Secure DApp Development Guide for Enterprises

Among various DApps, the Ethereum-based decentralized applications are the most popular among users. The daily active users of Ethereum based apps stand at a whopping 89.49K, as per State of the DAPPS.

If you’re thinking about developing your decentralized application, or DApp, but aren’t sure where to start, you’ve come to the right place.

Whether you want to create an internal tool, let customers rent your products, or turn your company processes into smart software, this guide has everything you need to know about building your decentralized applications. So, without wasting time, let’s begin.

In this article we will discuss the following:

• What are DApps and their benefits,
• What makes DApps exciting,
• Working principle of DApps,
• Steps to create a DApp,
• Monetization Strategies for DApps, and
• Top 5 DApps development companies you can trust for your project.

What are DApps?

DApps are commonly referred to as decentralized apps or DApps and are quite different from typical apps that you find on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Decentralized applications (DApps) are computer programs that run on decentralized peer-to-peer networks.

The Dapp is open-source, blockchain-based, and works on its infrastructure controlled by users. These applications are ideal for business use because they remove third parties, which can be both an advantage & a disadvantage depending on your point of view.

Some of the significant benefits that make them ideal for enterprises include the following:

• The sheer number of tools available in a blockchain environment makes it an excellent platform for doing business.
• Blockchain allows companies to run complex processes without fear of fraud or data tampering. In contrast, centralized databases are vulnerable to hackers and prone to corruption.
• If you’re running an online business, blockchain will allow you to perform all your transactions with complete transparency and security.
• Each transaction is secured by robust cryptography, meaning you don’t have to worry about third parties editing your data. This feature makes blockchain ideal for facilitating transactions between multiple parties.

What Makes DApps So Exciting?

They offer an alternative way to think about the software and services we use every day. Since there is zero central point of failure, we don’t need to fear corrupt governments taking down our favorite apps; we don’t need to worry about changing our email providers and losing access and ownership over our data.

Every business owner will be able to host and deploy their app on any device without worrying about someone else shutting them down. As an example, let’s say that Jane sells jewelry online and wants her customers to see exactly where their products are.

With blockchain, she can share information about each stage of production with her clients without fearing anyone tampering with it- one of its key benefits is that nobody can’t edit data once it gets added.

But using DApps comes with risks, too. It’s possible to lose value due to transaction errors or faulty smart contracts. For mitigating them, businesses must do their research before choosing which DApp will work best for them — and ensure they have an experienced developer at hand if necessary.

How DApps work?

Source: Medium-Genesishack

In a nutshell, a decentralized application runs on a peer-to-peer network of computers all over the world. Rather than being available in one central location, information gets stored in bits and pieces across that network.

The difference between DApps and traditional apps is comparing email (which sends data from one centralized server to another) and faxes (where you store your information directly onto your device).

Instead of using centralized servers, decentralized apps use consensus protocols, making them tamper-proof and resistant to attacks such as DDOS since there is no single point of failure. It will be virtually non-feasible to shut down a DApp once it’s up and running on a blockchain like Ethereum or IPFS.

Instead of trusting a company’s server, you can look at a blockchain’s ledger history, which has all transactions embedded in it, going back several years if needed.

You can always check what your funds are getting used for or how your smart contract works. You can do it by looking at the code embedded directly in that blockchain itself rather than through some centralized website where you have to trust they’re telling you everything is working correctly from their end.

If you plan to create your own DApp and deploy it on Ethereum (the most popular network): First you need to make your smart contract and then publish it through EtherDelta (a popular open-source cryptocurrency exchange).

Once your smart contract is issued, and other developers can access it, you need to wait until people start using your DApp.

How to build a DAapp

Once you know the importance and working of DApp, you can follow this step-by-step guide that can help you uild a DApp.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

There are many reasons to build DApp’s. However, before making one, you must determine what problems your business has and how a DApp could solve those problems. It may seem obvious, but you must decide if your company truly needs a DApp and, if so, do they need one now or wait until another time.

Be sure you do not waste valuable time creating a DApp that won’t benefit your business. You can start by analyzing the difficulties you might face while developing it and what steps you can take to resolve them.

It also opens up possibilities such as cross-chain interoperability and meta contracts. They make DApps very flexible and resilient to attack or failure since there isn’t one point of failure like with current web applications.

Experimenting with different ideas will help you better understand what problems your customers want solving and help you figure out which ones make sense as decentralized applications.

Step 2: Generate a POC

Source: ISG-POC

Before developing any DApp, it is good to make a Proof of Concept (POC) of your idea. A POC helps you figure out whether you can successfully execute the idea of the DApp. Also, sometimes mistakes and bugs in POCs can help you understand how best to build your DApp.

To generate a proof of concept, first, create a use case diagram. It will help you think through all aspects of your business model, from front-end functionality and user flow to back-end processes and database relationships.

Once you gain a clear picture of your system’s going on, create a very basic prototype that shows how it would work from beginning to end. Use your documentation from step one as a reference as needed—the point here is to demonstrate that you could do it if everything goes according to plan.

One such example was CryptoKitties — the POC proved so popular that it took Ethereum by storm and became one of their flagship examples. It’s worth spending some time perfecting your proof-of-concept before you invest time in building your actual DApp.

Step 3: Choose Your DApp Platform

There are currently tons of platforms available, each of which offers different capabilities. While many of these platforms are under active development, here are a few standard options you can go with:

• Ethereum – the most prominent choice for DApps
• Lisk – for building side chains
• NEO – the Ethereum of China
• Stratis Platform – for building private blockchains

Bottom line: The best DApp platform depends on your needs and what your end goal is. Don’t be afraid to try out diverse options until you find one that works best for you.

Step 4: Select a Compatible IDE

If you want to learn how to develop your own Ethereum DApp, start with a free IDE like Remix.

As an open-source platform, it’s community-driven and allows you to interact with any DApp on Ethereum’s network. You can also run applications and write smart contracts in JavaScript or Solidity.

There are many other options too. There is a lot of demand for IDEs among developers wanting to build their blockchain apps — especially if they already have experience coding in C++, Go, Python, or Javascript — so pick one that will meet your needs & budget.

Step 5: Choose Your Source Code Language

In enterprise blockchain development, you must choose a language developers are comfortable using. According to Gartner, Java is still one of the most preferred languages, and it has been around for over two decades and gets used by almost every business.

Solidity can run on a virtual machine (Ethereum) and any other existing platform. Hence it should be easily convertible into Java bytecode compatible with most operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Source: Statista Top Languages

Another reason that makes Solidity an attractive option is its similarity to Javascript – a commonly-used client-side scripting language – making it easier for web developers to learn Ethereum’s primary programming language.

Other preferable languages for developing DApps include C++, Python, and Golang.C++ is primarily used in computer programming, while Python has a large following in web development and machine learning fields.

Step 6: Code & Test the DApp

Once you gain definite answers to the chosen platform, IDE, coding language, it’s time to start the coding section of the DApp.

Source: Statista Testing Tools

You can either hire app developers or an in-house team depending upon your budget. Outsourcing the development project to a reputed dApp development company in India helps you save 30% of the project cost.

Step 7: Launch the DApp

Finally, it’s time to launch your DApp or smart contract. Go ahead and navigate to your project on Etherscan, where you’ll see a section called Contracts. It is where you can view your deployed contract (use All Contracts if that doesn’t work).

Enter in all of your information, then deploy by pressing deploy new contract. Developers will then upload your code onto the blockchain, ultimately giving it its power over data.

Strategies for monetizing the DApp

A business model deals with how you will make money. To pick your business model, start by asking yourself who will buy your product or service? That will help you determine whether it’s a B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer) business.

Source: Statista-App Monetization Methods

If you can’t think of anyone who’d want to buy what you’re selling, perhaps there’s no market for it. Some standard models include the following:

Selling Data

As per blockchain development stats, the data monetization industry will be worth $6.1 billion by 2025, placing it among the most lucrative industries. If you’re thinking about launching a blockchain app, consider what data you’re collecting and who owns that data. Many companies are making millions selling their users’ sensitive information.

One approach is for developers to create an alternative monetization model where users own their data. Users can then sell back some or all of that data via smart contracts on decentralized marketplaces, similar to how AirBnb enables homeowners to sell rooms directly online without paying commissions.

Selling Ads

Like how traditional apps make money, decentralized applications can sell ads on their platforms. It creates an intermediary layer of service that takes a percentage of ad revenue in exchange for helping companies find users.

The best part about ad-based monetization is that it’s easy to implement, and several popular projects have already laid out the infrastructure for app developers.

Tokens

The easiest way to monetize a DApp is with tokens, and to do so, you’ll need to sell tokens. While it’s true that ICOs and token sales have recently become synonymous with scams and pump-and-dump, that doesn’t mean there aren’t legitimate opportunities for companies looking to issue their coins or tokens.

For your enterprise blockchain development company or blockchain project to succeed, you must ensure that your developers have all of these skills at their disposal when working on your distributed ledger technology projects.

Even when they’re not fluent in all of them, ensure they know each one to quickly learn whatever is necessary when tackling a new project in a new environment with a different language or setup every time.

If you’re looking to build a platform in-house or hire a blockchain development company, we recommend looking at top DApp development companies; they make it incredibly easy to develop and deploy enterprise blockchains in seconds.

Top DApps Development Companies

Here’s a list of the Top 5 DApp development companies worldwide so far.

PixelCrayons

While some companies focus on specific parts of blockchain technology, like fintech or security, PixelCrayons provides complete development services for new blockchain-based products and platforms for all verticals, including insurance, media, retail & ecommerce.

PixelCrayons offers tailored solutions for enterprise clients in multiple industries around the world. The company has worked with some of the industry’s top brands, including Vodafone, Puma, eBay, etc. If you are looking for best-in-class Ethereum blockchain development services, contact them today!

Facts about PixelCrayons:

• Founded: 2004
• Minimum Project Size: $5,000+
• Avg. Hourly Rate: < $25 / hr
• Employees: 250 – 999
• Location: India, U.S, U.K, & Australia
• Clutch Rating: 4.9/5
• Top Clients: Vodafone, Puma, etc.

Labrys

Labrys develops scalable distributed applications that benefit from state-of-the-art blockchain technologies. The company’s experienced team has launched several successful Proof of Concepts (PoCs) to date for projects involving Smart Cities, Education, Healthcare, Government Operations/Services/Interactions, etc.

Labrys is actively pursuing multiple opportunities related to POC development in industries like retail, real estate management, etc.

Facts about Labrys:

• Founded: 2017
• Minimum Project Size: $1,000+
• Avg. Hourly Rate: < $150 / hr to $199 / hr
• Employees: 10 – 49
• Location: Australia
• Clutch Rating: 5/5
• Top Clients: Nem, Edge, etc.

Appinventiv

Founded in 2014, Appinventiv is a leading innovative company in Ethereum Blockchain. They are one of the top companies that have worked with several reputed clients, including Microsoft Corporation, Unilever, Sephora, etc.

The company is headquartered in N.Y. but has offices in UAE and India. The company offers high-quality product development services to its clients ranging from design strategy to delivery across multiple platforms.

Facts about Appinventiv:

• Founded: 2004
• Minimum Project Size: $10,000+
• Avg. Hourly Rate: < $25 / hr to $49 / hr
• Employees: 250 – 999
• Location: India, U.S, U.K, UAE, & Australia
• Clutch Rating: 4.7/5
• Top Clients: UN, Domino’s, etc.

Fingent

It’s pretty challenging to compile a list of the best without getting into some serious debate. Still, if you are looking for solid enterprise-level software development with minimal user acquisition costs, Fingent would be an excellent place to start. One thing that makes Fingent particularly impressive is its blockchain development firm’s versatility.

They have developed apps on every significant blockchain platform and received funding from notable venture capital firms. Their developers are always up-to-date on the latest blockchain trends and will be able to help any business reach its goals through one of its many niche products or white label offerings.

Facts about Fingent:

• Founded: 2003
• Minimum Project Size: $25,000+
• Avg. Hourly Rate: < $25 / hr to $49 / hr
• Employees: 50 – 249
• Location: India, U.S, UAE, & Australia
• Clutch Rating: 4.9/5
• Top Clients: Sony, Asteco, etc.

Wow Labz

Blockchain consulting can be tricky to pull off because it involves multiple disciplines, but Wow Labz delivers solid results with each project. The team behind Wow Labz is committed to providing valuable information about blockchain technology in a way that’s simple to understand for beginners but also beneficial for more advanced users.

It’s one of those rare services that covers both bases perfectly. If you’re trying to get your enterprise started on the blockchain, take advantage of all they have to offer today!

Facts about WowLabz:

• Founded: 2011
• Minimum Project Size: $25,000+
• Avg. Hourly Rate:< $25 / hr to $49 / hr
• Employees: 10 – 49
• Location: India
• Clutch Rating: 5/5
• Top Clients: Emaar Group, Quikr, etc.

Conclusion

Although it has been a relatively short time since Ethereum launched, blockchain is gaining more and more popularity each day. A high number of companies from diverse industries are considering using distributed ledger technology to resolve their issues.

That is why smart contracts are becoming increasingly popular because they enable different parties to perform transactions without third-party intermediaries. Many people ask themselves which company will be best suited for implementing their ideas into reality.

Ethereum app development company in India can provide entrepreneurs, SMEs, established enterprises services at an affordable hourly rate. However, no one can work with all blockchains, so every project requires its unique approach.

Thus run a proper check and indulge in deep discussions before you hand over your project to anyone.