Fetch.AI’s alpha mainnet Apus: the foundation for the future

Introduction

This week marks the release of Fetch.AI’s alpha mainnet, Apus. Apus provides the stable foundation for the future, with all elements of our technology stack now linked together as a complete network.

Enhanced block explorer

With the alpha net release we have also updated our block explorer. The block explorer is an online blockchain browser. You can use it to view the content of individual blocks, including all transactions and balances of addresses. This means you can see the entire transaction history — like a bank statement but for the whole Fetch.AI network.

We think you’ll really like it: it puts the Fetch.AI ledger directly into the open for you to see, explore and work with, in real-time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF3HIhN87FE

December 2019 update: We have developed our block explorer further. Take a look.

An introduction to Etch

What is Etch?

Etch is the computer programming language we created to write Synergetic and Smart Contracts on the Fetch.AI ledger.

Why did we create Etch?

Fetch.AI required a computing language that supported complex AI and machine learning problem solving. This was not something existing languages and architectures could provide. Etch was designed to support the scalable complexity of algorithms and enable revolutionary Synergetic Contracts that projects like Ethereum cannot match.

While computationally powerful, Etch is also easy to learn and use. Throughout the history of blockchain, many problems can be attributed to programming errors, so we created Etch to help developers avoid the most common mistakes.

What other languages is it like?

Etch was inspired by Rust, C++, and Python. It will feel familiar to programmers who use these languages. We provide learning and support for Etch in our extensive documentation and examples.

More to come

This is just the start of our plans. Over the coming months new features in our block explorer means you will be able to delve into even more aspects of the Fetch.AI network. With Etch, as it develops, you’ll be able to easily solve bigger and bigger problems: soon, even the most complex looking organizational, scheduling or optimization problem will seem perfect for solving with Fetch.AI’s unique Synergetic Contracts. Watch this space: it’s getting real!