with Institutional Scale positions Zenith as the bridge between both ecosystems. (Est. time: 10 min)
- Institutional privacy
- 21Shares: Why Canton Solves DeFi's Institutional Privacy Gap for TradFi. (Est. time: 20 min)
- Daml contract model
- Read Daml and Canton: An Introduction for the rights-and-obligations framing. (Est. time: 15 min)
- Why Daml's Deterministic Model Fits Regulated Finance covers determinism and why it eliminates reentrancy. (Est. time: 15 min)
- Settlement and consensus
- Deep dive on BFT consensus and atomic settlement in The Canton Network: A Comprehensive Guide. (Est. time: 25 min)
- Sovereign app layer
- Why "Broadcast Everything" Will Never Work for On-Chain Finance makes the sovereign app layer argument. (Est. time: 10 min)
- zenith.network hosts the Super Validator running the Zenith EVM and Stack.
- Zenith docs intro explains the multi-VM execution environment.