Build Easier, Ship Faster: Why We Built Liteflow
Tags: productivity, microservices, javascript, blockchain
Published: 2020-04-29 22:47:53

## What’s Liteflow?

[Liteflow](https://blog.mesg.com/why-did-we-build-liteflow/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=why_liteflow) is a new open platform for application processing that helps developer-entrepreneurs launch projects easily and quickly. 

It reduces duplicated code by basing applications on reusable, customizable components, and makes it really easy to transfer data between components. Liteflow also helps developers avoid steep or unpredictable expenses by running applications on your behalf at a pay-per-execution rate.

## But why launch a new platform?

Liteflow is built by the creators of the MESG atop MESG technology. The goal of the MESG Foundation has always been to increase development efficiency and empower open-source developers economically, so Liteflow is the natural progression of this original mission. 

While MESG is easy to build on, understanding how it works under the hood has been a challenge. It also became increasingly clear that while blockchain technology carried a lot of interest and promise, the same could not be said about cryptocurrencies, which many have now grown to fear. 

We now see that cryptocurrencies are not an ideal foundation to base application frameworks upon. The complexity of implementation and highly-fluctuating prices were a big concern for the risk they posed to an otherwise-stable building platform.

## MESG vs Liteflow: what's the difference?

MESG’s complex, blockchain-based technology will remain intact, along with its grand vision of incentivizing development through a network of services. 

Liteflow is the user-facing product built on top of MESG. It simplifies the user experience of building applications, allowing you to focus only on what’s essential. 

With MESG, anyone can deploy their own public or private network. We used this feature to build a controlled, private environment for Liteflow. 

### Liteflow boasts a newly simplified UX with features including:
A simple onboarding process including a free trial, pay-per-execution, and easy payment methods.

- Optimized organization of applications and projects
- A credit system with a native utility token for automatic monitoring, so nothing happening on the network is missed.
- Automated key management for users
- No more scary cryptocurrency knowledge required 

## What does this mean for MESG?

MESG will remain an advanced development tool with the same goal of promoting an open economy of application development and executions. Meanwhile, all of the tools made to simplify the development experience have moved to Liteflow. 

As part of this transition, the current CLI is replaced by the Liteflow CLI `npm i -g @liteflow/cli`, and services need to require the new `@liteflow/service` library (no breaking change on the API). Also, other libraries such as compiler/API, etc. have also been moved to Liteflow. 

Documentation detailing how to create applications will also be moved to Liteflow. MESG documentation will remain focused on the technology and its complexities and will include things that end-users don’t necessarily need to know, like full API documentation, data structure, hashing methods, etc..

Also, a new CLI for MESG, focusing on generating a genesis, creating networks, interacting with low-level APIs, etc., will be released soon for those looking to build with the underlying technology.

We will soon be launching a brand and website for Liteflow. In the meantime, you can [register and start building for free](https://blog.mesg.com/why-did-we-build-liteflow/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=why_liteflow).