Blockchain has come a long way from being a niche concept to a game-changer reshaping industries across the globe and its impossible to ignore its impact!!!
Blockchain technology and its distributed ledger have revolutionized the transactions allowing consumers to have in a trustless manner where there is no central authority. Blockchain has different principles to safeguard the currencies like public and primary keys, digital signatures, and consensus mechanisms.
So, with all the buzz around blockchain development, let’s take a step back and understand – what exactly is blockchain?
Blockchain is the link of blocks where the blocks have data and information about the transactions this is a distributed ledger with security as the vital.
In this article, we’ll walk you through every step of building your own blockchain application using the Simplicity programming language.
Let’s have a look at this new programming language.
Simplicity is the new programming language in the blockchain domain specially designed for smart contracts. Simplicity is the solution to the existing issues in languages like Bitcoin script and Ethereum’s EVM. Simplicity is a combinator-based and typed language.
A typed language follows rules about the types of values you can use in different operations. In simpler terms, every element, like a variable, expression, or function, has a specific type, and the system ensures that the types used together are compatible.
A combinator-based language uses small, predefined operators (combinators) to perform calculations by combining different elements and producing a result.
Most programming languages focus mainly on how the code runs (operational semantics). Simplicity, however, combines both how the code runs and its mathematical meaning (denotational semantics). Let’s break this down further.
Simplicity has formal rules for its meaning, defined using a tool called Coq. Denotational semantics looks at the mathematical meaning behind the language instead of just how the code executes. Coq helps provide formal proofs in both math and computer science to define Simplicity’s behavior.
Simplicity also includes operational semantics, defined using a tool called Bit Machine. Bit Machine measures the computational space, time, and resources needed to run Simplicity programs.
Put simply, Simplicity is built on solid mathematical rules, giving it predictable behavior beyond just running code. When you write in Simplicity, there is a logical foundation behind every line, making it highly reliable for blockchain applications.
This step is the foundation of all the development. We know it’s very mundane to do all of it manually but follow the guide below and you are good to go!
Congratulations!! You have successfully downloaded and setup the programming language.
Choosing an IDE
This is a very important step, as choosing a proper IDE without any configuration discrepancies is the base of all your future projects.
Visual Studio Code: VScode is a free and open-source platform developed by Microsoft. VsCode is the evergreen IDE and most preferred by coders due to its IntelliSense i.e. completing the code and having code recommendations.
Simplicity CLI: Simplicity CLI is essential for development tasks like compiling and running Simplicity code.
For Installing the required libraries you will need to use package managers to simplify the process.
If Simplicity has a package manager then use it like: simplicity install <library-name>
Enough with the coding for now! Let’s dive into the core concepts and structure that make blockchain tick.
Blockchain has three basic components Blocks, transactions, and Chains. In this section, we will understand the structure in detail.
All the above attributes are necessary for blockchain as it is the core of the security and integrity principles of blockchain.
Also Read: Building a Blockchain Application with JavaScript
In simple terms, a transaction is just an exchange of data between two parties.
For a transaction to happen, we need a few basic details: the sender, the recipient, and the value or data being transferred. Before a transaction gets added to a block on the blockchain, it must first be verified to ensure it has the correct digital signature and passes several security checks. Once it’s authenticated, the transaction is grouped into a block and then added to the blockchain.
Let’s start with the practical implementation of the blocks and their attributes and methods using Simplicity.
As we have studied in the earlier section about the structure of a block let’s put it into the practical domain:
In the above code snippet we have defined:
Also the method calculate_hash takes the input and appends its content and applies the sha256 hashing to generate the block’s hash.
As we are done with defining the basic block structure further we need to define block classes and methods to create new blocks:
n the above code snippet:
Consensus algorithms are the rules that participants in a blockchain network follow to agree on which blocks get added and how new ones are created. Here are some common mechanisms:
Proof of Work (PoW) is one of the most well-known consensus mechanisms in the blockchain world. It’s a protocol designed to protect the integrity of the data, validate new blocks, and ensure they’re securely added to the chain.
In simple terms, miners compete to solve a complex cryptographic puzzle, and the first one to crack it gets the honor of adding the next block to the blockchain. It’s like a race – whoever solves it first wins the prize!
This puzzle is nothing but a mathematical problem of finding out the perfect nonce and hash and validating it fastest. While you solve the problem you need to generate the hash in a unique combination, then check the hash for the difficulty level and repeat until you find the perfect match.
Add proof attribute and proof_of_work method in Block class using Simplicity syntax.
In the above code snippet:
Update the Blockchain class to validate proof before adding new blocks.
Once you are done with the basic functionalities of the block you can move to the API creation since it will serve as the interface for the users and will allow the new users to add and view the blocks and their states and attributes.
Install and configure tools required for creating APIs with Simplicity:
Create an API to define endpoints for adding blocks and viewing the blockchain using Simplicity.
Let’s start building our API now:
Congratulations! You’ve reached the final module, where you can run your server and interact with the blockchain using APIs. Now, it’s time to test your setup – try sending transactions, retrieving data, and confirming that everything is working as expected. Don’t forget to check for errors and edge cases to ensure your blockchain application runs smoothly!
After this command should output the updated blockchain data, indicating the successful addition of the block.
This code snippet serves as a comprehensive guide all in one place. Feel free to experiment with it and build new applications on your own.
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