My initial thoughts

At first, I never thought we needed a blockchain operating system because I take for granted every day that I’m working on either windows, Linux or a Mac. It just works so you don’t have to think about it.

But if you’re going to run your apps on the blockchain then you’re going to have to deal with the differences between…different blockchains lol. This has always been a setback for blockchain developers, that have to be damn near heroic to work under these complexities.

With an Operating system…you can iron out these differences and write code in an environment that isolates you from all the twists and quirks of different blockchains while giving you resources to build much more powerful applications.

Intro

Even though blockchains have been around for more than a decade, building them and the dApps that run on them can be quite difficult. Developers are faced with several challenges.

Challenges that involve building in an unfamiliar environment with multiple programming languages. But there’s a solution to solve these issues and it’s seeking to simplify decentralized app development. In this article, I’ll be breaking down Cartesi - the truth and breakthrough in blockchain development.

First of all, welcome to my page! I intend on being your number-one Developer Advocate and blockchain analyst. I’m glad you stopped by. If you love crypto as much as I do, hit the subscribe button and let’s grow a community out here.

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Today we’ll dive deep into Cartesi and take a look at the blockchain programming problems that it hopes to solve and the unique technologies it utilizes to tackle these issues. There’s alot to cover so let’s dive 🤿

Cartesi was founded in 2018 with the idea to simplify blockchain programming. The project sought to bring blockchain programming to a broader population of developers by allowing development with the use of Linux operating system resources. Crowning itself (justifiably) as the first blockchain operating system…Cartesi is going to solve several issues faced by blockchain developers and developers looking to transition into web3. To start with, the learning curve can be a total pain in the dAss, traditional programming platforms can be limited or unavailable and as a result, developers must venture into unfamiliar territory. They are limited by the tools at their disposal and must deal with a difficult barrier to entry.

Building on multiple blockchains may require the knowledge of multiple programming languages, for instance, building on Ethereum, the world's most popular platform requires an understanding of solidity…it’s native programming language. Building on Cardano requires knowledge of their Plutus programming language, Cartesi is a layer 2 platform with a developer-first initiative that aims to eliminate these barriers by allowing developers to create dApps with tools that they are already familiar with.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the technologies Cartesi uses to achieve these solutions 👀

• The Cartesi Machine

It is a Linux-based virtual machine, run by Cartesi nodes and allows developers to create decentralized apps with familiar programming languages such as c++ and python. Developers create their apps off-chain before passing them to the main chain.

Cartesi nodes are the hardware and software frameworks that host off-chain components for Cartesi apps. Additionally, they facilitate the interaction of applications - on and off-chain.

• To improve scalability. Cartesi utilizes a second technology known as “Cartesi roll-ups”

Cartesi roll-ups push complex computations off-chain in a separate computing environment away from the main chain. By offloading complex computations from the main chain, the number of transactions that a blockchain can process increases significantly, improving speed and scalability. The role of the main chain then becomes a network that only receives and logs transactions. In rare instances, there are disputes in which parties disagree on the results of a computation.

For such occasions, the main blockchain is used to resolve these disagreements

To get hands on experience with Cartesi rollups..you first of all need to set up your Linux environment! You can check out Cartesi’s technical boot camp at ETHDenver , which completely walks you through the process of installing dependencies and building your dApp!

Here’s some code samples for you to try out as well..

• The third technology is a side chain known as “no other”

Used to manage data availability for Cartesi, “no other” temporarily records and stores data that is needed for the short term . By disposing data that is only needed for short periods of time , “no other” saves space and creates long term efficiencies for the blockchain.

There’s more!

Additional benefits include multi-chain portability - this means that dApps developed with Cartesi aren’t bound to any particular blockchain but can be deployed to the most popular blockchains including Ethereum, the Binance smart chain and Polygon. Wait till you hear about what Cartesi is cooking with polygon 🤯…we’re gunna talk about that soon.

Sophistication is another key benefit . By using Cartesi, developers can create more sophisticated decentralized applications that would otherwise be near impossible on layer 1 blockchains such as Ethereum.

Security and privacy are also of high importance. Cartesi provides the same amount of security as the blockchains I mentioned and promises to provide privacy on applications.

CTSI Is the native currency of Cartesi and serves several different purposes. CTSI works as fuel for “no other” and since Cartesi utilizes a proof of stake mechanism, it can be staked for more CTSI rewards 💰.

Additionally, network users pay fees with CTSI to insert data on side chains, the primary role of CTSI however is its use as an incentive token. CTSI Works as part collateral and a part arbitration mechanism, therefore discouraging malicious activity.

Summary

Cartesi is the world's first blockchain OS and seeks to eliminate the barriers to entry associated with blockchain programming by providing an environment that allows developers to program using familiar programming languages and tools.

Cartesi utilizes both on-chain and off-chain technologies to help improve scalability speed and efficiency.

The technologies include The Cartesi Machine, Cartesi rollups and “No other”.

And finally, The CTSI token serves several different purposes as well as fuel for no other and Staking.

Well, that’s all that I’ve got for you Degens , I hope you got a better understanding of Cartesi and the unique value it brings to Defi and developers by using familiar programming technologies. I believe this is exactly what developers need because not only will you be able to create next-level dApps but it creates a platform for developers out there intimidated to learn blockchain technology. You’ll be able to use your favourite languages, tools and services when implementing desktop or web apps on Linux.

I want to see blockchain live up to its full potential and Cartesi can make that happen by bringing you computational scalability and the tools you’re looking for. I’ll be super excited to help make it happen and guide you along the way. One of the cool things about Cartesi is how it prioritises developers. You can apply for grants and possibly build the next big thing in web3. You’ll have full support from the team.

If you enjoyed this, please let me know in the comments, drop a like or share on Twitter. You can find me at @CartierCode_ on Twitter. I’m curious to know what you think and would be great kicking it with you on the Cartesi discord. Thanks for being here!

Cartesi Discord