Polkadot SDK: Streamlining Development through Unified Repositories
As Polkadot 1.0 established itself as a relay chain surrounded by parachains, its evolution now ventures into a blockspace-centric architecture. This transition is embodied in the Polkadot SDK, merging the robust development prowess of both Polkadot and Substrate into a unified force, redefining blockchain innovation.
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Importance of SDK
Software Development Kit (SDK) plays a pivotal role in programming blockchains by offering an integrated toolkit for developers, comprising compilers, APIs, and development environments.
SDKs significantly simplify the creation of blockchain platforms, applications, and advanced features, saving developers valuable time and effort. Due to their comprehensive nature, SDKs are essential for those with programming skills, providing a streamlined pathway to harness the capabilities of blockchain technology effectively.
Substrate & Polkadot
Substrate, created by Parity Technologies, is a versatile blockchain software framework. It’s designed to build standalone blockchains or (native) parachains. With components like consensus, networking, and a WebAssembly runtime, Substrate enables customizable blockchains for privacy, mobile use, and smooth upgrades. It leverages modern tech like WebAssembly, Libp2p, and Rust, offering features from smart contracts to encrypted transactions. Substrate’s architecture is WebAssembly-based, implemented mainly in Rust, and supports interchangeable components for efficient development.
“The difference between competition and cooperation is technology. That’s why we engineered Polkadot and Substrate to be both neutral and general.” Dr. Gavin Wood, Founder of Parity Technologies
Cumulus
Now let's talk a bit about Cumulus as well, some of you might not be well informed about what its purpose is.
In Substrate blockchains, each runtime serves as a state transition function, while Cumulus extends Substrate’s capabilities to create Polkadot-compatible parachains. Cumulus Consensus functions as a Substrate consensus engine mirroring the behavior of Polkadot’s Relay Chain for parachains, simplifying integration.
Cumulus handles network compatibility tasks like:
- Cross-chain message passing (XCMP),
- Collator node setup,
- embedded Relay Chain clients, and
- block authorship compatibility.
Polkadot SDK
In a stride toward enhancing development efficiency and collaboration, Polkadot, Substrate, and Cumulus repositories have merged into a single repository called Polkadot SDK. This transformation, initiated on August 25th and finalized on August 28th, marks a significant step in creating a more synchronized and stable ecosystem for developers.
While individual repositories are now archived, existing issues and pull requests (PRs) remain accessible, ensuring continuity. The amalgamation aims to simplify the development process by eliminating the need for “companion” PRs across various repositories and fostering improved collaboration within development teams.
By combining the repositories, managing issues, PRs, and documentation becomes streamlined, facilitating smoother transitions and updates. It’s worth noting that open PRs from the old repositories weren’t automatically migrated; contributors will need to recreate and resubmit them in the new repository.
The transition doesn’t affect the crates.io releases and shouldn’t disrupt your workflows there. While the core development workflow remains consistent, adjustments may be necessary to accommodate the new repository structure. Contributors are encouraged to review the updated documentation and guidelines for a seamless transition.
Should any issues arise during this transition, repository maintainers are readily available through GitHub Issues or GitHub Discussions to offer support and assistance. Updates and essential information about the merge will be posted in the announcements section of the forum post and the new repository’s README.
Contributors are encouraged to reconfigure mechanisms for staying updated since GitHub doesn’t transfer them automatically. Embrace this shift as Polkadot ushers in a more unified and collaborative development era.
Final words
The introduction of the Polkadot SDK underscores the platform’s transformative nature. Beyond being a mere relay chain, Polkadot emerges as a comprehensive blockspace ecosystem, facilitated by the encompassing frameworks and tools within the SDK. This evolution prompted Parity Technologies to aptly label it the Polkadot SDK, encapsulating its immense potential.
The synergy between Polkadot and its ecosystem is evident in seamless compatibility, fostering access to a vibrant network of parachains, applications, and resources. Embracing the Polkadot SDK brings substantial advantages like intrinsic security, cross-chain interoperability, and a burgeoning ecosystem.
Notably, effective branding remains crucial. While some ecosystems like Cosmos brand their SDKs, Polkadot’s uniqueness is now signified by the Polkadot SDK. This symbolic shift marks a pivotal moment in clarifying the ecosystem’s identity and affirming its influential position in the blockchain landscape.
- Strengthen Polkadot by nominating your DOT tokens to POLKADOTTERS, community builders for the Polkadot ecosystem
- Support Polkadotters Shrimp and Polkadotters Octopus on Polkadot and be a part of a more secure Web3 future
- Delegate your DOT or KSM to Polkadotters for easy participation in the on-chain governance via Talisman or Nova wallet
