Experimenting in CX Labs

Your guide through the CX Labs experience.

Published in

Skyfleet Captain’s Log

6 min readMay 2, 2019

CX Labs has launched, so welcome to all developers and new recruits! CX Labs is the new incentive program for developing applications in CX, Skycoin’s deterministic general purpose language. CX is based upon Golang (Go) and has been in constant R&D since 2014. The language contains our new paradigm of affordances, has several powerful libraries such as CXO’s immutable object system for file sharing as well as CXFX for 3D graphics, and so much more. The first CX Labs contest began with this article’s publication and will conclude at the beginning of June.

CX was recently integrated with Skycoin’s blockchain which allows for greater programmability. This opens up the door for users to create their own applications with independent Fiber blockchains. The process of building apps and experimenting with the language will uncover bugs via stress testing. That’s one of our goals with CX Labs, to refine CX and better the experience for everyone. With a way to contribute to the future of blockchain programming, the ability to build something new and useful for people everywhere, and awards of Skycoin to be won, CX Labs is bound to prove itself a truly rewarding experience for developers.

We are looking for a wide variety of blockchain programs to be built by the community. This will guarantee our technologies reach the largest audience possible. It will likewise initiate the broadest spectrum of development with the language and also on the language itself as it’s applied to numerous tasks and fine-tuned. The desired blockchain apps and dapps range from games and productivity tools to peer-to-peer systems and basic marketplaces along with messengers, social media platforms, machine learning applications, and anything else you can dream of.

We are excited to announce the awards for the first CX Labs competition:

The top prize is $2,500 USD paid in Skycoin for the most impressive blockchain program to come out of the CX Labs during its first month.
Second place will be awarded $1,500 USD paid in Skycoin.
Participation awards of $300 USD paid in Skycoin and 20 tickets for the Skycoin Rewards Program will be distributed as well. Dishonest and low effort submissions will not qualify for participation bonuses and will not be rewarded. Put forth your best effort!

Many elements are considered when determining winners, although a working final product is obviously the most important factor. CX Labs is a monthly event, although the initial contest’s deadline may be extended beyond June 1st.

Some projects may take longer than the allotted time which the contest runs but that’s no reason for concern, they’ll still be valid submissions in the next contest. Even better, CX Labs encourages developers to continue improving and upgrading their previous submissions rather than abandoning them. Everyone is allowed to take a previous application they’ve built, even if it was a winner, and resubmit it again in subsequent contests with their updates. In this instance, the program will be judged again based solely upon its changes since the prior submission date.

Do you have something different in mind, a personal passion project which you can’t wait to develop. Rest assured, you can build whatever your heart desires and still qualify for the first ever CX Labs contest and its rewards. We don’t want to discourage a single developer from participating so make sure you try your hand at it. Whether you’re rebuilding something old or creating something entirely new, you are more than welcome to do so here and now in the CX Labs.

You don’t have to be a developer to participate in CX Labs and help it succeed. Skycoin Rewards is offering you the chance to earn up to 10 tickets by simply promoting CX Labs. These tickets are your chance to win a piece of $2,000 USD of Skycoin. Find out more in the pinned message here.

Here’s how to begin experimenting in CX Labs:

Join the CX Labs Telegram room to read the pinned message.
Decide on what you’re going to build and message @Legitimvs (
Lawful
, the CX Labs Manager) to make sure you’re on the right track.
Install the latest version of CX if you haven’t already. Familiarize yourself with the language via the latest version of the textbook. Visit Skycoin’s GitHub for the CX wiki with the latest tutorial on CX Chains, a WIP.
Begin building! Sharing weekly progress updates on your app’s development with the CX Labs Manager will ensure you’re eligible for the Skycoin rewards tickets and may factor into earning participation rewards.

As with any new system, bugs are to be expected. CX is still in development. We advise against creating commercialized or security dependent applications until a more stable build of CX is released in tandem with CX Chains. If it’s not labeled as a stable release then do not treat it as such. Please file bug reports with as much detail as possible. It’s a great way to improve the system while contributing to the project.

There are always more incentives to partake in the CX Labs experience than simply earning Skycoin paydays, the intrinsic value of creating something great, or even learning valuable new skills while contributing to the project. CX Labs is also an enlistment program. The Skycoin project recognizes talent when it sees it. Regular monthly participants in the program who are consistently contributing quality efforts which result in impressive products for showcasing the power of CX and who help better the overall system will earn a meeting with Skycoin’s core development team to discuss the possibility of employment at the project as well as the opportunity to negotiate acquisition of their award-winning apps. Stay tuned for even more incentives to explore and create in CX Labs as we move forward together.

Join the CX Labs room on Telegram to get in contact with the project manager, official team developers, other Skycoin employees, and contestants such as yourself so you can join the excitement, begin experimenting, and winning Skycoin!