Introduction
One of the most significant revolutionary developments of our day is the use of smart contracts. They have contributed to the introduction of simpler decentralized network applications and business process automation. The demand for the top smart contract development tools has grown significantly in recent years. One of the standout features of blockchain technology is smart contracts, which have the ability to lower administrative burdens.
Smart contracts are self-executing programs that are stored on a blockchain. They enable developers to create decentralized applications that are transparent, secure, and tamper-proof. As more businesses and industries adopt blockchain technology, the demand for smart contract developers is increasing. If you want to develop smart contracts, you need the right tools. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the essential tools for smart contract development.
Essential Smart Contract Development Tools You Need
The growth in popularity of smart contracts has pushed the creation of many new tools for developing smart contracts. As a matter of fact, it is quite difficult to rank a few tools in the top ten list when you need multiple tools for building a smart contract. Therefore, it is important to look at the categories of essential smart contract tools and the examples in each category. Here is an outline of the most important smart contract development tools you would need in 2023.
Smart Contract Programming Language
The programming language used to write the smart contract code would be the first entry on the list of crucial smart contract developer tools. Curiously, you can choose from a variety of widely used smart contract programming languages. Solidity, Rust, and Vyper are the best programming languages for creating smart contracts.
The most popular programming language for creating smart contracts is Solidity. It is compatible with all widely used platforms for building smart contracts, including Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, and others. Every blockchain network compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine can enable the use of Solidity for the creation of smart contracts because it has been specifically designed for EVM.
The list of smart contract development tools in programming languages also includes Vyper. It also offers EVM compatibility and is popular for being the primary language of the Curve Finance DeFi platform.
On the other hand, another recent addition among smart contract programming languages, Rust, has been taking a different route. Rust provides the flexibility for deploying to blockchain networks such as Terra, Polkadot, and Solana.
Development and Testing Framework
The next critical addition among top smart contract development tools is the development and testing frameworks. These frameworks are a mandatory part of the journey of every developer. The development and testing frameworks offer great support in deploying and testing smart contracts efficiently.
Interestingly, you can find many promising options among development and testing frameworks such as Hardhat, Truffle, and Remix. These three frameworks are the popular choices of developers for creating, compiling, testing, and deploying smart contracts.
You can explore distinct features in each framework suited to make the process of testing and deploying smart contracts a lot easier.
You can also come across some of the alternative options in the development and testing frameworks for smart contracts, such as Waffle, Embark, and web3j. In addition, you can also find smart contract development and testing frameworks without EVM support, such as TerraSDK and Anchor.
Libraries and Oracles
Throughout the debate of the best smart contract development tools, libraries, and oracles would also come up. These tools are necessary to include the unique functionality you require in a smart contract.
For instance, libraries can assist in the addition of new dApps, whilst oracles can assist in the acquisition of data necessary for the execution of smart contracts.
ChainLink, which enables smart contracts to evolve into hybrid smart contracts, is the ideal blockchain oracle for smart contract development.
The smart contract could function more effectively if it had the option of including an off-chain component and a connection to the outside world. Oracles are used by around 50% of smart contracts as a key component of their architecture.
On the other hand, smart contract tools such as libraries like OpenZeppelin are also important requirements for all developers. OpenZeppelin is the standard library for Solidity programming language and features packages for multiple functionalities.
You can use OpenZeppelin packages for deploying NFTs, DAOs, or upgradable contracts, thereby adding new functions to your smart contracts.
Crypto Wallets
The wallet, which aids in the storage of funds, is another crucial requirement among the tools necessary for developing smart contracts. It facilitates the simple management of your testnet cash while developing and testing smart contracts.
For their smart contract development project, developers can choose to use a variety of different cryptocurrency wallets.
Nearly every cryptocurrency user is familiar with Metamask, which is the most widely used cryptocurrency wallet for smart contract creators. It’s a heated wallet with the benefit of more convenient and adaptable access to your money.
But, if the private key is ever compromised, you run the risk of losing your money if you use one of these wallets.
The list of smart contract development tools also includes options like Gnosis Safe and Ledger or Trezor. Gnosis Safe is a popular multi-sig wallet and offers a secure option for safeguarding your funds during the smart contract development process.
Another plausible option for storing and managing your testnet funds would refer to cold wallets such as Ledger or Trezor.
Although you might have to go through many complicated steps for using cold wallets, they provide better assurance of security.
Above everything else, you can always try a combination of hot wallets, multi-signature wallets, and cold wallets for secure management of your funds.
Block Explorer
Block explorers would also be included in the list of the best tools for developing smart contracts. Block explorers are necessary for developers to observe transactions and keep track of their status.
Etherscan, a free blockchain explorer, is one of the most well-known examples of a block explorer for smart contract authors. It has a lot of built-in features and is undoubtedly the largest block explorer for the Ethereum community.
Etherscan also aids initiatives on the Binance Smart Chain and Polygon networks, demonstrating its breadth. Ethplorer and Etherchain are more examples of smart contract tools under the genre of block explorers. Both of Etherscan’s rivals are lighter and have developed several new, standout features.
Layer 1 Network
The outline of the best smart contract development tools might remain incomplete without mentioning the layer 1 network. Why do you need a layer 1 blockchain for smart contract development? For example, if you have to transfer a transaction across the Ethereum blockchain, you must have a layer 1 blockchain for sending the transaction to an ETH node.
Generally, Metamask and other popular crypto wallets come with background connections to layer 1 nodes. The popular examples of layer 1 blockchain networks suitable for smart contract development include Alchemy, QuickNode, and Infura.
Alchemy is one of the popular smart contract developer tools in layer 1 networks. It is one of the preferred choices of developers for ETH and EVM connections with an interesting and easy-to-use UI. Alchemy also offers a diverse collection of responsive layer 1 networks along with great client support.
Monitoring and Maintenance Tools
Monitoring and maintenance tools can be skipped when creating a list of essential smart contract tools. Developers typically choose to use their own scripts for monitoring.
On the other side, well-known technologies like Tenderly and Defender from OpenZeppelin can guarantee developers’ efficiency gains. In addition to ensuring the safety of production code, both tools deliver effective outcomes.
Help & Support Tools
A smart contract developer could occasionally experience roadblocks in their quest. The best smart contract development tools for assistance and support could aid developers in overcoming such challenges. To ensure the best outcomes from their project, all developers must incorporate help & support tools in their plan.
The two platforms that are most easily accessible for resolving developer difficulties are Stack Exchange ETH and StackOverflow.
Discord communities are another resource that developers can use to obtain answers to their queries.
Discord, however, is better suited for conversations regarding fresh suggestions for creating smart contracts. On the other hand, forums are excellent support platforms because they enable query indexing and ranking.
Front-end Development Tools
Only if users can access the programme, which is based on smart contracts, would it be useful. To ensure a flexible and effective smart contract development project, front-end development tools are crucial.
Common tools like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and frameworks like Angular or React must be included in a developer’s plan.
On the other hand, front-end development tools help you envision and improve new functionalities for your smart contract applications. The front-end development tools, which can be added to the list of smart contract development tools, are Drizzle, UseDapp, and Ethers.js or Web3.js.
Drizzle belongs to the Truffle Suite and offers an interesting collection of front-end tools. On the other hand, Web3.js and Ethers.js have evolved into popular JavaScript frameworks for defining smart contract front-end functionalities.
Security Analysis Tools
Security analysis tools would be listed among the fundamental smart contract developer tools. Before submitting code to the blockchain network, developers must realize the need for audits.
Hence, before you release your application into production, security analysis tools assist in locating its vulnerabilities.
While developers must exercise caution, new tools for developing smart contracts contain capabilities that can help your smart contracts be more secure. MythX, Manticore, and Slither are significant examples of security analysis tools for creating smart contracts.
Slither is a useful tool for static analysis methods, while MythX is a good choice for cloud-based bug testing.
Conclusion
The many top smart contract development tool categories illustrate what is required to create a smart contract, but you need to have exposure to different programming languages for smart contracts.
Effective insights are provided by the overview of many fundamental tools, including libraries and oracles, security analysis tools, front-end development tools, and help & support tools.
Based on your growth goals, you can employ the many tools in each area. The fact that you may include every requirement in your development plan is the debate of the best tools for developing smart contracts’ main selling point. Professional training can help you advance your career by teaching you more about developing smart contracts.