The potential that Blockchain offers is massive. It can be integrated into all kinds of businesses like financial services, supply chains, real estate, identity registries, and many more. Blockchain has transformed the way people use technology.
What is Blockchain technology?
Blockchain technology refers to a transparent electronic ledger that works on a P2P system. Blockchain can only be updated with the consensus of the participants, and once the data is stored in it, nothing can change it. While blockchain technology has a lot to offer, it is still in its early days. However, in the coming future, we will see Blockchain being used in day to day life.
How is the Blockchain application built?
Like any other software development process, you will first need to delineate the purpose of Blockchain application development. Here are some steps that make the basis of the development process:
- Ideation – To start the development process of Blockchain application, you need to make sure if your idea needs Blockchain or not. It’s important to understand that Blockchain encrypts the data and validates the transactions, and if not properly implemented, it doesn’t guarantee the additional security that you are looking for.
Once you have discovered that Blockchain is important for your project, you should understand that the project is going to be costly.
- Picking an ideal Blockchain platform – After ensuring that your idea needs Blockchain technology, you need to find out an ideal platform to use. You can do that in two different ways:
- Create a new Blockchain – You can start by creating your own Blockchain framework in which you will decide everything from transaction validation to algorithms. It is the most elaborate way of Blockchain development, but it’s the costliest.
- Clone the existing Blockchain platforms – The cost-efficient way of developing Blockchain applications is to use the popular Blockchain platform in the development. These Blockchain platforms are open source so you can deploy their code on your servers. Few good platforms are Ethereum, Hyperledger SawTooth, and Hyperledger Fabric. There are certain specific features for each platform that help you in making a decision.
- Proto development – As the development of the Blockchain application is a costly affair, it is suggested to develop a proto application to ensure that everything is working fine before deploying it on a server.
You should also know what part of the application is going to be “on-chain,” and what part is going to be “Off-chain.” You should also decide whether you want your application to be on a Permissioned network or a Permissionless network. Let’s understand what these are:
- Permissionless network – In a permissionless network, anyone can join and start verifying. The best examples of such networks are Ethereum and Bitcoin networks.
- Permissioned network – In this, the only network can decide who can join the network, and here only a few members can verify the blocks. The consensus mechanism can be similar to the permissionless network or can be custom designed.
You should keep your on-chain APIs separate from Off-Chain APIs as they are not hosted in the same place. You should decide about the transaction strategy and consensus algorithm for your Blockchain application. Using an existing platform is much better, as it will ease up lots of things.
- Technology – For Blockchain development, regular frameworks are also needed like node js, react.js, etc. Apart from that, there are other technologies involved like:
- Dapp Browsers
- Open Zepplin
- Solidity
- Embark
- Metamask
- Parity
- Truffle
- Etherscan
Conclusion – There are huge complexities involved in the development process of the Blockchain application. The entire process of development is similar to encryption and decryption. The encryption of Block’s history makes the blockchain application tamper-proof and secure. Following the above-given steps will allow you to make an MVP for your Blockchain application.