Alright folks, we all have heard about Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies with funky names rolling around our news feeds, but do we as Java developers know how to easily interact with these blockchain technologies? Here are the top 3 Java projects which can be used to get advantage of the blockchain trend right now. The list is ordered based on Github repository stars. Comments and opinions are very appreciated.
- BitcoinJ
- Web3j
- HyperLedger Fabric
When enterprise meets blockchain. Linux foundation’s framework intended as a backbone for developing blockchain solutions. This, my friends, should be considered as a powerful tool no matter if you want to create just a simple PoC or production application. The project is actively under development from the Linux foundation members. It’s main focus is on creating and managing smart contracts. Key features are:
·Managing channels for sharing confidential information
·Endorsement policies for transactions
·Consistent delivery of transactions to peers in the networkIf you include HyperLedger Fabric in your software blockchain stack then my advice is to get familiar with the others HyperLedger’s projects. Depending on your needs you can select various HyperLedger’s projects which will guarantee a coherent, scalable and easy to maintain blockchain infrastructure.
The name is very descriptive, don’t you think? If you have wondered how to create a bitcoin wallet and manage transactions between nodes, then you should give BitcoinJ a try. The project has growing community and very good documentation which makes it extremely lucrative for every developer. Of course as most open source projects, which try to gain popularity, it has limitations at the beginning. There are several known security issues aligned with open bugs and scalability problems. Still, it is extremely helpful if you want to understand how the bitcoin protocol operates. Not suitable for production applications – personal opinion.
One word – Ethereum. The second most talked cryptocurrency based on this cutting edge technology. The project allows you to work with the Ethereum blockchain, without the additional overhead of having to write your own integration code for the platform. Again, core features are creating a wallet, managing transactions and this time – smart contract wrappers. Yes, you heard me – wrappers. Part of the Ethereum project is a special language called Solidity which is a de-facto standard for creating smart contracts. The web3j’s smart contract wrappers are used if you want to avoid the underlying implementation detail for working with smart contracts. If this is not enough for you as a developer I need to tell you that web3j is reactive. Good documentation along with plenty of examples makes web3j my personal favorite.
For many people blockchain will transform the whole internet. Don’t you want to be part of this phenomenon?
Share, comment and extend this list with other Java blockchain projects.
