Tolk becomes the “primary language” in TON

Previously in TON, there was a situation where two programming languages were officially offered for writing smart contracts: Tact and Tolk. Both were designed as “modern languages meant to be more developer-friendly than the original FunC.” However, they approached this goal from different directions — something we’ve covered in more detail.

While this gave developers a choice, it also created some confusion. For example, it made the ecosystem harder to navigate: newcomers would encounter tutorials written in different languages and wonder, “Which one should I learn?” — with no definitive answer. Many assumed that eventually one language would become the “main” one, though opinions differed on which it should be.

That moment has now come. In a new announcement, the TON Foundation has officially recommended using Tolk. No official word has been given about the future of Tact — will new versions continue to be developed as before?

This doesn’t mean that using Tact is now meaningless. Even if its development stops, existing versions aren’t going anywhere, and they can still be used to create smart contracts. Some developers may prefer Tact over Tolk and are free to keep working with it.

The real significance of the news is that if one language is officially recommended, it may receive more attention and resources in the future. It’s more likely to see active development, be featured more prominently in new tutorials, enjoy better support in developer tools, and so on.

So here’s the takeaway: If you’re a developer and already have a personal preference between the two languages, for now you can feel free to follow it. But if you’re just getting started with TON smart contract development and wondering “Which language should I choose?” — as of today, Tolk seems like the more logical default option. Not because it’s inherently “better” (that’s a question of personal preferences), but because it’s more likely to receive serious investment and long-term support.

@thedailyton