A very interesting topic to follow.
@Forp:
I am looking forward to seeing the translated version.
@Gavin Andresen
I've been making slow but steady progress on my at-the-network-level testing tool. [...]
What's working: python-based code that serializes/deserializes messages in both bitcoin's binary format (to talk to the node being tested) and JSON (so it is easy for us humans to tweak/examine test data). Connecting and requesting all blocks.
Where can I get my hands on that? I was looking for something like this for a long while.