# The EVM Execution Environment

The environment in which bytecode is executed is the collection of resources that bytecode has access to.

Specifically, bytecode has access to:

• The stack
• Memory
• Contract storage
• A finite amount of gas
• Various fields of information about the running transaction, including calldata, the running contract, and its caller.

In the following chapters, we will go over the first three in greater detail.

# Three Worlds of Data

The stack is not the only data location you have to work with. Specifically, you have access to:

• The stack. Push, pop, dupe, and swap are the base operations you have access to.
• Memory. A location to read/write data that will only last as long as a function call
  • This is an EVM function call, to be clear; Solidity sometimes has a different definition of a function call, as we'll learn in ⚙️ Internal Function Calls (coming soon).
• Storage. A location to read/write data that will persist across function calls and transactions.

And that's it. These three data locations make up the execution environment that all contracts run in on-chain.

In the following chapters, we’ll discuss the details of working with each one.

# Function Call Environments

Generally speaking, each function call gets its own, isolated execution environment. Namely:

• A new, empty stack.
• New, empty memory.
• Access to the running contract address’s storage.
• A finite amount of gas to run.

The details of how function calls work is described in ☎️ How EVM Function Calls Work (coming soon). For now, just keep in mind that function calls do not share stack nor memory.