This issue is about a feature request on ConstraintSystem. Ideally, there is a debug mode. When it is on, it helps the developers find out which constraint is failing.
Problem Definition
After the namespaces disappear from arkworks-rs, it is harder to debug a constraint system that is not satisfactory, which often appears only when the verify function fails.
Summary
This issue is about a feature request on
ConstraintSystem. Ideally, there is adebugmode. When it is on, it helps the developers find out which constraint is failing.Problem Definition
After the namespaces disappear from
arkworks-rs, it is harder to debug a constraint system that is not satisfactory, which often appears only when theverifyfunction fails.Proposal
A potential solution for debugging is as follows:
When we enforce a constraint (https://github.com/arkworks-rs/snark/blob/master/relations/src/r1cs/constraint_system.rs#L254), we immediately check if this constraint is satisfactory. If not, panic immediately. Note that this cannot be done in the setup mode.
An implementation of such checking has appeared in Aleo's snarkVM, which intentionally checks if a constraint is satisfactory and records the first unsatisfactory constraint. https://github.com/AleoHQ/snarkVM/blob/testnet2/r1cs/src/test_constraint_checker.rs#L120
Since such checking has an overhead, it is only turned on when
debugmode is on, which by default is off.For Admin Use