Hi everyone, I spent some time with our Canadian friends in Toronto after presenting “Ethereum: The World Computer” at the Blockchain Training Conference last month and wanted to give you a quick update on some of the exciting happenings in the Ethereum development ecosystem. . A lot is brewing behind the scenes, so let’s dive in!
Projects
Fog
The Ethereum wallet has been significantly refined in recent months, expanding support for arbitrary contract interaction via the “custom contracts” tab. This is a big improvement over sending transactions on the command line, as was often required in Frontier. With several new team members working with the Ethereum Foundation, new versions of Mist are now rolling out and will bring improvements to Geth and Eth as they are integrated. If you are using an older version, please upgrade to Fog 0.8.0 for the latest treats.
Screenshot Fog 0.8.0
remix
After all the hard work put into reorganizing the C++ codebase, the CPP team has shifted gears from Mix to Remix as the IDE now targets the web. Remix reached its first alpha and was released with an online demo. Check your repository at https://github.com/ethereum/remix for more information. In general, EVM IDEs aren’t popular yet, so this could be a big step forward in accessibility, like the online robustness compiler has been. New security tools, such as EVMDIS as expected to be delivered to the community. Work is also underway so that formal verification can detect patterns of recursive calls. More details can be found at Christian’s C++ DEV Update.
IS
Example ENS hierarchy diagram with multiple records
It is not an official project, but it is closely related to many projects, Nick Johnson has started working on the Ethereum Name Service. It encompasses smart contract-based resolvers with standard APIs. The specification supports delegation by name component (separated by “.”) and multiple record types. It is possible to build gateways to connect to existing systems, such as DNS. Currently, a draft specification with a reference implementation is available in solidity and discussion is ongoing about grid. This could have big implications for the general usability of many services on the Ethereum network, from wallet aliases to Swarm friendly node names.
protocols
thin client
Something to watch closely is the thin client functionality coming in public test phase. Zsolt has been working on this code for months and the team seems to be ready to merge it into the main repository soon. The new code reduces the chain’s sync time to less than 30 minutes from the genesis block and less than a minute when used on a week-by-week basis. This builds on the work Peter did for the quick sync functionality which is now the default in Mist (–Quick). More work is being done to improve record/receipt retrieval, and several iterations of the protocol are expected over time, so this isn’t the last you’ll hear about LES!
Thin client tweet running on an embedded device
Swarm
Swarm is also being vigorously tested as a PoC2 demonstrating economically self-sufficient storage and distribution layers. Viktor, Dani and Aaron have been working hard to ensure the code is as bug free as possible before releasing it on the testnet. Nick has developed a simulation script for network and communication verification that will greatly contribute to this effort. One of the interesting features of his work is accounting and incentive systems that allow for long-term data storage and retrieval. If you want to know more, the Swarm team has been featured in various Youtube videos which explains how it all works.
Data storage and retrieval in Swarm
Although it goes by many other names, this allows a vision of decentralized storage where you own your own data. Currently, while there are some blockchain-based applications, the full availability of Swarm will allow those blockchain-backed applications to become full DApps and run 100% decentralized within Mist.
IPFS and Raiden
On a collaborative note, continued discussion between the IPFS and Ethereum teams may allow them to share a protocol in the future, allowing both ecosystems to benefit from their respective network effects. Also, the work directed at Raiden and Swarm turned out to be complementary, as the solutions worked to solve similar problems. I was told that the Raiden Network can be used as a payment channel for the Swarm incentive system, which would help address some privacy and scalability issues while also multiplying your own efforts. Knowing that they are getting stronger makes me even more excited for what lies ahead!
To wrap
Devcon2 is right around the corner, with sessions scheduled for September 19, 20, and 21 during the Global Blockchain Summit in Shanghai, China. The Ethereum Foundation information website is now online at ethereumfoundation.org/devcon and more information about the Summit can be found at blockchainweek2016.org. Despite having a larger venue, space will still be limited, so sign up now!
I hope that 2016 turns out to be a pivotal year for blockchains. UI/UX is rapidly improving over what was available just a couple of years ago and with solutions like Raiden for paid/state channels, some of the privacy and scalability issues of blockchains are alleviated. Combined with the research breakthroughs targeting Serenity, we are on our way to overcoming many of the hurdles that Vitalik once listed as hard problems.
Keep calm and activate the code
