Swaps are a cornerstone of any exchange, and Balancer has a few types for different purposes.
This section will dive into code for executing swaps on Balancer V2. This functionality is also available in the Python Library balpy. Find it on PyPI and the source (with samples!) on GitHub.
Batch Swaps
You'll want to use Batch Swaps when you're making a trade that hops through multiple pools. These are useful for swapping between two tokens that aren't in the same pool, and for routes with better prices than naive single swaps.
Flash Swaps
There is a specific case of Batch Swap called a Flash Swap that enables trades with no input tokens. These are useful for doing arbitrage among Balancer pools. To make a Flash Swap, create a Batch Swap with all your token limits set to zero.
Single Swaps
You'll want to use Single Swaps when you're making a trade between two tokens in one pool. While it's possible to do this with a one-step Batch Swap, using a Single Swap will save ~6,000 gas.
What kind of swap should I be using?
In most cases, you'll want to use Batch Swaps. The only time you would want to use a Single Swap is when you're making a trade between just two tokens in one pool. Executing multiple Single Swaps in a single transaction is inefficient and should instead be batched.
Sample gas costs for trades executed through multiple weighted pools
Sample gas costs for trades executed through Weighted->Stable->Weighted pools