The Developer’s Guide to Blockchain Development

Among the top companies in the world, 44% are using blockchain-related solutions to optimize their business operations. With the increase in usage, the demand for blockchain development has also increased.

Thanks to blockchain developers who create the right blockchain solution for unique business needs. But how does blockchain development work?

Despite its helpful attributes, blockchain development can be challenging to understand. This is why a grasp of the basics is key in determining the right blockchain solution for a project.

Anam at Revvlab
February 25, 2023

This article will discuss three main FAQs about blockchain development.

What is blockchain development?
What are the advantages of blockchain development?
How to create a blockchain-based solution?

Blockchain Development

The process of blockchain development is an efficient and secure way to create distributed ledger technologies (DLT). This advanced technology makes it possible to securely record transactions, track assets, and share information quickly among a network’s participants.

Not only can blockchain be used across various industries for tracking orders, payments, and production statuses, but its value spans even further.

Thanks to its transparent verify-ability feature and its inability to be changed by anyone other than users with the appropriate permissions. Blockchain provides a myriad of benefits for everyone involved.

But before going deep into the blockchain development process, we need to understand how blockchain works.

Why Blockchain Matters? How does blockchain work?

Think of blockchain technology as the backbone of a secure information highway.

It ensures that data is encrypted and accessible to multiple users via a distributed ledger system, making it an ideal platform for exchanging digital records like cryptocurrencies and smart contracts.

On top of that, it creates an open and transparent way to track data in the supply chain network.

Its cryptographic algorithms guarantee that the data remains unmodified and secure while allowing users to track records over time.

Combined with its timestamped blocks of information – each identified by its unique hash – this creates an unbreakable link for users to confidently store, exchange and manage virtually limitless amounts of data.

Key Benefits of Implementing Blockchain Solutions

Decentralization: The decentralized nature of blockchain provides a level of security and efficiency unmatched by other systems.
Encryption process: Encryption helps protect each transaction against fraud, ensuring trust and reliability.
Verifiable Transaction: Users can verify every transaction, contributing to transparency and trust.
Cost-efficient: There is no intermediary transaction fee, making the system more cost-efficient than traditional methods.

Blockchain Trilemma: Key Challenges for Blockchain Developers

The most crucial challenge that Blockchain developers face is known as blockchain trilemma.

Blockchain trilemma is finding a way to balance three major options in the blockchain.

Security
Scalability
Decentralization

Security

Blockchain development presents developers with the challenge of ensuring security from cyber threats. While blockchain technology is known to be secure, it makes it a target for malicious actors.

Because a breach of blockchain security could have far-reaching effects on its decentralization and scalability, it cannot be reversed without the help of a centralized authority.

That is where developers ensure that they are creating products that are effective and free from cyber threats.

Scalability

Blockchain development is challenging enough without the added constraints of scalability and the need to combat cyberattacks constantly.

Blockchain users, however, demand speed over everything else. With a rise in the number of transactions, blockchain systems must simultaneously meet those demands while operating as expected.

Evidently, fast-paced Blockchain solutions come at a cost—larger block sizes create a tradeoff in speed and scalability.

To put it simply, blockchain’s global adoption hinges on its potential to securely manage data and its ability to process many transactions with minimal delays.

Decentralization

Blockchain projects must remain decentralized for users to protect their funds from third-party manipulation. Decentralization allows people to stay in control of their currency at all times, with transactions verified by a consensus of nodes instead of an individual node.

However, in exchange for being able to keep full authority over one’s funds, blockchain processes involving decentralized networks tend to take longer than centralized ones.

Blockchain developers must find ways to speed up the process while still ensuring that projects remain on a decentralized platform. Because decentralization melds security and privacy, it will continue to play a critical role in blockchain development for years.

Now that we know the need and scope of blockchain, it is crucial to understand under what cases the companies need blockchain development services.

Why do Companies Need Blockchain Development Services?

Data Storage

With the increasingly competitive business landscape, companies invest in blockchain solutions to improve how they store data. Large enterprises experience a particular need to store high-volume data than smaller businesses.

This is why blockchain development services are crucial for such organizations. In an up-to-date ledger, the data is secured so all stakeholders can access it from anywhere in the world.

Moreover, blockchain technology reduces costs associated with data storage operations due to its enhanced accuracy and efficiency.

Data Maintenance

With a blockchain solution, businesses with ever-changing historical data can quickly access and manage records with multiple entries from permitted members.

The technology prevents modification or damage to any aspect of the information.

Companies that invest in blockchain development greatly benefit from this technology as it safeguards their data while streamlining the time-consuming process of manually working through records.

So, why waste time when you can move faster?

Transactional Speed

The potential of blockchain technology is clear as to why companies need to invest in it. Its ability to remove barriers that slow down certain workflows have been a major drawcard.

However, suppose your company requires speed at the transactional level. In that case, you’ll need an expert in addition to the blockchain solution.

On the other hand, if data security is your top concern and transaction speed isn’t so vital. A blockchain solution just might be exactly what your project needs.

All in all, it’s worth considering why you need Blockchain development services, even if perfect transaction speeds are not a priority for your business.

Transparency

Many companies manage large volumes of data without a trusted third party. For those companies, blockchain development solutions are essential for keeping their information secure.

Modern technology offers a completely transparent and consensus-driven validation system that eliminates the costs and delays associated with using an intermediary.

Moreover, the decentralized verification process ensures total transparency and trust since the stored transaction data can’t be tampered with or unauthorized access.

7 Steps to Develop a Blockchain-based Solution

Developing a blockchain-based solution for your business requires more than just understanding the technology.

While each project is different, some core steps will ensure the success of your project.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

Identify the problem and determine whether the blockchain solution is right for you.

Take an in-depth look at your business needs.
Evaluate your needs against the wide range of use cases that blockchain can accomplish.

The steps will help you to determine if it’s the best fit for your project.

However, there’s no use in being tempted by the variety of benefits that a startup using a blockchain solution may bring. Because those solutions may not address the specific needs of your business.

Thus, identifying and understanding your unique issues should be the first step before considering any blockchain migration or development.

Step 2: Draft Your Business Requirements

Drafting your business requirements is the next step to ensure the success of your project.

Explore

Which technologies to employ?
Which blockchain platform will help ensure all elements of the desired ecosystem?

By having a tangible roadmap filled with clear details, all stakeholders involved can stay updated on deadlines and resource requirements while being agile in adapting to new challenges as they arise.

Additionally, drafting up these business requirements will assist you in remaining focused and fulfilling each requirement to complete an outstanding result.

Step 3: Identify a Consensus Mechanism

Another step is determining a consensus mechanism to achieve trust, security, and agreement when using a decentralized computer network.

While many consensus mechanisms are available, some of the most established models are

Proof-of-work
Proof-of-stake
Byzantine fault-tolerant
Deposit-based consensus
Proof of elapsed time

Identifying one that best meets your business objectives is crucial, so make sure to consider all available options.

With the right choice of consensus mechanism, you can ensure a successful implementation of any decentralized network.

Step 4: Choose the Best Blockchain Platform

The next step is to choose the right blockchain platform that best fits your business needs. There are a myriad of options available today, such as

Tezos
Ethereum
IBM Blockchain
Hyperledger Fabric
Hyperledger Sawtooth
R3 Corda
EOSIO

Fortunately, you can take actionable steps to ensure you make an informed decision.

Assess your business needs carefully.
Consider the problems you’re trying to solve to determine which consensus mechanism is best suited.
Cost implications
Blockchain configuration elements.
Developer requirements and expectations around the timeline.

Choose the best blockchain platform that aligns with all these components – excellence in engineering will inevitably lead to success in deployment.

Step 5: Design Your Blockchain Nodes

Designing your blockchain nodes can be a complex process involving many different and nuanced considerations that can make or break your project.

The crucial questions that arise are

Do I need a private, public, or hybrid solution?
Will my blockchain nodes run on the cloud, on-premise, or both?
Which programming language is more suitable?
What kind of operating system will house the application?

When designing your blockchain nodes, it is crucial to research the options and measure them against your objectives, available resources, and budget.

Step 6: Build and Design the Application

After building or selecting the right APIs, the next step is creating and designing your application. Building an application doesn’t end after you’ve outlined the plan and selected the APIs – the interface design is how it all comes together.

The visual UI can make or break the user experience, so it’s important to craft an intuitive and attractive design that keeps people engaged.

Your technical UI will serve as your architecture’s backbone, ensuring each system functions as intended when connected to different APIs.

Invest in both aspects of UI design to ensure your application looks and runs effectively.

Step 7: Optimize Your Blockchain Application

Deploying a successful blockchain application requires more than technical know-how. It requires knowing when and how to incorporate the right hardware accelerator.

Choose an accelerator to optimize your blockchain application components, like transaction validation, governance, and data storage.

These accelerators are essential for ensuring quick transaction speeds and efficient use of power while also saving time and space.

In sum, selecting the best accelerator will give you confidence in knowing your blockchain app’s deployment will be a success.

Final Words

Blockchain development is a complicated process requiring mastery of many skills. Still, with the right knowledge, it can be achieved.

By taking the seven steps outlined in this article and calling upon the Developers Guide to Blockchain Development, you should now have all the tools to develop a successful blockchain solution.

With such an intricate concept as blockchain development, feel free to reach out for FREE Consultation at RevvLab: A Top Blockchain development company. We keep your blockchain operations safe and secure with our comprehensive development services. While we protect you from potential security issues, our cutting-edge scalability solutions keep you one step ahead of the game.

When considering blockchain development decisions today, evaluate the steps for today’s needs and what could lie ahead for your business in the years to come.

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