Compiling Contracts

To compile a project:

$ brownie compile

Each time the compiler runs, Brownie compares hashes of the contract source code against the existing compiled versions. If a contract has not changed it will not be recompiled. If you wish to force a recompile of the entire project, use brownie compile --all.

Brownie supports both Solidity and Vyper. Which compiler to use is determined based on the suffix of the file:

  • Solidity: .sol
  • Vyper: .vy

Note

All of a project’s contract sources must be placed inside the contracts/ folder. Attempting to import sources from outside this folder will result in a compiler error.

Compiler Settings

Settings for the compiler are found in brownie-config.yaml:

evm_version: null
minify_source: false
solc:
    version: 0.6.0
    optimize: true
    runs: 200

Modifying any compiler settings will result in a full recompile of the project.

Setting the Compiler Version

Note

Brownie supports Solidity versions >=0.4.22 and Vyper version 0.1.0-b16.

If a compiler version is set in the configuration file, all contracts in the project are compiled using that version. It is installed automatically if not already present. The version should be given as a string in the format 0.x.x.

If the version is set to null, Brownie looks at the version pragma of each contract and uses the latest matching compiler version that has been installed. If no matching version is found, the most recent release is installed.

Setting the version via pragma allows you to use multiple versions in a single project. When doing so, you may encounter compiler errors when a contract imports another contract that is meant to compile on a higher version. A good practice in this situation is to import interfaces rather than actual contracts when possible, and set all interface pragmas as >=0.4.22.

The EVM Version

By default, evm_version is set to null. Brownie uses byzantium when compiling Solidity versions <=0.5.4, petersburg for Solidity >=0.5.5 and Vyper.

You can also set the EVM version manually. Valid options are byzantium, constantinople, petersburg and istanbul. You can also use the Ethereum Classic rulesets atlantis and agharta, which are converted to their Ethereum equivalents prior to being passed to the compiler.

See the Solidity and Vyper documentation for more info on the different EVM versions.

Compiler Optimization

Compiler optimization is enabled by default. Coverage evaluation was designed using optimized contracts - there is no need to disable it during testing.

See the Solidity documentation for more info on the solc optimizer.

Source Minification

If minify_source is true, the contract source is minified before compiling. Each time Brownie is loaded it will then minify the current source code before checking the hashes to determine if a recompile is necessary. This allows you to modify code formatting and comments without triggering a recompile, at the cost of increased load times from recalculating source offsets.

Installing the Compiler

If you wish to manually install a different version of solc:

>>> from brownie.project.compiler import install_solc
>>> install_solc("0.5.10")