Tolk vs FunC: standard library

FunC has a rich standard library, known as the "stdlib.fc" file. It's quite low-level and contains many asm functions closely related to TVM instructions.

Tolk also has a standard library based on the FunC one. Three main differences:

1. It's split into multiple files: common.tolk, tvm-dicts.tolk, and others. Functions from common.tolk are always available. Functions from other files are available after import:

import "@stdlib/tvm-dicts"

beginCell()          // available always
createEmptyDict()    // available due to import

2. You don't need to download it from GitHub; it's part of the Tolk distribution.
3. Tolk has functions and methods (called via the dot operator). Many global FunC functions became methods of builders/slices/etc. and can no longer be called as functions.

Functions vs methods

In FunC, there are no methods, actually. All functions are globally scoped.
You can call any function using the dot operator:

;; FunC
cell config_param(int x) asm "CONFIGOPTPARAM";

config_param(16);   ;; ok
16.config_param();  ;; also ok...

So, when you call b.end_cell(), you actually call a global function end_cell. Since all functions are globally scoped, there are no "short methods."

someTuple.tuple_size();
;; why not someTuple.size()? because it's a global function:
;; int tuple_size(tuple t)

Tolk separates functions and methods like it's done in most languages:

1. functions can NOT be called via dot, only methods can.
2. methods can have short names, they don't conflict.

// FunC
someCell.cell_hash();     // or cell_hash(someCell)
someSlice.slice_hash();

// Tolk
someCell.hash();          // the only possible
someSlice.hash();

A list of renamed functions

If the Required import column is empty, a function is available without imports.

Note that some functions were deleted because they either can be expressed syntactically, or they were very uncommon in practice.

The table is "sorted" in a way how functions are declared in stdlib.fc:

Note: FunC uses snake_case names (for example, begin_cell), while Tolk methods use camelCase (for example, beginCell).

FunC name	Tolk name	Required import
empty_tuple	createEmptyTuple
t~tpush	t.push(v)
first(t) or dot t.first()	t.first()
at(t,i) or dot t.at(i)	t.get(i) or just t.0 etc.
touch(v) or dot	v.stackMoveToTop()	tvm-lowlevel
impure_touch	(deleted)
single	(deleted)
unsingle	(deleted)
pair	(deleted)
unpair	(deleted)
triple	(deleted)
untriple	(deleted)
tuple4	(deleted)
untuple4	(deleted)
second	(deleted)
third	(deleted)
fourth	(deleted)
pair_first	(deleted)
pair_second	(deleted)
triple_first	(deleted)
triple_second	(deleted)
triple_third	(deleted)
minmax	minMax
now	blockchain.now
my_address	contract.getAddress
get_balance + pair_first	contract.getOriginalBalance
cur_lt	blockchain.logicalTime
block_lt	blockchain.currentBlockLogicalTime
cell_hash(c) or dot	c.hash()
slice_hash(s) or dot	s.hash()
string_hash(s) or dot	s.bitsHash()
check_signature	isSignatureValid
check_data_signature	isSliceSignatureValid
compute_data_size(c) or dot	c.calculateSizeStrict()
slice_compute_data_size(s) or dot	s.calculateSizeStrict()
c.compute_data_size?() or dot	c.calculateSize()
slice_compute_data_size?() or dot	s.calculateSize()
~dump	debug.print
~strdump	debug.printString
dump_stack	debug.dumpStack
get_data	contract.getData
set_data	contract.setData
get_c3	getTvmRegisterC3	tvm-lowlevel
set_c3	setTvmRegisterC3	tvm-lowlevel
bless	transformSliceToContinuation	tvm-lowlevel
accept_message	acceptExternalMessage
set_gas_limit	setGasLimit
buy_gas	(deleted)
commit	commitContractDataAndActions
divmod	divMod
moddiv	modDiv
muldiv	mulDivFloor
muldivr	mulDivRound
muldivc	mulDivCeil
muldivmod	mulDivMod
begin_parse	beginParse
end_parse(s) or dot	s.assertEnd()
load_ref	loadRef
preload_ref	preloadRef
load_int	loadInt
load_uint	loadUint
preload_int	preloadInt
preload_uint	preloadUint
load_bits	loadBits
preload_bits	preloadBits
load_grams	loadCoins
load_coins	loadCoins
skip_bits	s.skipBits
first_bits	getFirstBits
skip_last_bits	removeLastBits
slice_last	getLastBits
load_dict	loadDict
preload_dict	preloadDict
skip_dict	skipDict
load_maybe_ref	loadMaybeRef
preload_maybe_ref	preloadMaybeRef
cell_depth(c) or dot	c.depth()
slice_refs(s) or dot	s.remainingRefsCount()
slice_bits(s) or dot	s.remainingBitsCount()
slice_bits_refs(s) or dot	s.remainingBitsAndRefsCount()
slice_empty?(s) or dot	s.isEmpty()
slice_data_empty?(s) or dot	s.isEndOfBits()
slice_refs_empty?(s) or dot	s.isEndOfRefs()
slice_depth(s) or dot	s.depth()
equal_slice_bits(a,b) or dot	a.bitsEqual(b)
builder_refs(b) or dot	b.refsCount()
builder_bits(b) or dot	b.bitsCount()
builder_depth(b) or dot	b.depth()
begin_cell	beginCell
end_cell	endCell
store_ref	storeRef
store_uint	storeUint
store_int	storeInt
store_slice	storeSlice
store_grams	storeCoins
store_coins	storeCoins
store_dict	storeDict
store_maybe_ref	storeMaybeRef
store_builder	storeBuilder
load_msg_addr	loadAddress
parse_addr	(deleted)
parse_std_addr	parseStandardAddress
parse_var_addr	(deleted)
config_param	blockchain.configParam
raw_reserve	reserveToncoinsOnBalance
raw_reserve_extra	reserveExtraCurrenciesOnBalance
send_raw_message	sendRawMessage
set_code	contract.setCodePostponed
random	random.uint256
rand	random.range
get_seed	random.getSeed
set_seed	random.setSeed
randomize	random.initializeBy
randomize_lt	random.initialize
dump	debug.print
strdump	debug.printString
dump_stk	debug.dumpStack
empty_list	createEmptyList	lisp-lists
cons	listPrepend	lisp-lists
uncons	listSplit	lisp-lists
list_next	listNext	lisp-lists
car	listGetHead	lisp-lists
cdr	listGetTail	lisp-lists
new_dict	createEmptyMap
dict_empty?(d) or dot	m.isEmpty
idict_set_ref	use native maps
udict_set_ref	use native maps
idict_get_ref	use native maps
idict_get_ref?	use native maps
udict_get_ref?	use native maps
idict_set_get_ref	use native maps
udict_set_get_ref	use native maps
idict_delete?	use native maps
udict_delete?	use native maps
idict_get?	use native maps
udict_get?	use native maps
idict_delete_get?	use native maps
udict_delete_get?	use native maps
udict_set	use native maps
idict_set	use native maps
dict_set	use native maps
udict_add?	use native maps
udict_replace?	use native maps
idict_add?	use native maps
idict_replace?	use native maps
udict_set_builder	use native maps
idict_set_builder	use native maps
dict_set_builder	use native maps
udict_add_builder?	use native maps
udict_replace_builder?	use native maps
idict_add_builder?	use native maps
idict_replace_builder?	use native maps
udict_delete_get_min	use native maps
idict_delete_get_min	use native maps
dict_delete_get_min	use native maps
udict_delete_get_max	use native maps
idict_delete_get_max	use native maps
dict_delete_get_max	use native maps
udict_get_min?	use native maps
udict_get_max?	use native maps
udict_get_min_ref?	use native maps
udict_get_max_ref?	use native maps
idict_get_min?	use native maps
idict_get_max?	use native maps
idict_get_min_ref?	use native maps
idict_get_max_ref?	use native maps
udict_get_next?	use native maps
udict_get_nexteq?	use native maps
udict_get_prev?	use native maps
udict_get_preveq?	use native maps
idict_get_next?	use native maps
idict_get_nexteq?	use native maps
idict_get_prev?	use native maps
idict_get_preveq?	use native maps
udict::delete_get_min	use native maps
idict::delete_get_min	use native maps
dict::delete_get_min	use native maps
udict::delete_get_max	use native maps
idict::delete_get_max	use native maps
dict::delete_get_max	use native maps
pfxdict_get?	prefixDictGet	tvm-dicts
pfxdict_set?	prefixDictSet	tvm-dicts
pfxdict_delete?	prefixDictDelete	tvm-dicts

See also for accept_message → acceptExternalMessage:

• Effects and nuances: /v3/documentation/smart-contracts/transaction-fees/accept-message-effects.
• FunC stdlib reference: /v3/documentation/smart-contracts/func/docs/stdlib#accept_message.

A list of added functions

Tolk standard library has some functions missing in FunC but is pretty typical for everyday tasks.

Since Tolk is actively developed, and its standard library changes, it better considers the tolk-stdlib/ folder in sources here. Besides functions, there some constants were added: SEND_MODE_*, RESERVE_MODE_*, etc.

When FunC becomes deprecated, the documentation about Tolk stdlib will be rewritten entirely, anyway.

Remember that all the functions above are wrappers over the TVM assembler. If something is missing, you can quickly wrap any TVM instruction yourself.

Some functions became mutating, not returning a copy

FunC	Tolk
int flags = cs~load_uint(32);	var flags = cs.loadUint(32);
...	...

Most FunC functions used with ~ tilda in practice now mutate the object. For example, if you used cs~load_uint(…), just use cs.loadUint(…), and everything is fine. But if you used cs.load_uint(…) to obtain a copy, you'll need to express it another way.

Read about mutability.

How does embedded stdlib work under the hood?

As told above, all standard functions are available out of the box. You need import for non-common functions (it's intentional), but still, no external downloads.

It works the following way.

The first thing the Tolk compiler does at the start is locate the stdlib folder by searching predefined paths relative to an executable binary. For example, if you launch the Tolk compiler from a package installed (e.g. /usr/bin/tolk), locate stdlib in /usr/share/ton/smartcont. You may pass the TOLK_STDLIB env variable if you have a non-standard installation. It's standard practice for compilers.

A WASM wrapper tolk-js also contains stdlib. So, when you take tolk-js or blueprint, all stdlib functions are still available out of the box.

JetBrains and VS Code IDE plugins also auto-locate stdlib to provide auto-completion. If you use blueprint, it automatically installs tolk-js; therefore, folder node_modules/@ton/tolk-js/ exists in your project file structure. Inside are common.tolk, tvm-dicts.tolk, and others.

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