Bytecode Execution

Bytecode is the low-level, machine-readable format that smart contracts are compiled into before being deployed on the EVM. When a user interacts with a contract, the EVM fetches this bytecode from the blockchain and interprets the instructions sequentially.

This process involves pushing and popping data from a stack, reading from memory, and accessing persistent storage. Because the EVM is stack-based, operations are highly efficient but require careful optimization to minimize gas consumption.

Security audits often focus on the bytecode level to identify vulnerabilities like reentrancy or integer overflows that might not be apparent in high-level languages like Solidity. Understanding how code translates into these opcodes is essential for developers building secure financial primitives.