As ICON pursues its ICONSENSUS journey, we’re keen to focus some attention on the reason ICON exists in the first place — to hyperconnect the world. This means real world use cases of blockchain technology and a growing user-base.
Part of the equation is ensuring that great DApps continue to choose to build on the ICON blockchain. In this post, we give a nod to Rhizome’s original article and highlight some of the key reasons DApp developers should choose ICON.
We’ll talk briefly about how ICON is working towards building a strong user base and touch on some additional resources / tools for the developer community.
If you’re eager to build on ICON, ICON will help you
Resources are aplenty when it comes to developing on ICON.
ICON’s Developer Portal has grown to become the “one-stop center for all your developer needs” that it promised to be nearly a year ago. Among many things, the developer-centric platform gives a comprehensive overview of building on ICON, complete with step-by-step guides, tutorials and software development kits (SDKs) to get you started. You can also ask questions and get help from the community via the discussion forum.
ICON has also been active in releasing source code and other resources on their Github, allowing developers from all over the world to collaborate and develop their own projects. Developers can also discuss, troubleshoot and share ideas via ICON’s Developer Telegram chat and follow tutorials on their Developers Youtube channel. With dozens of DApps and use cases currently operating on ICON (and more to come!), it’s clear ICON is working hard to foster a strong developer community.
Everyone loves a good incentive
As outlined in its Contribution Proposal Paper, ICON supports the growth of ideas through its DApp Booster Program (DBP) and Ecosystem Expansion Projects (EEPs).
These initiatives were created to incentivize developers to build on ICON. They also allow ICONists to make governance decisions by voting for DApps and projects that contribute to the expansion of the ICON ecosystem. The top 100 DApps (or community-building projects) selected will be eligible to receive monthly ICX rewards based on community support.
ICON’s reward system thus incentivizes developers and community-members alike to participate in the growth of the ICON network, either by building or by making governance decisions, and ultimately provides rewards for those who most deserve it.
Develop it, and they will come
If ICON’s reward incentives weren’t enough to convince you, here’s a third reason that might: ICON’s Fee 2.0.
In an effort to create a supportive environment for DApps, ICON implemented Fee Sharing and Virtual Step. Many developers and P-Reps have praised these innovative features, which significantly help to reduce DApps’ barriers to customer acquisition by allowing DApp developers to cover the initial transaction fees normally incurred by users. And to alleviate this fee burden, developers can pay the fees with the ‘Virtual Steps’ generated through an ICX staking process.
What does this mean for users? Typically, using a DApp requires a user to own cryptocurrency to pay transaction fees. This is obviously a huge barrier to entry, as most people still do not own any crypto and may not be tempted to get it ‘just to trial a new app’ that requires opening a wallet. Thanks to Fee 2.0, users won’t even know that they’re using a blockchain-based application, because the transaction fees are covered by the developers.
From a DApp developer’s perspective, this significantly increases mainstream adoption. And best of all, the improved user experience encourages adoption of ICON DApps!
Interesting fact: Main P-Rep Ubik Capital’s Breadcrmb DApp was the first to implement Fee 2.0, followed by karaoke DApp Somesing.
Additional resources
If you have great ideas to contribute to ICON’s mission of hyperconnecting the world, but don’t know where to begin, here are some resources that might help:
- P-Rep ICONation developed a beginner’s course to building on ICON, which explains the fundamentals of smart contracts and the basics of building a DApp on ICON.
- If you’re not a developer but still have an awesome DApp idea, P-Rep team Ubik Capital can bring your ideas to life with resources and development assistance via GoICX.
- Justin Hsiao, aka 2infiniti, has a great Medium series on creating an ICON DApp from A to Z. The prominent ICONist also shares many tips pertaining to developing on ICON.
- To encourage developers to build on ICON, you can share P-Rep Gilga Capital’s ‘Building a DApp on ICON’, which outlines use cases and benefits of building on ICON.
- Developers can apply for funding through ICON’s accelerator program ICX_Station, by submitting a Contribution Proposal, or by applying to P-Reps’ grant programs, such as ICONDAO’s and Newroad Capital’s.
- A recent partnership with OAK Node allows developers and P-Reps to seamlessly launch a node on the ICON network.
- P-Reps Rhizome, ICONation, UBIK Capital and Sharpn have released their collaborative initiative, ICON CORE, a developer-focused portal designed to improve the process of onboarding developers on ICON.
