SAF Simple Application Framework

[IMPACT]

Intro

Most successful software frameworks are providing tools to quickly generate and run a base application, that can be extended by the developers. E.g. npm, JHipster, Spring, Android, etc..

Motivation

A common typical question asked by community members is "How can we quickly build a simple application running on the Cardano blockchain?", e.g. https://cardano.stackexchange.com/questions/7584/is-there-a-cardano-quickstart-application/7608#7608

At the moment of writing seems that there is no simple answer to this question.

We believe that having an extensible framework that can generate a minimal application with a few possible options would be beneficial in order to

increase adoption: by lowering entry barriers
increase market penetration: by increasing the number of applications running on the blockchain

The earlier we deliver this framework, the bigger is the overall increase of value for the community.

Concept

A generic framework for DApps can be reused by other developers to quickly startup their projects. It will increase the number of projects in the ecosystem and capture the attention of other teams who might be interested in reusing and modifying the framework.

All that we need is to build an Open Source extensible framework for generating various types of dAPP boilerplates, e.g. CLI applications, Web applications, etc.

While generating, there will be different possible choices for generation depending on the context. e.g.:

Web application
Native CLI
selection of a simple contract
integration with state channels
Admin Dashboard
Wallet Integrations
Single transaction
Blockchain query
Dandelion API samples
Blockfrost API samples
WebAssambler and Cardano Serialization Library samples
Sample Wordpress plugin

Increase the number of DApps available on the ecosystem, build a community of users of the framework. Build a community of developers who want to improve the framework. The framework should then be used by other projects.

Main risks

all the applications generated must be kept updated over time
absence of a clear solution for a state channel, that is needed to have fast response time and no fees needed by several projects, e.g. applications where the users interact with each other and expect high speed, low latency, and low (or zero) fees.

De-risk

A possible de-risk about keeping the solution updated is about re-propose this proejct, when needed or ask support from the community
A possible solution related to the state-channel risk is considering different solutions for implementing a state channel, e.g. https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/405072

[FEASIBILITY]

October 2022: the framework should be ready to be used by others

November 2022: There should be several projects providing feedback on the framework

December 2022: We expect the community start contributing back to the project on github

Roadmap

Phase 1

May

Prototyping of two simple applications types:

command line app interacting with a cardano node through cardano-cli
webapp interacting with a wallet through a browser (Nami Integration)

June

initial implementation of a bootstrapping framework offering different options
Initial generation of a Cardano dAPP including simple Admin Dashboard
ADA Transfers

July/August

Add functionalities

ADA Transfers
Blockchain queries
Native
Dandelion API
Blockforst API

Phase 2

September/October

Adding functionalities (depending on the achievements in phase 1)

NFT viewer
NFT Minting
Token generation
Submission of metadata to Cardano Token Registry
Research and Development - $50,000
Tech learning and workshops: $10,000
Development of different application prototypes : $20,000
Extensible framework and additional modules: 15,000
Documentation: 5,000
Program management: $15,000
Communication : $5,000
External consulting / auditing: $10,000
Seomon - Cohort F6, CA, IT consultant - <https://github.com/Seomon4u>
Psuzzi - Fullstack Engineer, Banking, Automotive, SW Modeling - <https://github.com/psuzzi>
David Baxter - Front end Engineer and Founder of Beanchain Coffee - <https://www.linkedin.com/in/baxweb>
Cem Karaca - Cardano Architecture & Design Developer Professional Student @Emurgo. fintech data center owner, MFC/C++ developer, cyber security professional. - <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckaraca/> - <https://github.com/ckaraca>
Cagkan - Backend Engineer. Experience in Python, PostgreSQL and a bit of HTML&CSS.
Jude Ben - 9 years+ Software Development , Plutus Smart Contract Development , Cloud and Infrastructure Engineer <https://www.linkedin.com/in/judeebene/>
Thomas - Theoretical physicist and mathematician - <https://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomas-vellekoop-1a622119a>
Steve Lockhart - Community builder, decentralization advocate, arborist, dog owner.
Nori Nishigawa - Founder of the Salmon Nation Decentralized Alliance (SANADA), Bridge Builders, and SAMON pool. Member of the Catalyst Circle Admin Team, Cardano4Climate, and Rapid Funding Challenge Team. Cardano Ambassador, CA, and Funded proposer. Passionate about radical inclusivity and community and devoted to making Cardano the best community on the planet. Nori brings over 30 years of experience in software development, agile methodologies, leadership & managing teams, and founding & running technology startups. <https://github.com/xeeban>
Shannon Baxter - UI/UX Designer, Information Architect, Management - <https://www.sbax.design/>

[AUDITABILITY]
The application Framework Should be available by October 2022.
The framework should be used by other proposers to startup their own projects.
There should be a community of users of the framework (e.g. discord, reddit), and we should be able to measure the adoption by the number of users of the community
One or more contributors should contribute to the project improvement. We can measure the contributions as commits of people (external to the team) on the git repository
Several projects are using the framework to bootstrap their projects.
There should be social media echo about the projects - a vibrant community
The project should be improved by the community.

It is not a continuation but is born from the experience collected in Cardano After Dark.

bookmarked!