Starport, the easiest way to build a blockchain
Create a new blockchain in two commands
Starport is an open-source rapid prototyping tool that lets developers quickly build a new blockchain with just two CLI commands. Currently, even for seasoned blockchain developers, building a new blockchain and launching a local testnet can take up the better part of a day. With the alpha release of Starport, developers can launch a simple Cosmos SDK-based blockchain in less than five minutes. Starport’s intelligent scaffolding feature radically reduces development time and lowers the barrier to blockchain for millions of developers.
Lowering the barrier to entry
For developers and end-users, steep technical learning curves and usability concerns are known blockers for mainstream blockchain adoption. The estimated number of blockchain developers is just over 100,000 compared to nine million Javascript developers. As of June 2019, the Blockchain Developer Analysis Report referenced an average of 6,842 total monthly active crypto developers. This disparity highlights significant growth potential and the need for better developer tooling.
Starport: From idea to blockchain in minutes
Tendermint Core, Cosmos SDK, and Inter-blockchain Communication (IBC) were the essential foundational layers for building an ‘Internet of Blockchains.’ However, for the ecosystem to mature and grow, Tendermint recognized the need for higher-level tooling to support faster and easier application development on top of the robust Cosmos stack. Thus, Tendermint built Starport to serve as a starting point for new developers to scaffold, prototype, and launch public Proof-of-Stake blockchains in minutes.
Starport Features
- Scaffold a blockchain: set up and start developing a full-featured Cosmos SDK-based blockchain in one command
- Scaffold a type: create a new data type in one command (including CLI commands, REST endpoints, and web UI views)
- Scaffold a web app: a web app is automatically created (including CosmJS and the API to interact with the blockchain)
- Hot reloading: the web app and the blockchain itself will automatically reload when changes are made to the source code
- Smart contracts: add CosmWasm smart contract support to the blockchain with one command
- Up-to-date: Starport supports Launchpad, a stable release of the Cosmos SDK. It will also soon support Stargate, the IBC-enabled version of the Cosmos SDK.
What will you build with Starport?
Starport is available today for developers to download and try out. Start turning your idea into a blockchain! Check out these short tutorials to help you get started building with Starport:
- Install Starport on your machine
- 3-minute blog tutorial: get started with your first blockchain
- Blog (from scratch) tutorial: build a blog in Starport without scaffolding
- Poll tutorial: build a voting application with a web-based UI
- Smart contract tutorial: add smart contracts to your app with CosmWasm: build, upload, instantiate and run a smart contract
A better starting point for your blockchain
Most current production Cosmos SDK-based blockchains have a lineage that traces back to a fork of Gaia, the source code of the Cosmos Hub. This has led to a number of maintainability issues for blockchain developers. For example, just to rename Gaia to something else, developers have to make 105 individual changes across 23 files. It’s a complex and error-prone process that a find and replace search cannot easily resolve.
Through experience, the easiest way for new developers to get started with blockchain development is with a clean slate. Most blockchain developers do not need the large amounts of code currently found in Gaia. In comparison, Starport only includes a minimal set of files necessary to build a Cosmos SDK-based blockchain.
Code with Us
Tendermint’s Director of Developer Experience, Denis Fadeev, will be giving a Starport workshop on July 31st. Signup today for the Cosmos Code with Us workshop: “Build and launch a polling application with Starport”
Description: In this tutorial, you’ll be building a simple poll application with Starport. The application will allow users to create polls (creating a poll will cost tokens), cast votes, and see the results in a browser-based UI. Starport CLI will be used to scaffold the code and launch the application along with some JavaScript to wire up the UI. This is a beginner-friendly session that doesn’t require any prior knowledge of Cosmos SDK (some experience with Go or JS, and a Unix-like console).
Date: July 31st, 7 am PDT/9 pm EDT/4 am CEST
Host: Denis Fadeev, Developer Experience Lead at Tendermint
Resource: Starport on Github
About Tendermint
At Tendermint, we empower people to create a transparent and accountable world through open, distributed, and interoperable networks. Tendermint is the gateway to the Cosmos ecosystem. We’ve built critical infrastructure for open networks, like the Cosmos SDK, Tendermint Core, and Gaia. We lead the developer experience by providing best-in-class tools to peer into an ever-expanding Cosmos.
Stay in touch
- We’re hiring! Join the Tendermint team
- Tendermint on Twitter
- Tendermint on LinkedIn
- Sign up for Tendermint news, products, events, and development
- Information on the Cosmos Network project
For press inquiries, contact press@tendermint.com
