May 2018

​Blockchain is the most sought after topic in the tech world. But how did it all start? Well, the popularity of the cryptocurrency put the spotlight on the Blockchain technology. Nearly, everyone’s heard the word ‘Blockchain’ but very few know the fundamental technology behind them. It is not very easy to understand this technology; there are various videos and tutorials that you might find online but you will find it in bits and pieces. Here, let’s take a step-by-step look at how the Blockchain works and its different terms and technologies.

Basics of Blockchain

A Blockchain is like a diary of codes that cannot be forged. It allows transactions, mostly monetarily (for now), to be exchanged without a central authority or a third party vendor. It is an immutable, sequential chain of records called blocks which contain transactions, files or any other data. 
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These blocks are chained together using hashes. To simply put it, the hash function takes an input value and from that derives an output. The input value could include any data such as numbers, files, etc. For instance, if you input “hello world”, the output received would be something like “5eb63bbbe01eed093cb22bb8f5acdc3”.
https://learncryptography.com/hash-functions/what-are-hash-functions
To keep a track of these Blockchains, ever user has a ledger. A ledger is a digital file that keeps a record of all the transactions that take place. This file is not stored in one central location or in one particular server; it is distributed across the world via a network of private computers that are both, storing the data and executing computations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledger
Each of these computers represents a node of the Blockchain network and has a copy of the ledger file. Basically, every time a transaction occurs, it needs to be approved by the nodes, each of whom checks the validity. If the nodes determine that the transaction is valid, only then it is written into a block. For example, if you only had one entry, all the other computers will have the original hash and hence, the change would not occur.     
https://en.bitcoinwiki.org/wiki/Node
To perform transactions on the Blockchain, you need a wallet. This is a program that allows you to store and exchange your information. A wallet is a string of alphanumeric code such as 13fjgkh4457slkprrtyu938903b4n56yhuiklp which appears within the Blockchain as transactions take place. Only the number of the wallet is visible and the address of each wallet is also a public key. But to carry out a transaction, you also need a private key, which is also called the digital signature. This key is a string of private numbers that need to be kept a secret but if someone wants to send the message; it must contain the private key and the public key.

How are these keys created? Cryptographic keys (a string of numbers and alphabets) are made by key generators or keygens.
The Blockchain is programmed with a large set of rules which are called protocols. These protocols ensure that the network runs the way the creators have intended for it to run even though it isn’t centrally controlled by them.

Proof of Work is a system that requires some work from the service requester, usually meaning processing time by a computer, for example, the hash. A Proof of Work algorithm (PoW) is how new Blocks are created or mined on the Blockchain. The goal of PoW is to discover a number which solves a problem. The number must be difficult to find but easy to verify—computationally speaking—by anyone on the network.
This proof of work is carried out by special nodes called miners. These miners produce blocks by solving proof of work problems. When the electronic consensus of nodes approves a block produced by the miner, then the miner is rewarded with coins. For instance, in October 2017, Bitcoin miners got 12.5 Bitcoins per block. There is also a transaction fee that is paid to them by the users. Since, bitcoin has a huge amount of transactions happening, the transaction fees have sky rocketed.

Principles of Blockchain

Distributed database

The database is the Blockchain and its each node that has access to the whole Blockchain, that is that there are many computers and nodes that regulate the information instead of a singular database. Every node is able to validate the records of the Blockchain. It is architecturally decentralized as there is no one or several points of failure to bring down Blockchain; however, the nodes of a Blockchain are logically centralized but there are certain actions programmed into it.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) transmission

As we’ve determined earlier, there is no third party involved and hence, the communication is happening directly with peers through a central node. Each node stores the information about what is happening and then passes it on to the adjacent nodes. This is how the information spreads through the whole network.

Transparency yet Anonymity

Anyone inspecting the Blockchain is capable of seeing every transaction and its hash value. But at the same time they are anonymous unless they give their identification to others. All that the user can see is a record of transactions that have taken place between Blockchain addresses.

Why is it almost impossible to fake a block?

The reason that faking a block is almost impossible is that the validity of the block and, by extension, its inclusion into the Blockchain is determined by an electronic consensus of nodes. There are thousands of these nodes, scattered all over the world, and as a consequence capturing the network would require a computer with impossible power.
 
What do you need to make a Blockchain?

• Install Python 3.6+ (along with pip)
• Install Flask
• HTTP client

Final Code: https://github.com/dvf/Blockchain

Step 1: Open your favourite text editor or IDE, and create a new file called Blockchain.py. Create an initial empty list and another to store transactions. A block will have an index, a timestamp, a list of transactions, a proof and a hash of the previous block.

 Step 2: Use the Python Flask Framework which is a micro-framework that makes it easy to map endpoints to Python functions. This is the step where one starts interacting with the Blockchain.

Step 3: Use plain old cURL or Postman to interact with the API. Fire up the server, and then try mining a block. Create a new transaction.

Step 4: Now that we’ve got a basic Blockchain, you can accept transactions and mine new blocks. Blockchains need to be decentralised and hence, we will need to implement the Consensus Algorithm, if we want more than one node in the network.
You can refer to https://github.com/dvf/Blockchain in case you get lost.
Blockchain is the next step in technology that will rapidly change the face of economies, governments and record-keeping. Now that we’ve understood how Blockchain works, let’s take a look at how it is advantageous for the user:

• There is no third party involved. It’s a centralised system, where you complete control of your own value.
• The cost to perform the value of transaction is low which in turn makes it the most go to technology for micro payments.
• Transparency is guaranteed as anyone can verify any transaction made on the Blockchain.
• One can build decentralised applications that would be able to manage information and transfer the value in a fast and secured fashion.

Future of Blockchain
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In reference to a report by CBInsights, “Fast-forward to today: the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies hovers around $150B (with a single Bitcoin trading for upwards of $5,000), Walmart and Pfizer have completed successful Blockchain pilots in food safety and medicine tracking, and initial coin offerings (ICOs) have exploded in popularity, closing on $2B+ in funding in 2017 alone.
 
Politically, Blockchain technology has fostered a renewed examination of today’s highly centralized web, and reignited conversations around currency and value, digital governance, and the fundamental structures and rails of our modern internet.”
Also, as of October 2017, “there have been 42 equity investment deals in 2017 alone, totalling $327 mln. The most active investor is a Japanese services firm SBI Holding, with stakes in eight Blockchain firms. A digital powerhouse Google is the second-most active investor, with stakes in the Bitcoin wallet company Blockchain and Ripple, a company that is working on Blockchain-based money transferring system.”
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/blockchain-trends-opportunities/
The Blockchain technology is still in its infancy. New tools are being developed to improve the Blockchain security while offering a broader range of features, tools and services.
 

​A great methodology to deliver and develop better software is by incorporating agile practices.  While scaling agile in enterprise environments, one needs to understand the differences between scope and change control, and how to properly apply a given agile framework to bring in change without putting the overall project at risk. This involves collaborative agreements, iteration-based change control, transparency and effective stakeholder communication.

“The 11th annual State of Agile™ survey found that enterprise agility is increasing throughout organizations and across almost all industries at an accelerated rate. For the first time, half of the survey respondents came from outside North America. While the largest number (23%) of respondents still worked for software companies, the number from non-software companies grew significantly in 2016. Respondents from very large organizations, employing more than 20,000 people, also increased.”
http://www.agile247.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/versionone-11th-annual-state-of-agile-report.pdf

​Agile Manifesto Values and Principles

Agile manifesto values ensure that the response to change is a fundamental driver for agile projects. Even though there are changes in the requirement frequently, the projects must be ready if there are any changes in the plan. Hence, the agile principle is to welcome change in requirements even in the later stages of development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.  

Challenges to Scaling Agile in Enterprise Organizations

There are many benefits of agile development – better change management, increased productivity, saving time and improved software quality. But when the company size is too large, there are also a few challenges that one can meet while developing agile

Change resistance: One of the biggest challenges in big companies is to be open to change. When the employees are so familiar and comfortable with certain processes and wireframes, it gets challenging to introduce change. For example, people have been working with legacy systems since ages and hence, changing over to agile will involve skepticism. So, while introducing the agile methodology, it is necessary to focus on its advantages such as rapid and frequent delivery unlike legacy systems.

Pre-existing Rigid/Waterfall Framework: Agile is more flexible and responsive to change than those used in Waterfall or V Model. Although, it will take time, effort and resources while changing the entire framework for an organization. Changes of this magnitude are risky in nature, and hence the benefits have to be clearly communicated to get support from the C-suite. The mindset of the executive level will also need to be transformed.

Handling Agile Teams: Coordination is a huge challenge even amongst agile teams while trying to scale development and delivery. In a big company, the team might have multiple goals and coordinating could be an issue. Another scenario is coordinating with non-agile teams such as teams that are working on waterfall methodologies. Also, while changing to the agile methodology, one needs to train and coach employees which might cause a delay in delivering agile frameworks.

Advantages of Agile Software

• Quick turnarounds: Unlike any other software development approach, Agile calls for quick turnarounds for QA. By implementing continuous integration in Agile, this can be solved.

 

• Repetitive execution: Agile calls for daily build deployments which can be certified using the right automation tool and a suitable automation approach.

 

• Quality assured: With a proper automation suite designed, the quality of the product can be assured at any given time by executing the automation suite. However, the test cases selected for automation need to have a good coverage of the application.

 

• Team is responsible for quality: Since automation is required in almost every phase of the agile process, the complete team is responsible for the quality of the product.

 

• Test Automation saves time: Automation is a significantly important to maintain agility, and is a priority for the entire team through established practices and a focus on continuous improvement. Continuous builds and tests (unit, functional & integration test execution) are examples of applying automation beyond the scope of traditional automated tests. In waterfall projects clients may not be too keen on investing in automation as precedence, primarily due to the handoff mindset that go together with that approach. Automation is a critical factor for regression testing hence, its coverage should be as high as possible.

Tips for Change Management in Agile

• Make sure understanding of acceptance change is expected from project inception by having project charter or kickoff meeting, clear roles and responsibilities and identify product owners, stakeholders in reviews, teams, etc.

 

• Hold those involved to expected behaviors during product builds, especially for management and customers/stakeholders. It takes greater restraint to be self-organized.

 

• Opening organizational mindsets to an agile framework leads you half way to success. Introducing the agile methodology by explaining the benefits would do the trick.

 

• Introducing consistent processes and practices would make it a smooth transition. It would also ensure better coordination amongst teams and would provide predictable progress for stakeholders.

 

• Move to short development cycles. Instead of developing full blown solutions, release a smaller, useful functional product by getting into the “Minimal Viable Product” (MVP) mode.

 

• Try to define interim milestones: internal releases that break up long release cycles to stop user stories from accumulating in the backlog. For instance, break your delivery cycle in multiple versions such as, alpha version to a select group of internal users within two months, and a beta to a group of friendly external customers two months after that. This will ensure that you are always on schedule.

Conclusion
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Scaling enterprises with agile is possible by incorporating key success factors like providing support for executives, shift in delivery, consistent processes, proper training and coaching. By focussing on these key areas implementing agile or scaling agile won’t be a difficult task. Agile is a journey that needs long-term commitment and an open mindset of team members and rest assured, you will notice the benefits that agile methodologies bring to your organization.
 

9000 Participants, 270 Exhibitors, and 200 Speakers

​Last week I had the opportunity to attend the BCTech Summit on behalf of App-Scoop.
I am a TechTO groupie. The Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor is my habitat and I have grown accustomed to the style and approach of how we do things here.
BC was different. Everything from the beautiful physical setting of being by the water and mountains at the Vancouver Convention Centre to the diversity of topics that were covered, the 3-day BCTech Summit felt like a distillation of Canada’s unique west coast tech culture.

The West Coast Is About High Impact Ideas

“You’ll find the west coast is all about high-impact ideas” explained a colleague from Foresight, a cleantech accelerator.
The BCTech Summit was exactly that. This was the first time at a tech event where I was suddenly found myself interacting with a different breed of tech.
The BC Innovation Council, BC Government, and UBC were a few of the public anchors buttressed by large corporate sponsors like Microsoft and Google. All necessary partnerships to enable the rich diversity of west coast tech to discuss ideas, educate each other, and continue paving the way to becoming unified supercluster.

Here are a few topics that were covered:

• Transforming Key Sectors — Ocean, Industrial, and the Carbon Economy
• Building Global BioTech Success
• Spaceflight — laying the groundwork for all industries to participate
• Artificial Intelligence and Narrative Realities
• Innovation Through Data — health, aging populations, and global logistics

Connecting You With Canadian Tech

These are a few of the influencers that were present at the summit.

1. Female Funders —empowering thousands of women to become the angel investors of tomorrow.
2. Innovative Solutions Canada — Innovative Solutions Canada is a new program with over $100 million dedicated to supporting the scale up and growth of Canada’s innovators and entrepreneurs by having the federal government act as a first customer.
3. Build in Canada Innovation Program — This program helps Canadian innovators get their product to market faster, and helps them succeed in the marketplace, by buying and testing innovations in real-operational settings.
4. Foresight Cleantech Accelarator Centre — BC is definitely the spot to go if you’re looking to innovate in cleantech. Concept to commercialization, they’ve got you covered.
5. BC Innovation Council — An innovation hub that runs a variety of programs to foster innovation, this link will take to their current programs.

​If you ever have an opportunity to attend the summit in the future, definitely check it out, it’s a wonderful display of BC’s rich tech culture.

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has currently swept the technical market. It has gained its popularity through the innovation of Bitcoin crypto-currency and now every tech ninja wants to slide foot in this business and create startups. Although, it’s hard to crack the market, a Blockchain based organization now needs a remarkable showcasing procedure as much as a product that compels the audience. Startups need to promote their product aggressively, mainly through social media marketing strategies.
Let’s take a look at 11 marketing tips to jumpstart business for Blockchain startups:

Highlight the Solution

The most important aspect of your Blockchain project should be that it solves a problem in people’s life. There are several apps and projects that are rolling out in the market but most of them do not have an actual problem that they solve. Hence, it is important that you determine the pain point of the solution that you are offering through your Blockchain project. You can use OPEN Platform and SuchApp to view the needs of the masses rather than just targeting the Blockchain community.

​Determine a Budget
Once you’ve determined the solution and jotted down the project details, the next step is to fix a budget for marketing purposes. Calculating the return for your advertising campaign will help you determine the channels that you need to take to market your Blockchain project. Ideally, one of the most effective marketing strategies is to market through social media (reaches a large part of your audience). Also, it requires less investment upfront and is also less costly. Also, one must not forget that the advertising strategy should give you a good ROI in the long run.

Initial Coin Offering is not Mandatory for Success

Initial Coin Offering, also known as ICO, is generally a marketing strategy that is adopted by Blockchain apps to attract the initial lot of customers and get hooked on to the app. On the other hand, ICOs require heavy investment (which means a cut in profits initially) with no guarantee that the project is going to succeed. For instance, Dogecoin never offered ICO but capitalised on a trend and achieved great success and built its own following instead. Hence, ICO isn’t the only way to promote your blockchain startup. 

Update Website Content

In today’s time an online presence is very important for any project that you plan to undertake. A website about your Blockchain project is mandatory. The content on the website needs to be revised regularly with updates. Maintaining a blog on your website will keep it Live and ensure that your audience keeps coming back to the website and at the same time updated about your venture. Making an FAQ page will help the audience to understand your project better and discover basic information effortlessly.

Email Marketing Campaign

Emailing is still an effective and authentic way to reach your customer base. Email marketing campaigns connects you with people who are interested in your project. This kind of communication also helps build trust and loyalty with your key audience. Mailing lists are one of the best marketing tactics in the digital world.

Use Social Media

Social media sites are less costly, as well as they reach out to your target audience. Social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn ensure good visibility on your Blockchain project.
Twitter targets both B2B and the B2C market. If you tweets capture the attention of the audience, it could be re-tweeted many times which means that more people will get to know about it and you will also be aware of your social presence.
Instagram can also help you gain reputation on a B2C level by attracting an extensive gathering of people. The main components are keeping your audience engaged and updating the account consistently with new posts.
LinkedIn is professional networking site which can help you attract your core investors and also get other Blockchain companies updated on your project’s progress.
Check your social media platform frequently, intermittently checking it for the duration of the day. Moreover, update more posts towards the start of the day, fluctuating between various messages you are attempting to test with your audience. Another good practice to start is commenting on the follower’s posts, and taking part in discussions.

Build Online Communities

Bitcoin fans are passionate about online discussions. Construct online groups and advance your startup by engaging Blockchain experts.
Bitcoin Talk helps you discover everything about the Blockchain and other existing cryptocurrencies.
Reddit consists of a wide range of themes including Blockchain startups.
Quora is an excellent Q&A page that gives you a platform to improve your campaign.

Conduct Bounty Campaigns and Give Rewards

Bounty campaign is “when you do little tasks for the company and instead of getting Fiat, money like Euro or Dollar, you get stakes. Those stakes will transform into X Tokens which when the ICO starts can be traded for Fiat.” At the end of a bounty campaign, the supporters are rewarded with airdropped tokens. These campaigns are perfect to promote your project as they get you the business and new members and also help you understand the demographics of your audience. 
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@alexth/easy-money-bounty-campaigns

Paid Advertising

Apart from conducting bounty campaigns, one can also turn to paid advertising as a marketing strategy to attract more customers. You can publicize the project that you are going to conduct as well as the approach towards it by consulting with financial specialists. Many potential investors and individuals check important distributions such as Coin Telegraph, Coin Desk and Trading View to investigate Blockchain advancements. This kind of paid advertising can help boost the project.

Press Releases

It is of utmost importance to appoint a PR team for your Blockchain project. The PR team helps with press releases which are essential for building your core followers. Press releases also attract potential investors and determine the value of your project. A good press release about your Blockchain project will definitely leave a lasting impression on your target audience, thus making them more interested about your project.

Refreshing the Minds of your Audience

In the ever changing app world and crypto space, it is most likely that your customer will forget about your project. There are many investors in the market waiting for the next Bitcoin to hit the market and take it by storm. Hence, in order to keep your audience updated, it is important that you retarget them by updating your social media or by sending them e-mailers on the newest fad in the market.
Remind them about the services that you are willing to offer and the benefits that they will get for supporting your Blockchain project. Getting this kind of support in the initial stages of your app indicate the success it will get in the near future.

Conclusion

A Blockchain startup is a venture that requires a product that solves a problem, has strong advertising techniques and a good competitive edge compared to other organizations. These 11 marketing tips can help you excel your Blockchain project in the early stages and receive the recognition it deserves, thus awarding your investment and hard work.  

​Raj Aggarwal, CEO of Localytics said, “The rich and interactive experiences we have come to expect on mobile apps have created new standards and expectations for all digital media including the web. The result is websites are evolving to become more app-like in their rich functionality.” In order to create this rich and interactive experience for your app user, you need to scope your project properly. To get a good insight and develop a strategic app, you need to answer the below 20 questions.

How can I validate my app idea?
There are three ways to validate an app idea, Proof of Concept (POC), Prototype or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). These approaches not only validate the app but they also inspire new ideas and areas of improvement and ensure that the entire team is working towards the same goal. By using these three methods to validate the app can help you avoid common mistakes from making a faulty app whose features are not required in the market. ​

Who are the target users?
You need to determine the target users for your app and the problem that you are going to help solve. You also need to determine if you can make an app only for mobile users or if the app is going to be used on other devices as well. The most important factor that you need to consider is the platform that you are aiming for; Android or iOS.

Who are the key stakeholders?
Before investing in the app, you need to determine the stakeholders, project owner, budget holder, etc. You need to have a clear picture of who to co-ordinate with for each stage; ideation, prototype, build, test, release and post-launch.

What are the business objectives for the mobile app?
The objectives that one needs to consider for mobile apps are:

• Determine if it is an internal app to increase workforce efficiency or if it is an open product for all users
• Select the core features and functions of the app
• Select the platform for the app and the analytics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Are there other apps that the client likes that can be used as an inspiration for how this new app should look?
We are not saying to copy or plagiarise from another app but understand the mindset and expectations of the client before you develop an app. It comes efficiently for an app developer to have an idea of the UI/UX design and the corporate guidelines. 

What are the data points that your client needs from the app?
During the design stage, it’s necessary to understand the benchmark objectives, measures, and metrics. To focus the decision on the MVP features, it is necessary to define the key metrics that underpin the tangible measures of success for the app at outset. At the end, the client wants to receive a report on:

• The number of downloads on Android and iOS respectively
• Ratio of push notifications activated
• Number of active users
• Features that are being used the most
• Dead areas of the app that need re-thought
• Number of transactions done on the app
• The frequency of app users

Do you have any wireframes created? Do you have any visual design done?
Wireframes are designs that will show how the user will experience and interact with the app. Once the wireframes are approved visual designs will display how the screen will look when it’s in the app and working. The visual designer needs to ensure that the colours and display are in standard with the corporate look and attracts the user attention.

Have you created a product backlog?
A backlog is where you define and prioritize the functional and non-functional requirements of the app. You will need to give your app developer instructions and features that you expect out of the app. Giving them the details of the colours you expect to the see in the app display and the functions, will ensure that the final product will have fewer changes.        

Should you build a mobile app or mobile website?
The business objective determines the answer to the above question. Mobile websites are cost-effective but it might not give the user good quality and functionality. On the other hand, mobile apps engage, interact and communicate with the users. Further, the brand benefits because it drives customers to use the app more often with personalized, in-app content.

Should I choose Web, Native, or Hybrid development?
Web apps are easier to build; although they are very slow and not recommended for apps that want to offer the user an interactive and intuitive experience.
Native apps that are built for a particular platform make the app fast and responsive; they generally have the best overall performance and user experience. On the other hand, it is a little expensive and not the best for simple apps.
Hybrid apps are faster to develop than native apps and no browser is needed. On the other hand, fixing bugs and customization makes it difficult on the pockets of the app developer.

What is agile development?
“Agile is an iterative process in which features and requirements are built, tweaked, and approved before the project reaches completion. Each iteration, or sprint, will end with a small part of the final product.” This style allows you to review the progress before the project is finished.
https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/

Should I outsource the mobile app development?
The demand for apps is growing each passing year. You may have a great idea but to convert it into an app takes a lot of effort. Outsourcing mobile apps is sometimes the best thing that you can do to see your idea become a working app in the hands of users. Outsourcing the mobile app ensures that your app is completed in a certain time frame, your app is developed by experienced app developers and is up-to-date with the current features in the market.

What should I look for in a development team?
While picking the development team, you need to look at their portfolio and their reviews from clients who had hired them to build an app. Also, going through an app that they have produced would be a good way to determine their expertise and vision.

Which is better, manual or automated testing?
Although manual testing might take a little more time, it is the best because you get real human feedback. This is similar to the feedback that you will get from your users. You can gauge the intuitiveness of the app and how user-friendly, convenient and capable the software is for user pain points.
On the other hand, automated testing ensures to pick out issues that the human eye isn’t capable of catching. It is also faster, efficient, can be reused for tests for code, and has a better visibility into app performance.
Ideally, the app should receive manual and automated testing.

How will my app make revenue?
You need to decide if the app is a B2E app or a B2C app; based on this you can determine how the app can earn revenue. Are you going to have in-app purchases or is it going to allow advertisements on the app? You need to also determine the payment methods for your app. 

What is the budget?
Ideally, you need to have an approximate idea for the budget of the app. The budget should be drafted based on the features of your app. Also, do not forget to consider the on-going charges for regularly updating it and fixing issues when needed.

What risks are there with the mobile app build?
There are a lot of factors that could affect the timelines to develop the app. Build a risk register as a part of the project kick-off and actions and owner’s responsibilities next to them.

Do you have a release schedule?
You need to determine if you are rolling out the app on all the platforms at the same time or planning to have multiple releases based on the feedback from the users.

How is the app going to be found when it’s ready to go live?
If this is a B2E app, then you can be assured that the employees will get an internal mail announcing that the app is live but for B2B and B2C apps that are launched on GooglePlay and the AppStore, you need to entice users to download your app.
Firstly, you will need a good app store optimization tool, make the icon powerful so that the users click on it and you can also advertise your apps on other apps to get the users attention.

How do you plan to maintain your app post-launch?
It is not possible to achieve perfection in one shot. After the app launch, there is going to be user feedback and frequent bugs that you will need to fix. Also, updates to the software will have to be made as per the market and the mobile app industry. You also need to consider the data and analytics to know how the app is performing and making constant amends to it.
​
New mobile apps are being created and released every hour, answering these set of questions will ensure that your app shines through and becomes a successful one!

This tutorial is focused on a web based distributed application. If you are looking to build a mobile or desktop application then this tutorial is not for you.  
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Blockchain is the next step towards creating a more independent, peer-to-peer and decentralized system that could take the tech world by the storm. The tech world has been buzzing with words such as, ‘bitcoin’, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’. Blockchain was originally created to support the Bitcoin but soon the tech community has started using this technology for other purposes.
​Don & Alex Tapscott, author of Blockchain Revolution (2016) stated, “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

What is MVP?
​
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the most basic version of a product that can still be released. It constitutes of three characteristics:

• Is it valuable enough for people to buy it in the initial stages?
• Does it hold any future benefits for people who invest in the product initially?
• Does it hold any promise for future development or does it provide substantial feedback that dawns a new product?

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/27809/minimum-viable-product-mvp

Eight Steps to Build MVP

Step 1: Identify the MVP Requirements

It is very important to identify the MVP requirements. The initial step is to recognize the product’s core offering.  You will need to take into consideration the features of the app and build them well. The second step is to take into consideration the audiences that you are catering the services to. You cannot include features in your app to please all kinds of audience. Hence, you should focus on the early adopters of your product. This will ensure that you get the feedback for your app. If your app replicates your competitor’s app then you need to build better features.

Step 2: Identify frontend frameworks for web based application (such as React.js, Angular)

Here, let’s identify how to build modern web applications and understanding the type of technology that you must choose.
React.js framework was created for Facebook; it introduced the idea of treating components like pure function and component parameters as function arguments. This framework provides a thin view layer, for example, it provides one piece of the puzzle and expects the developer to connect the rest of the pieces. This platform is best handled by experienced JavaScript developers who can deal with functional programming and immutable data structures. Your app will need to target several platforms with the same codebase. The React.js platform will allow you to write for the web, for native with React Native, and for VR devices with ReactVR.
Another platform, Angular.js introduces the idea of compiling templates to make it HTML dynamic. By using directives, you could bind a model to a view, and the same would change when the model changed. Angular.js is built by Google; this platform is perfect for enterprise developers who are coming from Java or C# background. The developers feel comfortable using this program as it supports TypeScript and Intellisense. The platform is used to build performance oriented native applications using NativeScript.

Step 3: Create front end wireframes and design application

There are 6 quick steps that can be followed to create front end wireframes and design application.
i.User research, requirement analysis, and inspiration
It is important to analyze the requirements, your user base and other competitive applications that have similar features. Once you determine the same, you can then proceed to create a wireframe.
ii.Choose the correct tools
There are many tools available in the market to create wireframes such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Axure, GoMockingbird, Mock Flow, etc. Choose the one you are most comfortable with.
iii.Setting a wireframe layout or grid
Taking into consideration the device and technology, you can proceed to create the wireframe. For instance, depending upon your requirement create a desktop screen shaped layout and a 12 column or 9 column grid to create a website.
iv.Create feature layouts
The features of an application such as menus, input boxes and buttons are made in a specifi shape. With the help of wireframing tools, you can also create custom shapes in your grid, i.e. you can clearly distinguish individual design features.
v.Content and typography
Once the feature layouts are frozen, it’s time to update the boxes with necessary content. Choose the font and style that makes it unique.
vi.Polish the wireframe
You can further enhance the wireframe by adding logo and basic design elements. You can also add grayscale, shadings or colors to highlight images. Remember, presentation is key! 

Step 4: Identify the data structures

Data structures are an intentional arrangement of a collection of data that is built to impose or enforce some kind of systematic organization on the data. Since all the information is from one place, it makes our lives easier. There are generally five fundamental behaviors that you perform with data; accessing data, inserting data, deleting data, finding data and sorting data.
Each data structure has its own algorithm for performing a behavior due to the nature of the data structure. The more efficient and suitable the algorithm, the more you will have an optimized data structure. These algorithms might be built-in or implemented by developer to manage and run these data structures.
It includes a clean and easy to operate interface, logical access, data flow and data transformations. It is important to note that every blockchain has its own strength.
For instance, fat blockchains can use a network to deploy and run programs or smart contracts. On the other hand, thin blockchains can only transfer assets from one account to the other because they have a set number of operations.
Similarly, public blockchains are open for all the users. They can join, transact and audit. A common example of a public blockchain is the Ethereum network that is used by Initial Coin Offering (ICO) campaigns to deploy and distribute smart contracts. On the other hand, private blockchains cannot be accessed by any participant. They need to be approved and on-boarded before hand by a federation.

Step 5: Write solidity contracts

Solidity is “a contract-oriented programming language for writing smart contracts. It is used for implementing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms”. It was developed by Gavin Wood, Christian Reitwiessner, Alex Beregszaszi, Liana Husikyan, Yoichi Hirai and several former Ethereum core contributors to enable writing smart contracts on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. Solidity is a statically-typed programming language designed for developing smart contracts that run on the EVM. Solidity is compiled to bytecode that is executable on the EVM. With Solidity, developers can write applications that implement self-enforcing business logic embodied in smart contracts, leaving a non-repudiable and authoritative record of transactions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidity
As specified by Wood, “it is designed around the ECMAScript syntax to make it familiar for existing web developers; unlike ECMAScript it has static typing and variadic return types. Compared to other EVM-targeting languages of the time such as Serpent and Mutan, Solidity contained a number of important differences. Complex member variables for contracts including arbitrarily hierarchical mappings and structures were supported.”
http://gavwood.com/

Step 6: Front end development

You  can develop your front end user interface and to interact with the data structures in the solidity contract by using the web3.js api.
web3.js is a collection of libraries which allow you to interact with a local or remote ethereum node, using a HTTP or IPC connection.
https://web3js.readthedocs.io/en/1.0/
The following points will help you through installing and running web3.js, as well as providing an API reference documentation with examples:

• To ensure that your app works on Ethereum, use the web3 object provided by the web3.js library. Under the hood it communicates to a local node through RPC calls. web3.js works with any Ethereum node, which exposes an RPC layer.
• web3 contains the eth object – web3.eth (for specifically Ethereum blockchain interactions) and the shh object – web3.shh (for Whisper interaction).

Step 7: Deploy on test network and perform testing

Test network includes lightweight testnet and heavyweight testnet. Heavyweight testnet is used for large scale networked testnets. For example, Geth is useful for connecting to public networked testnets such as Ropsten. Ropsten is essentially the Ethereum network with free ETH and poor security.
Ropsten is required only when you are getting into the advanced stages of development. An easier way  to connect to Ropsten, is by using MetaMask. “This browser extension provides easy access to Ropsten using the INFURA public Ethereum nodes. This means you do not have to run your local Geth node. MetaMask injects a web3 object into your frontend which is preconfigured to use the public Ropsten network.”
https://karl.tech/intro-guide-to-ethereum-testnets/

Step 8: Deploy on main net

Deploy the application on main network and announce to the world. 
This includes understanding the benefits that the business offers and barriers that one might face while launching the app or after launching the app. McKinsey estimates that B2B payments yield the biggest cross-border revenues for banks, with such transactions representing 75% of all cross-border payments that total to more than $150 trillion in 2015.
Cross-border payments are inept because there is no one single way of global payment system. Five challenges must be overcome to improve the cross-border process:

Infrastructure: Most payment systems are based on local laws and practices within existing domestic banking and financial structures. Hence, domestic infrastructures are not designed to handle cross-border payments.

Standards: The bank and corporate treasury/enterprise systems cannot pass data to each other has there are no common global standards or variations set.

Regulations: Government regulations are changing how payments are made. Due to the varying roles between the originating and receiving country, payments are subject to domestic regulations.

Speed: According to McKinsey research on cross-border payments, the average time to complete a cross-border transaction is three to five business days.

Opacity: It’s usually difficult for senders and receivers to track their payments while the funds are in transit, which makes the delivering time and receiving the final payment a little more cumbersome. Tracing incorrect account numbers can be really difficult in case of an error in transaction.

Conclusion

Blockchain can become a unified protocol that companies would use to write and read data. Transparency can be improved through a shared ledger, the speed of transactions can be increased, and standards can be improved with the help of a distributed ledger technology.
Hence, to understand this in its entirety, start small. Choose a point problem and do MVPs. Since, blockchain technologies are constantly changing, make sure that you can build an app that can build production-grade solutions on top of those MVPs.

App-Scoop blockchain developers can help you create your blockchain MVP for your business.
Contact app-scoop team – https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html