What is Network Pruning?

Network pruning is a process whereby developers modify a computer network — in this case specifically a blockchain network — to make it more lightweight and resource efficient. This process is typically carried out by training a complex, over-burdened network to be more efficient, then "pruned down" based on specific criteria, and finally fine-tuned to achieve comparable performance to its original version. Network pruning is generally realized when a blockchain network's full nodes become pruned nodes or light nodes (which are sometimes called light-clients).