Empowering Builders: Starcoin’s Developer-Friendly VM2

Starcoin’s Developer-Friendly VM2: Making Cutting-Edge Tech Accessible

Remember the excitement of getting a new device, only to have that excitement dampened by thousand-page instruction manuals and a setup that requires an engineering degree? Yeah, no one wants to be stuck with a “shiny” tool they can’t really use. In fact, the most groundbreaking technology is only as good as how easily people can use it and build upon it. For the world of blockchain, that means making tools as simple and intuitive as possible for developers to create amazing applications.

At Starcoin, we’re building out VM2, and we’re laser-focused on ensuring developers have everything they need to build, test, and deploy seamlessly on it. We’re not just creating advanced tech; we’re making it accessible. Let’s explore the concrete steps we’re taking to make VM2 highly efficient and developer-friendly.

Integrating VM2 into the Core System

For any new blockchain component to truly shine, it needs to communicate effortlessly with the rest of the network. Imagine adding a new, high-performance part to a car — it needs to seamlessly connect to the existing electrical system and fuel lines. For VM2, this “connection” happens through what we call RPC (Remote Procedure Call). It’s essentially how different parts of the blockchain, and even external tools, “talk” to each other.

We’ve now integrated VM2-related contract_rpc and state_rpc directly into our existing RPC 1.0 infrastructure. This means developers can easily interact with VM2's smart contracts and retrieve its data through standard network communication. It's like adding new, clearly defined communication ports to the engine. Furthermore, we've also implemented RpcClientInner2, a specialized internal client designed for VM2. This ensures that the communication behind the scenes is optimized and efficient, making VM2's operations smoother and more reliable.

The Developer’s Toolkit: Expanding Command-Line Power

Developers live in the command line. These text-based interfaces are their workshops, filled with the essential “wrenches and screwdrivers” needed for quick testing, scripting, and automated tasks. For VM2, we’re building out a robust set of these tools to make the development process intuitive and fast.

One immediate fix we delivered was resolving the issue of supporting watch txn for VM2 in the command line. Now, developers can properly monitor transactions and their state changes within the VM2 environment, which is crucial for debugging and understanding how their code behaves.

Beyond that, we’ve achieved full VM2 compatibility at the command-line level, maximizing compatibility. At the same time, we’ve split out the old commands, allowing builders to use this entry point to build VM1 transactions. Specifically:

• dev1 compile: Turns their raw code into something VM1 can understand and execute.
• dev1 deploy: Easily puts their newly compiled smart contracts onto VM1.
• dev1 call: Interacts directly with deployed VM1 smart contracts, testing their functions.
• dev1 gen-block / dev1 sleep: Controls the testing environment, generating new blocks or pausing for specific scenarios, allowing for precise debugging.

This powerful toolkit is like providing a full workshop of specialized instruments, making it easier for developers to simultaneously command both VM1 and VM2, and more easily build and test their creations.

What This Means for Developers and Users

• Reduced Frustration: Less time wrestling with setup and debugging means more time innovating and creating.
• More and Better Applications: A developer-friendly environment naturally attracts more talent, leading to a wider variety of high-quality decentralized applications (dApps) and services becoming available on Starcoin.
• Richer Tooling Ecosystem: This provides a solid foundation for even more advanced tools and integrations in the future.

Building the Future, Tool by Tool

Starcoin’s strategic investment in making VM2 developer-friendly isn’t just about technical checkboxes; it’s about empowering innovation. By providing powerful and easy-to-use tools, we’re accelerating our journey towards a more versatile, innovative, and user-centric blockchain future. The easier it is for builders to create, the more the entire ecosystem thrives.

About Starcoin

Starcoin provides the utmost security from the origin via its enhanced PoW consensus and Secure smart contract, using the language of Move. Through layered and flexible interoperability, it optimizes the building of ecosystems such as DeFi, NFTs, Gaming, etc., with higher efficiency and convenience. This process redefines value by empowering every participant in the ecosystem to enjoy the multiplication of values.

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