The blockchain technology is revolutionizing the way businesses transact as this open technology speeds up processes and is secure. Learn how to develop an application for blockchain here.
For several years now, the conversation around bitcoin and blockchain has gone a notch higher. This is partially due to the ongoing global acceptance of cryptocurrency technology. Bitcoin is a form of digital currency created and regulated by a network of computers using encryption techniques. Bitcoin transactions are recorded on the ledger as a block. A series of the recorded transactions form a blockchain.
Below are steps to help you develop an application for blockchain:
Understand the basics and establish your goals
You need to begin by familiarizing yourself with the blockchain concepts as the first step toward developing blockchain application.
- Blockchain refers to a chain of blocks with each block containing valuable data that is cryptographically undisputable and safe. A blockchain functions by recording the history of asset transfers or transactions in block form. The blocks are then linked through a hashing function resulting in a hash-linked chain.
- Miners are persons that mine the blocks using computational power.
- A decentralized system means there is no central authority supervising the blockchain.
- Consensus mechanism refers to the mechanism through which the decentralized network agrees on specific issues.
Once you are familiar with these concepts, you need to study existing blockchains and identify the issues they are facing. You then move to develop a blockchain application that solves these issues.
Choose a suitable consensus mechanism
As mentioned, blockchains have no central supervision. This necessitates network stakeholders to validate each transaction in a process referred to as a consensus. These can include Proof of Elapsed Time, Federated, Delegated Proof of Stake, Byzantine Fault Tolerant, Proof of Stake, Round Robin, among others. Bitcoin, which is arguably the most popular blockchain, uses Proof of Work as its consensus mechanism.
Design its structure
Blockchain development can either be as a hybrid, an in-house model or exist in a cloud. You need to choose the necessary software and hardware that will meet your requirements and one that will support the high-level requirement a blockchain demands. Besides, there are different types of blockchain solutions, and you need to choose which solution you will deal in. These include:
- Public Blockchains – Ethereum is an example of a public blockchain. Other asset-backed cryptocurrencies are also public.
- Private Blockchains – these are privacy-centric cryptos in which the miners’ transactions are not available to the public.
- Permission-less – allows anyone to become a miner.
Configure the application
During the configuring process, you need to be careful as there are aspects that, once configured, will be impossible to modify. This step might need you to consult an expert if you are unfamiliar with components such as asset issuance, parameters, signatures, hand-shakes, among others.
Build the APIs
There are already pre-built APIs, but not all of them will meet the requirements of blockchain application development. As such, you may need to create most of them for your specific case. You need APIs for such functions as storage of data and its retrieval, data validation through digital signatures, auditing, and the generation of pairing and addresses.
Design the user interface and admin
You finally need to design an admin console and a user interface. Front-end programming language, external database, and your servers are chosen at this point. An easy-to-use interface is recommended to encourage more users.
Identify problems
A test-run is recommended to enable you to establish its performance and identify if there are issues with storage, latency, memory, and so on. This gives you a chance to amend such issues before you launch your blockchain application.
Technological developments are making significant leaps with perfect examples being the blockchain technology and IoT. The blockchain technology is revolutionizing the way businesses transact as this open technology speeds up processes and is secure. Transaction costs are also significantly lowered as more and more businesses implement blockchain technology.
