Zero-Knowledge Proof Programming

by Yu Zheng, Liqun Huang, Qianhong Wu

Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) have evolved from a theoretical cryptographic concept into a foundational technology for blockchain systems, privacy-preserving computation, digital identity, and secure cross-organizational collaboration. More and more high-profile projects (for example, Zcash, Sui Network, and Aleo) based on evolving ZKP technologies have entered the spotlight. However, learning ZKP programming is extremely difficult due to its mathematical complexity and the lack of easy-to-follow learning resources on the market.

This book provides a concise and practical introduction to the modern ZKP ecosystem. It covers the mathematical foundations of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (both SNARKs and STARKs), including arithmetization, circuit design, and commitment schemes (such as KZG, Pedersen, and IPA). Moreover, readers are guided through major proving systems such as Groth16, Plonk, Bulletproofs, Sumcheck, FRI, and Circle STARK, together with their design principles, trade-offs, and applications.

Through worked examples, code illustrations, and discussions of frameworks and DSLs such as Circom, ZoKrates, and Halo2, the book dives deeply into the technical details from theory to implementation. The intended readers are software engineers, blockchain developers, students, and researchers. The book provides a practical path from core concepts to protocol design and application development. It is designed to help readers develop practical ZKP programming skills and gain a solid understanding of modern ZKP systems. Reading the book should help developers quickly get started with ZKP programming.

To fully benefit from the book, readers should have a background in computer science and a basic understanding of mathematics.

489 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 24, 2027

About the author

Yu Zheng is Vice President and Chief Data Scientist at JD Digits, where he is also President of the Urban Computing Business Unit and Director of JD Intelligent City Research. He is Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Adjunct Professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is the coeditor of Computing with Spatial Trajectories and Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology.