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381 changes: 381 additions & 0 deletions content/stellar-contracts/utils/math/wad.mdx
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---
title: WAD Fixed-Point Math
description: High-precision decimal arithmetic
---

# Overview

The WAD library provides fixed-point decimal arithmetic for Soroban smart contracts with 18 decimal places of precision.
It's designed specifically for DeFi applications where precise decimal calculations are critical,
such as interest rates, exchange rates, and token pricing.

It is a fixed-point representation where:
- **1.0 is represented as `1_000_000_000_000_000_000` (10^18)**
- **0.5 is represented as `500_000_000_000_000_000`**
- **123.456 is represented as `123_456_000_000_000_000_000`**

This allows precise decimal arithmetic using only integer operations, avoiding the pitfalls
of floating-point arithmetic in smart contracts.

# Why WAD?

## Problems with Alternatives

**Native Integers (`i128`, `u64`):**
- No decimal support - `1/2 = 0` instead of `0.5`
- Loss of precision in financial calculations
- Requires manual scaling for each operation

**Floating-Point (`f64`, `f32`):**
- Non-deterministic behavior across platforms
- Rounding errors that compound in financial calculations
- Security vulnerabilities from precision loss
Comment on lines +29 to +32
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floating points numbers are not part of the Soroban types system, so I see no value of mentioning them

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I disagree, the reason they do not exist in Soroban types are the ones above. So for anyone looking for alternatives, these reasons will convince them to not implement floating points in Soroban

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I find this formulation confusing. Here's how I read the whole section "Problems with Alternatives": we can use integers and floating points, but they are not good for the reasons that are listed, i.e. that implies they exist in Soroban.

I like you want to provide a more general perspective that's not Soroban-related, but I think this should be more explicit, smth like "in a non-blockchain env those aren't optimal for this and that reason, and in more restraint env such as blockchains it becomes inevitable we need a better representation because we only have integers..."


## Why WAD is Better

- **High Precision**: 18 decimals is more than sufficient for financial calculations
- **Deterministic**: Same inputs always produce same outputs
- **Efficient**: Uses native `i128` arithmetic under the hood
- **Battle-Tested**: Used in production by MakerDAO, Uniswap, Aave, and others
- **Ergonomic**: Operator overloading makes code readable: `a + b * c`
- **Type Safe**: NewType pattern prevents mixing scaled and unscaled values

# Design Decisions

## 1. NewType Pattern

We use a NewType `struct Wad(i128)` instead of a type alias:

```rust
// Type alias
type Wad = i128;

// NewType
pub struct Wad(i128);
```

**Benefits:**
- **Type Safety**: Cannot accidentally mix scaled and unscaled values
- **Operator Overloading**: Can implement `+`, `-`, `*`, `/` with correct semantics
- **Semantic Clarity**: Makes intent explicit in function signatures

## 2. No `From`/`Into` Traits

We deliberately **DID NOT** implement `From<i128>` or `Into<i128>` because it's ambiguous:

```rust
// What should this mean?
let wad = Wad::from(5);
// Is it 5.0 (scaled to 5 * 10^18)?
// Or 0.000000000000000005 (raw value 5)?
```

Instead, we provide explicit constructors:
- `Wad::from_integer(e, 5)` - Creates 5.0 (scaled)
- `Wad::from_raw(5)` - Creates raw value 5 (0.000000000000000005)

## 3. Truncation vs Rounding

All operations truncate toward zero rather than rounding:

**Why truncation?**
- **Predictable**: Same behavior as integer division
- **Conservative**: In financial calculations, truncation is often safer (e.g., don't over-calculate interest)
- **Fast**: No additional logic needed

## 4. Operator Overloading

We provide operator overloading (`+`, `-`, `*`, `/`, `-`) for convenience:

```rust
// Readable arithmetic
let total = price + fee;
let cost = quantity * price;
let ratio = numerator / denominator;
```

Operator overloading is supported across WAD and native i128 types where unambiguous:
`WAD * i128`, `i128 * WAD`, `WAD / i128`.

**Explicit methods are available for safety:**
- `checked_add()`, `checked_sub()`, etc. return `Option<Wad>` for overflow handling

<Callout type="warning">

**Overflow Behavior**

Just like regular Rust, operator overloading does not include overflow checks:

- Use `checked_*` methods (`checked_add()`, `checked_sub()`, `checked_mul()`, etc.) when handling user inputs or when overflow is possible. These return `Option<Wad>` for safe error handling.
- Use operator overloads (`+`, `-`, `*`, `/`) when you want to reduce computational overhead by skipping overflow checks, or when you're confident the operation cannot overflow.

This design follows Rust's standard library pattern: operators for performance, checked methods for safety.

</Callout>

# How It Works

## Internal Representation

```rust
pub struct Wad(i128); // Internal representation
pub const WAD_SCALE: i128 = 1_000_000_000_000_000_000; // 10^18
```

A `Wad` is simply a wrapper around `i128` that interprets the value as having 18 decimal places.

## Arithmetic Operations

**Addition/Subtraction:** Direct on internal values
```rust
impl Add for Wad {
fn add(self, rhs: Wad) -> Wad {
Wad(self.0 + rhs.0)
}
}
```

**Multiplication:** Scale down by WAD_SCALE
```rust
impl Mul for Wad {
fn mul(self, rhs: Wad) -> Wad {
// (a * b) / 10^18
Wad((self.0 * rhs.0) / WAD_SCALE)
}
}
```

**Division:** Scale up by WAD_SCALE
```rust
impl Div for Wad {
fn div(self, rhs: Wad) -> Wad {
// (a * 10^18) / b
Wad((self.0 * WAD_SCALE) / rhs.0)
}
}
```

## Exponentiation

WAD supports raising a value to an unsigned integer exponent via `pow`.

- `pow(&e, exponent)` is optimized using exponentiation by squaring (O(log n) multiplications).
- Each multiplication keeps WAD semantics (fixed-point multiplication and truncation toward zero).
- Overflow is reported via Soroban errors.

In addition to `pow`, WAD also provides `checked_pow`, which returns `None` on overflow.

```rust
// Compound interest multiplier: (1.05)^10
let rate = Wad::from_ratio(&e, 105, 100); // 1.05
let multiplier = rate.pow(&e, 10);
```

### Notes on `pow` and Phantom Overflow

`pow` / `checked_pow` are implemented using exponentiation by squaring and rely
on Soroban fixed-point helpers that can automatically scale intermediate products
to `I256` when needed.

This avoids **phantom overflow** cases where an intermediate multiplication would
overflow `i128`, but the final scaled result would still fit in `i128`.


## Token Conversions

Different tokens have different decimal places (USDC: 6, XLM: 7, ETH: 18, BTC: 8). WAD handles these conversions:

```rust
// Convert from USDC (6 decimals) to WAD
let usdc_amount: i128 = 1_500_000; // 1.5 USDC
let wad = Wad::from_token_amount(&e, usdc_amount, 6);
// wad.raw() = 1_500_000_000_000_000_000 (1.5 in WAD)

// Convert back to USDC
let usdc_back: i128 = wad.to_token_amount(&e, 6);
// usdc_back = 1_500_000
```

# Precision Characteristics

## Understanding Fixed-Point Precision

WAD is a fixed-point math library. Like all fixed-point arithmetic systems,
precision loss is inherent and unavoidable. The goal is not to eliminate precision errors
—that's impossible— but to reduce them to a degree so minimal
that they become irrelevant in practical applications.

WAD achieves this goal exceptionally well. With precision loss in the range of **10^-16**,
the errors are so microscopically small that they have zero practical impact on financial calculations.
To put this in perspective: if you're calculating with millions of dollars, the error would be
measured in quadrillionths of a cent.

## How Precision Loss Manifests

Due to truncation in each operation, operation order can produce slightly different results:

```rust
let a = Wad::from_integer(&e, 1000);
let b = Wad::from_raw(55_000_000_000_000_000); // 0.055
let c = Wad::from_raw(8_333_333_333_333_333); // ~0.00833

let result1 = a * b * c; // Truncates after first multiplication
let result2 = a * (b * c); // Truncates after inner multiplication

// result1 and result2 may differ by ~315 WAD units
// That's 0.000000000000000315 or (3.15 × 10^-16)
```

**Why This Doesn't Matter:**
- Errors are in the **10^-15 to 10^-18** range, far beyond practical significance
- Token precision (6-8 decimals) completely absorbs these errors when converting back
- Real-world financial systems round to 2-8 decimal places; WAD's 18 decimals provide a massive safety margin
- This is orders of magnitude more precise than needed for DeFi applications

# Usage Examples

## Basic Arithmetic

```rust
use soroban_sdk::Env;
use stellar_contract_utils::math::wad::Wad;

fn calculate_interest(e: &Env, principal: i128, rate_bps: u32) -> i128 {
// Convert principal (assume 6 decimals like USDC)
let principal_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, principal, 6);

// Rate in basis points (e.g., 550 = 5.5%)
let rate_wad = Wad::from_ratio(e, rate_bps as i128, 10_000);

// Calculate interest
let interest_wad = principal_wad * rate_wad;

// Convert back to token amount
interest_wad.to_token_amount(e, 6)
}
```

## Price Calculations

```rust
fn calculate_swap_output(
e: &Env,
amount_in: i128,
reserve_in: i128,
reserve_out: i128,
) -> i128 {
// Convert to WAD
let amount_in_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, amount_in, 6);
let reserve_in_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, reserve_in, 6);
let reserve_out_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, reserve_out, 6);

// Constant product formula: amount_out = (amount_in * reserve_out) / (reserve_in + amount_in)
let numerator = amount_in_wad * reserve_out_wad;
let denominator = reserve_in_wad + amount_in_wad;
let amount_out_wad = numerator / denominator;

// Convert back
amount_out_wad.to_token_amount(e, 6)
}
```

## Compound Interest

```rust
fn calculate_compound_interest(
e: &Env,
principal: i128,
annual_rate_bps: u32,
days: u32,
) -> i128 {
let principal_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, principal, 6);
let rate = Wad::from_ratio(e, annual_rate_bps as i128, 10_000);
let time_fraction = Wad::from_ratio(e, days as i128, 365);

// Simple interest: principal * rate * time
let interest = principal_wad * rate * time_fraction;

interest.to_token_amount(e, 6)
}
```

## Safe Arithmetic with Overflow Checks

```rust
fn safe_multiply(e: &Env, a: i128, b: i128) -> Result<i128, Error> {
let a_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, a, 6);
let b_wad = Wad::from_token_amount(e, b, 6);

// Use checked variant
let result_wad = a_wad
.checked_mul(e, b_wad)
.ok_or(Error::Overflow)?;

Ok(result_wad.to_token_amount(e, 6))
}
```

# API Reference

## Constructors

| Method | Description | Example |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| `from_integer(e, n)` | Create from whole number | `Wad::from_integer(&e, 5)` → 5.0 |
| `from_ratio(e, num, den)` | Create from fraction | `Wad::from_ratio(&e, 1, 2)` → 0.5 |
| `from_token_amount(e, amount, decimals)` | Create from token amount | `Wad::from_token_amount(&e, 1_500_000, 6)` → 1.5 |
| `from_price(e, price, decimals)` | Alias for `from_token_amount` | `Wad::from_price(&e, 100_000, 6)` → 0.1 |
| `from_raw(raw)` | Create from raw i128 value | `Wad::from_raw(10^18)` → 1.0 |

## Converters

| Method | Description | Example |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| `to_integer()` | Convert to whole number (truncates) | `Wad(5.7).to_integer()` → 5 |
| `to_token_amount(e, decimals)` | Convert to token amount | `Wad(1.5).to_token_amount(&e, 6)` → 1_500_000 |
| `raw()` | Get raw i128 value | `Wad(1.0).raw()` → 10^18 |

## Arithmetic Operators

| Operator | Description | Example |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `a + b` | Addition | `Wad(1.5) + Wad(2.3)` → 3.8 |
| `a - b` | Subtraction | `Wad(5.0) - Wad(3.0)` → 2.0 |
| `a * b` | Multiplication (WAD × WAD) | `Wad(2.0) * Wad(3.0)` → 6.0 |
| `a / b` | Division (WAD ÷ WAD) | `Wad(6.0) / Wad(2.0)` → 3.0 |
| `a * n` | Multiply WAD by integer | `Wad(2.5) * 3` → 7.5 |
| `n * a` | Multiply integer by WAD | `3 * Wad(2.5)` → 7.5 |
| `a / n` | Divide WAD by integer | `Wad(7.5) / 3` → 2.5 |
| `-a` | Negation | `-Wad(5.0)` → -5.0 |

## Checked Arithmetic

| Method | Returns | Description |
|--------|---------|-------------|
| `checked_add(rhs)` | `Option<Wad>` | Addition with overflow check |
| `checked_sub(rhs)` | `Option<Wad>` | Subtraction with overflow check |
| `checked_mul(e, rhs)` | `Option<Wad>` | Multiplication with overflow check (handles phantom overflow internally) |
| `checked_div(rhs)` | `Option<Wad>` | Division with overflow/zero check |
| `checked_mul_int(n)` | `Option<Wad>` | Integer multiplication with overflow check |
| `checked_div_int(n)` | `Option<Wad>` | Integer division with zero check |
| `checked_pow(e, exponent)` | `Option<Wad>` | Exponentiation with overflow check |

## Utility Methods

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `abs()` | Absolute value |
| `min(other)` | Minimum of two values |
| `max(other)` | Maximum of two values |
| `pow(e, exponent)` | Raises WAD to an unsigned integer power (panics with Soroban error on overflow) |

## Error Handling

WAD uses Soroban's contract error system via `SorobanFixedPointError`:

```rust
pub enum SorobanFixedPointError {
Overflow = 1500,
DivisionByZero = 1501,
}
```
11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions src/navigation/stellar.json
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"name": "Upgradeable",
"url": "/stellar-contracts/utils/upgradeable"
},
{
"type": "folder",
"name": "Math",
"children": [
{
"type": "page",
"name": "WAD",
"url": "/stellar-contracts/utils/math/wad"
}
]
},
{
"type": "folder",
"name": "Cryptography",
Expand Down