How to Build a Blockchain Application: A Developer’s Guide

What is blockchain development?

Developing for a blockchain differs from programming traditional applications in several important ways. In fact, much of the effort is primarily spent on addressing additional issues such as choosing the most appropriate incentive scheme, the desired degree of transparency, specific group permissions, and so on.

Core developers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of a blockchain application development. The lifecycle of this process includes researching its architecture and identifying on-chain application use cases. Blockchain developers also optimize the blockchain database for various systems and applications.

How are blockchain applications developed?

Databases developed using blockchain technology are known to be difficult to hack or manipulate, making them an ideal place to store sensitive data. Developing blockchain software requires an understanding of how blockchain technology works.

To master blockchain programming, developers must be familiar with interdisciplinary concepts and popular blockchain programming languages such as Solidity.

Much of blockchain application development is focused on information architecture, i.e. how the database should actually be structured, how that data should be distributed, and how it should be accessed with different permission levels. For example, whether it should be based on distributed ledger technology or not.

This decision, in turn, will affect everything. which parties will have access to what data, how this data will be shared between different parties, whether a majority vote will ensure that the data is changed, and so on.

Read more : Blockchain technology

How to become a blockchain developer?

Blockchain developer skills are in high demand these days. If the end goal is to work for a blockchain app development company, then a comprehensive blockchain development guide should be the first item on any newbie’s checklist.

Once you understand the advantages that blockchains can offer over traditional system infrastructures, you can begin your blockchain development project. These advantages include full transparency, voting management, customizable incentive schemes, and more.

Before launching a project, it is important to consider the blockchain project development life cycle. Breaking down how you want to apply blockchain technology into stages helps a lot. These steps are known to make up the blockchain development process (also known as the blockchain life cycle).

Read more : Blockchain

The Process of Developing Blockchain Applications

This process is a tried and tested one for blockchain developers in the industry. It produces the most effective results. The blockchain application development process consists of eight steps, detailed below.

Eight steps in the blockchain development lifecycle:

1. Identify the problem that needs to be solved with a blockchain application

The first step of this process involves identifying a problem that blockchain can successfully solve. Using blockchain when it is not needed can be both costly and unnecessary. Therefore, it is very important to identify a real problem that blockchain can solve.

2. Choose the most appropriate consensus mechanism

Each blockchain project uses its own consensus mechanism. The most common are proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS). Other consensus mechanisms, such as practical Byzantine fault tolerance, proof-of-burn, proof-of-activity, and proof-of-capacity, may be adopted only if they are better suited to the project.

3. Decide on a programming language and blockchain

At this stage, focus on developing the user interface of the application. The blockchain chosen will influence the programming language used, which in turn will influence how users interact with the blockchain. An important additional consideration when choosing languages is interoperability.

4. Choose a blockchain development platform

At this stage, developers must decide which blockchain to build on. This allows development to begin immediately without having to create a blockchain from scratch. The process of choosing a blockchain platform depends on the consensus mechanism required. Note the problems solved by each consensus mechanism.

Blockchain development often relies on popular platforms designed to simplify the process. These platforms are used by both blockchain development companies and independent developers.

Developers should choose a platform that uses a familiar blockchain programming language. Each platform listed here will make the blockchain development cycle easier.

It is best to study the capabilities and disadvantages of each platform to help determine whether a blockchain platform is right for a given project.

5. Develop a strategy for the rest of the development process

At this stage of the blockchain development process, evaluate the steps taken so far. Create a plan and prioritize a strategy for a more comprehensive process. This strategy should take into account the characteristics of the chosen platform.

6. Start designing your blockchain architecture

Determine whether the blockchain will include specific permissions for targeted user groups or whether it will include a public network. Then determine whether the application will require the use of a private or public blockchain network architecture.

Also consider a hybrid consortium or permissionless blockchain architecture. In a permissioned blockchain, a participant can only add information with permission from other registered participants.

Ultimately, it's worth considering the option that best fits your use case.

7. Develop a blockchain application

Set up key aspects of the application. Make sure permissions, block signatures, address formats, and key management are addressed first. These elements cannot be changed after implementation, so it is best to give them the attention they need from the start.

After this step, start working on the application programming interface (API) of the blockchain application. APIs are used to perform audit functions, create key pairs, and store or retrieve important data. The choice of blockchain APIs depends on the purpose of the application. These APIs will provide the greatest value to all users.

The developer must also install middleware. Middleware is software that connects external systems to the blockchain, thereby enabling communication between the blockchain components and the applications running on it.

Some APIs required by almost every blockchain include:

1. Key management;
2. Intelligent asset lifecycle management;
3. Contract management;
4. Generation of keys and addresses.

APIs for digital signatures and hash number generation are also necessary for data authentication. The developer can use ready-made APIs for blockchain applications or create new ones from scratch. Using ready-made APIs speeds up the development process, while creating APIs from scratch provides greater flexibility.

8. Test and release the alpha version of the application

At this stage, all the efforts made in the previous stages pay off, and now an early version of the project is ready for testing. At this stage of the development process, focus on the main features. Developers should try to identify potential problems as they arise.

It’s best to start with the bare minimum. A minimum viable product (MVP) is all that’s required to prove the viability of the blockchain model. Once the app is stable, the developer can add more complex features.

How long does it take to create a blockchain application?

The blockchain application development phase can take anywhere from a few months to a year or more. It is important to have a strategy and a roadmap. Developers should understand how much time they need to devote to each step before moving on to the next stages.

Some questions to ask at this stage:

1. What are the real use cases for this project?

2. Does the project use smart contracts?

3. How soon should early versions be released to achieve MVP status?

4. How will blockchain technology be integrated into this project?

5. What blockchain programming language, external database and servers will the application use?

6. How will this blockchain application interact with autonomous systems?

7. Will the blockchain application feature hybrid components for both off-chain and on-chain applications?

8. Does the app need a permissioned or permissionless network?

The goal is to create a timeline and outline a measurable workflow with milestones. Setting milestones helps track a blockchain project from its inception to completion.