Node 1.0 Released on Mainnet
By: Waves Tech
Tags: Blockchain, Web3, Coding, Programming

The powerful and long-awaited new functionality enables dApps implementations on Waves.

With Node 1.0, Waves receives a major upgrade — the culmination of many months of work. We are particularly proud of the mainnet release of RIDE for dApps, enabling dApps implementations on Waves.

RIDE for dApps

RIDE was written specifically for execution in a blockchain environment and designed for building applications that will form the next generation of the internet. RIDE includes the following features and properties:

Lazy execution Predictable computation costs Zero failed transactions on the network Modern typed functional approach Simple and concise Formal-verification-friendly

For more information about writing dApps on Waves, see https://docs.wavesplatform.com/en/smart-contracts/writing-dapps.html.

Mathematical functions

We have also added new mathematical functions to the RIDE programming language: logarithms and exponentiation. This allows developers to perform calculations on the Waves blockchain. There are cases when you need to calculate models by formulas — for example in economic or physical models — and this is now possible with RIDE. One of the use cases for this functionality is implementing an algorithmic stable coin.

gRPC interface

We are implementing an alternative to the REST API, which has a number of advantages. It is a mechanism for standard description of interfaces and data formats. Users of our API (who are mostly developers) can use this tool as a communication protocol between an application and the blockchain. The new interface allows reduced development time. After the release we will start standardising the presentation format of data: transactions, blocks, addresses, aliases and all possible entities on the Waves blockchain.

The standardisation process will be coordinated with the community: we will listen to feedback from developers and adjust the standards to their needs. As a result of this process, we will add these formats to the protocol of interaction of elements of Waves’ infrastructure. Our main goal is to come to the use of Protocol Buffers and make interaction with the Waves infrastructure simple, fast and convenient, as well as easy to support in all existing libraries for all programming languages.

Asset order fees

This release also sees a new feature for Waves ecosystem users: DEX fees in assets other than WAVES. The Waves community has long requested this feature and now we are introducing it. The DEX will soon support the ability to pay commissions for any orders with any tokens in ETH and BTC, along with WAVES. When choosing an asset other than WAVES, the fee is calculated based on the current exchange rate on Waves DEX.

NFT

After this update it will be possible to issue Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Waves blockchain. The issue transaction is the same as before, but for issuing an NFT, it must be: non-reissuable; decimals should be 0; and quantity must be 1. If these conditions are met, the issuance price drops from 1 WAVES to 0.001 WAVES. These tokens can also be issued with a script in the RIDE language, making them non-fungible smart assets. With this innovation, the platform becomes much more attractive for tokenisation of digital assets, with applications in gaming and for other digital collectibles.

Voting for the release

As usual, the update initialises a process of voting for miners on the network. A successful conclusion to the voting process is required to activate the new protocol and switch on smart contracts for network users. After reaching the required 80% of votes, the protocol will be activated a week later. When activation occurs, all these functions will become available for users and developers.