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Chang-Suk
Chang-Suk

Posted on • Originally published at Medium

What is Understandable Blockchain?

Currently, too many public blockchains exist and they all use different API and data structure, meaning that each service needs to be developed according to each one’s condition and function, which is cumbersome. In other words, developers have to bear huge costs, along with the difficulty of developing their own services for appropriate structure and API for Ethereum, EOS, and others.
To solve this problem, many interchain projects such as Icon and Cosmos came out in the blockchain world, but they are stuck with technical limitations, so the developing direction shifted to link with own individual chains. In fact, if there isn’t a standardized interface that is compatible to all blockchains with different API and data structure, it is impossible to interconnect blockchains.
In particular, unlike database that saves and deletes data on its own, the data on blockchain is processed and saved through a consensus algorithm. Once the data is stored in the blockchain, it is almost impossible to change. As such, the important implication is that processing method and understanding of data are important. However, most of blockchain’s development, API and operating and managing tools are at a basic level, so developers are faced with many difficulties when developing their own service. For example, many difficulties arise due to lack of the ability to find out cause of problems arising from tracking, debugging, revert issues in EVM. To address these fundamental problems, various developing and operating tools based on standardized interface like SQL of RDBS are in dire need.

Understandable Blockchain

Unlike regular data processing steps that create immediate input/output, a blockchain model where anyone in the world can participate in the consensus process goes through asynchronous transaction processes, which make difficult for developers to understand the whole processing process. As such, it is important to create a more intuitive and productive environment where data and its processing are easy to understand. In particular, an understandable blockchain environment is especially important, because smart contracts can define various types of data structure and processing.
We name the blockchain that provides a series of environments that help to efficiently process and analyze blockchain data as “Understandable Blockchain (UBC)”. Visualization of blockchain data is essential to establish the UBC environment.

Check Luniverse Site for more information about UBC

Understandable Blockchain Environment

The visualization of blockchain is divided into two parts: visualization of the blockchain data itself and the processing. Visualization of blockchain data allows a more productive service development as developers can have a better understanding of transaction data in blocks, smart contract data, blocks connected to blockchain and node connection network.

Data visualization for Blockchain

  • Internal data information: Blocks, block lists, transactions, transaction lists, data within smart contracts
  • Network information: P2P node networks, mining or validators
  • One-way connection structure: Transactions in block and block creation time
  • Node information: Node status, types, uptime

In order to leverage blockchain data, you need to analyze and track the flow of assets and the execution process and exceptions of contracts. For blockchains like Luniverse or Ethereum that support contracts, various data can be automatically collected, processed, stored on the blockchain, so visualization of blockchain data is very important.

Visualization of blockchain analysis data

  • Contract data analysis: Function call history, read data in the storage, etc.
  • Transaction data analysis: Almost real-time asset flow
  • Visualization of search results: processed transactions, delayed transaction, etc.

Along with visualization of blockchain data, understanding processing steps for blockchain is important as well. The understanding and monitoring of unpredictable and asynchronous blockchain transaction process help developers to better reflect the traits of blockchain.

Visualization of blockchain process

  • Transaction and contract process — monitoring exceptions, the cause of error, transaction Queue (Pending Queue, Debug, Trace, Revert)
  • Blockchain creation process — understanding consensus mechanism among miner or validator In particular, tracking the process of transactions and smart contracts is crucial to developers as they can easily debug technical issues when building their own service.

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