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Fast Path and Consensus

The Object Model allows for variable transaction execution paths, depending on the object's ownership type. The transaction execution path determines how the transaction is processed and validated by the network. In this section, we'll explore the different transaction execution paths in Sui and how they interact with the consensus mechanism.

Concurrency Challenge​

At its core, blockchain technology faces a fundamental concurrency challenge: multiple parties may try to modify or access the same data simultaneously in a decentralized environment. This requires a system for sequencing and validating transactions to support the network's consistency. Sui addresses this challenge through a consensus mechanism, ensuring all nodes agree on the transactions' sequence and state.

Consider a marketplace scenario where Alice and Bob simultaneously attempt to purchase the same asset. The network must resolve this conflict to prevent double-spending, ensuring that at most one transaction succeeds while the other is rightfully rejected.

Fast Path​

However, not all transactions require the same level of validation. If Alice transfers an object she owns to Bob, no other party could have touched that object in the first place - Alice is its single owner. There is no conflict to resolve, so the network does not need to order this transaction against all other transactions in the network. Transactions that access only account-owned objects take the fast path: they skip full sequencing and are processed quickly. This is a direct payoff of the single owner model - exclusive access removes the concurrency problem entirely.

Immutable objects also qualify for the fast path. Since a frozen object can never change, any number of transactions can read it concurrently without any ordering.

Consensus Path​

Transactions that access shared objects are the case consensus exists for: multiple parties may attempt to modify the same object at the same time, so the network must agree on the order of these modifications. Such transactions go through the consensus path - they are sequenced by the consensus protocol before execution, which keeps the state consistent across all nodes.

Party objects also take the consensus path, even though they have a single owner - that is precisely their trade-off: owner-only access with consensus ordering.

An important detail: consensus on Sui orders transactions per object, not globally. Two transactions touching two unrelated shared objects do not compete with each other - only transactions accessing the same shared object need to be ordered relative to each other. This is what allows Sui to execute non-conflicting transactions in parallel.

A single transaction can mix inputs: if it accesses both owned and shared objects, it goes through consensus - the execution path is determined by the "slowest" input. This is worth keeping in mind when designing an application: whether your central state is a shared object or stays within owned objects directly affects how your users' transactions are executed.

Objects Owned by Objects​

Lastly, objects owned by other objects follow the execution path of their parent - a child is only reachable through its parent, so accessing it means accessing the parent first. If the parent object is shared, working with the child requires consensus; if the parent is account-owned, the whole chain qualifies for the fast path.

Summary​

  • Fast Path: Transactions involving only account-owned or immutable objects are processed quickly without full consensus sequencing.
  • Consensus Path: Transactions involving shared or party objects are sequenced by consensus - per object, allowing non-conflicting transactions to run in parallel.
  • Mixed Inputs: A transaction touching both owned and shared objects goes through consensus.
  • Objects Owned by Objects: Child objects follow the execution path of their parent.

Next Steps​

This concludes the conceptual tour of the Object Model: you know what an object is, who can own it, and how ownership shapes execution. The next chapter - Using Objects - turns these concepts into code: how to define an object, and how to transfer, share, and freeze it from a Move module.

llms.txt