A Brief Guide to Dapp Development And How Will It Affect Various Industries

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A Brief Guide to Dapp Development

In recent years, there are many new technologies introduced in mobile app development. One of such technologies that have created a niche for itself is decentralized applications, also called as DApps. It has become a sensation among the developer community across the globe. One of the most impressive characteristics of the dApps is that it connects users and the developers directly. It completely eliminates the need for a mediator for hosting and coding the data. It does not require any centralized party to monitor the tracking and working.

Furthermore, you don’t need to have a permission to build a DApp. Also, no one can change the rules that are designed for the platform. It is an added quality of the technology.
Traditional apps have their backend codes running on centralized servers. Here dApps differ from these traditional apps. dApps have their backend codes running on decentralized servers connected the peer-to-peer network. When it comes to frontend code, it can be written in any programming language and stored on decentralized storage like IPFS.

Similar to traditional apps, dApps also can be built mobile application platforms such as Android and iOS. There are more than 1000 dApps available as of now.

There are many differences between native apps and dApps and in the next section, we will discuss some of the differences.

Difference between Traditional App Development and Dapp Development

First and foremost, the most noticeable and principal difference between the traditional mobile app development and dApp development is the way coding is done. The coding of dApp development is more rigor than traditional mobile app development. It is like hardware testing and prototyping- more firm, more rigid and more rigorous. Before the app goes to production, the code is written by experienced developers who have the sheer expertise of writing codes for dApps. If there is any bug in the smart contract, it is unchangeable. It cannot be changed once the app is commenced on the mainnet.

Hence, it is very important that the code is scrutinized before it is launched. It might tarnish the image of the manufacturer if there are bugs in the end product and you certainly will not want that, will you?

When it comes to traditional app development, it is completely based on quick iteration cycles to build a minimum viable product. Once MVP is ready, the testing team will test it and the version will be uploaded on the App Store. It is not the case with the dApp development.

Centralized, Decentralized And Distributed Apps:

There are three types of software applications currently in use- centralized, decentralized and distributed. Millions of software and mobile applications that are in use today follow a single or centralized server-client model. You need to understand the difference between the three of them.

Centralized apps:

It is one of the most accepted software or application module that is used by developers across the globe. Here, a single center or a single server is responsible for all actions and data storage. All the stakeholders of the application are completely dependent on the single central power and it will guide them and exchange the information among them. Even giant technology companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon have a centralized software model in practice.
Centralized systems are easy to maintain but vulnerable to security threats. It can be unstable as if the leader is killed, there will be chaos in the army.

Decentralized apps:

As the name suggests, a decentralized system is one where the power of taking decisions is not centralized. The decentralized system has many nodes and each node take decisions for their own behavior. Also, it is more secure than centralized systems as the data is distributed in different nodes rather than a single server. It takes time to develop a decentralized system as you have to develop first resource sharing and communication details. Also, the main aspect of the decentralized system is that no single node has all the system data in its storage facility.

Distributed apps:

In distributed systems, the processing is shared via multiple nodes, but when it comes to decision making, it is centralized. Here, unlike decentralized systems, all nodes have complete system data to make the decision making more meaningful and quick.

Ethereum

If you ask the best Blockchain platform to build a dApp, I will answer Ethereum. It has set a benchmark since its introduction since last 3 years with a strong community that works hard to maintain the project. Solidity is the special programming language developed by Ethereum community that lets developers writes Smart Contracts. We will discuss Smart Contracts in the next segment of the article.

If you want to start with Blockchain programming, Ethereum is the best public Blockchain where you can run the code.

How Will It Change and Influence Various Industries?

One of the main things that all businesses look for is innovative technologies that streamline various operations and processes to offer more convenient and superior experience to the users. Dapp is one of the impressive technologies that can help businesses to achieve this objective.

Let’s discuss how dApp technology will affect various business sectors:

E-commerce industry:

Nowadays, customers don’t want to wait for anything whether it is delivery or payment process. Traditional e-commerce payment options take the help of third-party APIs such as banks or third party. Businesses are looking for apps that can remove these centralized banks and other parties to make the payment process more streamlined and quick to improve customer experience.
There are many issues the Blockchain technology can solve. Some of them are:

Quick payment processes:

Have you ever experienced payment failures, transactional errors and other payment issues while paying online? If you ask me, it just kills whole shopping experience and I will probably not visit the app or a website again to purchase anything even though the e-commerce company might not have anything to do with the payment failures. It is a common trait. This is a sensitive issue that needs to be addressed. Even after the introduction of global payment players such as Paypal and eWallets, this issue is still there.

Generally, payment failures happen due to third-party interference. How about removing this dependability of the third parties? With dApps, it can be possible. You can establish a peer-to-peer payment process that does not need any third party to complete a payment.

Decentralized online market

The best thing about the decentralized e-commerce application is that the end users have all the power to make demands to the supplier about various aspects of the application. In a recent future, you will see a rise of such decentralized apps where users would be able to raise tailored demands.

Structured supply chain

How do you deliver the product to the end user is an influential thing to consider to offer a satisfactory experience to them. Customers love to receive order deliveries fast and it can be possible with dApps. It can very well manage even a large supply chain by monitoring various aspects of it to ensure that the end user gets his order in a scheduled time.

Even when an order is mismanaged, a new delivery schedule will be arranged to meet customer expectations.

Monetization of the e-commerce app:

The main objective, in a professional language, the bottom line, is monetization of the idea. When it comes to monetizing the dApp, it is important that you choose the revenue model after considering all the aspects.
Not just sales revenues, but a subscription model such as Amazon Prime can also work well with your app. At the end of the day, customers are looking for instant gratification and exceptional experience.

Transportation Industry:

There are many issues pertaining to the service providers and users that need to be addressed. Sometimes, the revenue model is not as efficient as service providers are looking for and it leads to chaos and misunderstandings too.

A dApp can solve the problem efficiently by strengthening the relationship between the service provider and the user. What dApp does is that it completely revamps the revenue model to ensure that both- the service providers and users are happy with it.
Some of the issues dApp can solve in the context of the transportation industry.

Fast transactions:

The Blockchain technology with a dApp can help to streamline the payment transactions by eliminating third parties that are mostly responsible for late payments and payment failures. Here, no central body is needed to process the payment and it quickens faster transactions. When it comes to transportation service, it can be a turning point to improve the service for the users.

Peer-to-peer transactions:

Privacy and security are two concerns that the users look for in today’s digitalization era, especially when it comes to payment systems. They don’t want to share their confidential personal data with anyone except the service provider. Also, these payment processes are vulnerable to fraud and data thefts too.

The Blockchain technology with a dApp can make this possible as it has its own data storage capacity at every node. It lessens the chances of frauds.

Healthcare Industry:

The healthcare industry is one of the most tech-friendly industries and there is a wide scope for evolution there to improve various processes and operations for a healthy living. The Blockchain technology with dApp integration brings some important possibilities to the healthcare industry that we will discuss here:

The smooth intersection among researchers:

There are almost all the researchers in the healthcare industry busy in finding the cure of perilous diseases. However, two researchers don’t have any platform to share the data and findings. It is an issue that a dApp can address.

Here, with the dApp, all the researchers and doctors can share their findings in real-time to take the leverage of important information. With such crucial information at their side, they will be able to treat their patients effectively and in a better way.

Smooth account management:

There are various online forums where doctors and surgeons share data and findings. However, these forums are vulnerable as anyone can update the data anytime. It is important that the portal is secure and reliable and transparent.

Here, Blockchain technology can help doctors to create a portal where overriding data is not possible. Here, at every touch node, the data will be verified by the doctors to ensure that it is perfect and unedited for utilization.

Digital Contracts:

If you or your relative has to undergo an operation, you have to fill up a form that is termed as contract or agreement. You must be aware of it. However, it is a long and time-consuming process and should be replaced with an alternative.

Digital contracts can solve the issue very effectively. With the Blockchain technology that does not allow any involvement of a centralized authority, it improves the overall process and saves the valuable time of the patients. It will ensure quick surgical and non-surgical medical procedures. There will be no risk factor associated with the life of the patient.

Efficient supply management:

With on-demand services on the rise, even the healthcare industry would encash the opportunity to offer high-quality on-demand services for consumers. Some of the examples are on-demand medicines, on-demand doctor visit, and on-demand tests. However, to cater such services, a service provider should have an adequate supply chain management and with the Blockchain technology, it is possible. With a dApp, it is very easy to manage the supply chain even if it is too large and complex. It streamlines various supply chain operations, enables you to track all the inventories, reorder items and to track the whole trip of the order from the dispatch to delivery. It will help to offer smoother and effortless delivery service to the end users.

Also Read: How to Balance Product Ideas & Project Constraints in App Development

Conclusion:

Currently, the concept of decentralized apps is booming and for all the right reasons. It brings so many benefits such as reliability, scalability, transparency, and flexibility. As mentioned above, decentralized apps will surely impact the e-commerce, healthcare and transportation businesses to a great extent to streamline the processes and to improve its efficiency.

The budget for developing a dApp is not something that you need to worry. Just like a native app development, the budget of dApp development to depends on the technical requirements, features, and functionalities you want to add.

1 COMMENT

  1. Unlike centralized mobile apps, decentralized applications run on a peer-to-peer network of networks instead of being controlled by a single authority. Thus, the risk of the central point of failure has reduced. Also, these apps can tackle most challenges that traditional apps face such as censorship and downtime due to insufficient network capacity.

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