Embracing Innovation Through Hackathons

SantiagoDevRel

May 3, 2024 — 6 min read

In Web3 development, innovation is critical to driving progress and empowering developers to build the next generation of decentralized applications (dApps). As we navigate this ever-evolving space, one concept is emerging as a game-changer to improve the developer experience and adoption: Web3.js plugins🧩

What's a web3 plugin🧩?

The latest release of Web3.js introduces a brand new capability: Web3 plugins!

These plugins offer a tailored approach to enhancing the developer experience and streamlining the development process, serving as versatile tools to address various needs in dApp development. With a range of functionalities, including:

Custom RPC Calls
Cross-chain Communication
SDKs for any web3 protocol
Oracle calls
Contract wrappers
Easy web3 APIs for web2 devs
Automated Transactions and Reactions
Complex Function Arguments
Custom logic and functionality
and more!

The primary applications include (but are not limited to) Oracles, DeXs, Layer 1s, Layer 2s, and Bridges.

👉More about web3 plugins

LearnWeb3 and Push Protocol Initiatives

Together with Push Protocol and LearnWeb3, We have joined forces to host a buildathon and ideathon as part of their current initiatives, resulting in four fully built web3 plugins🧩 and eight plugin ideas!

Billion Reason to Build

Hosted by Push Protocol, Billion Reasons to Build unfolded across 18 cities in India, with competitors having the opportunity to win over USD 50,000 in prizes.

Decentralized Intelligence Season 2

Organized by LearnWeb3, Decentralized Intelligence Season 2 challenged participants to come up with solutions to various bounties with USD 49,000 in total prizes.

Winners spotlight

Buildathon winners

🥇 Web3 Plugin Contracts

This plugin simplifies contract interaction for developers, allowing them to initialize contracts when interacting with them without needing to search for ABIs. It loads the source code, ABI, Bytecode, compiler version, contract name, and compiler settings for any verified contract by passing the contract address. Web3 Plugin Contracts supports over 100+ chains.

Explore more here 👇

🥈Web3 Plugin Avalanche Cross-Chain

This plugin offers tools for interacting with various blockchains and Avalanche subnets, facilitating cross-chain communication using Teleporter. QuickContract enables functions like smart contract compilation, deployment, gas value calculation, and state variable updates. The CrossChain class focuses on communication between subnets of Avalanche.

Explore more here 👇

🥉 Web3 Plugin Sign

This plugin facilitates interaction with the Sign Protocol, offering features such as retrieving contract addresses, managing schema registrations, and performing attestations.

Explore more here 👇

Honorable mention

Web3 Plugin Ethereum Attestation Service(EAS)

This plugin allows seamless interaction with the EAS, allowing developers to get any network's contract addresses and make schema registration, attestations, and native schema encoders (WIP).

Explore more here 👇

Ideathon winners

🥇Smart Contract Optimizer

The SmartContract Optimizer plugin streamlines Ethereum smart contract development with web3.js integration and testing libraries. Beyond optimizing gas costs and enhancing developer experience, it could include testing tools for automated contract testing. With features like the Gas Cost Analyzer and Smart Contract Template Library, developers can deploy efficient and thoroughly tested contracts, advancing blockchain development accessibility and reliability.

🥈Faucet plugin

The web3.js Faucet Plugin for Testnets simplifies acquiring testnet tokens for Ethereum-based projects. It automates token requests from a faucet service, allowing developers to programmatically obtain tokens via a command-line interface or within their development environment. By integrating Tableland's decentralized cloud database for private faucet automation, the plugin ensures security by preventing bot exploitation.

🥉Subscription

The Subscription Plugin streamlines subscription-based services within the Ethereum ecosystem, offering users a seamless payment mechanism and enhancing project functionality. Users can subscribe to services by calling the subscribe function with the service address and amount, storing essential subscription information. The collect function enables payment collection and triggers associated functions in external contracts. This plugin simplifies subscription implementation and streamlines payment processing. With the Subscription Plugin, integrating subscription services becomes effortless, benefiting developers and users.

🎖️Sablier

The Sablier Plugin aims to simplify the integration of Sablier's token streaming functionality into dApps. Sablier facilitates real-time, continuous token transfers for various recurring payment scenarios, such as payroll and vesting. The plugin allows developers to create, manage, and interact with Sablier streams seamlessly within their dApps, abstracting away the complexities of direct protocol interaction. The plugin enhances developer experience by providing familiar APIs and extends project functionality by enabling real-time token streaming capabilities. This integration eliminates the need for developers to engage with Sablier's smart contracts directly, making it easier to leverage its capabilities.

Future Outlook

🚀Rise of Web3 Plugins: Web3 plugins are poised to become the cornerstone of web3 development, offering modular solutions that streamline complex tasks and accelerate the adoption of web3 protocols. As the ecosystem evolves, we expect to see more plugin adoption, driving innovation and efficiency in dApp development.

🎓Education Empowers Developers: Initiatives like hackathons, workshops, and tutorials are pivotal in equipping developers with the knowledge and skills to leverage web3 plugins effectively, fueling ecosystem growth. By providing accessible educational resources and hands-on experiences, developers get empowered to explore, experiment, and innovate with web3 technologies, pushing decentralized application development forwards.

🤝Community Collaboration: Collaboration within the web3 community will be vital in driving the continued evolution of web3 plugins. Through collaborative efforts, developers can share knowledge, collaborate on projects, and collectively address challenges, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of open-source development and innovation.

In the ever-evolving landscape of web3 development, hackathons serve as vibrant hubs of innovation and collaboration, driving forward the frontier of dApp development. These events breed groundbreaking ideas and transformative projects, where diverse developers converge to push the boundaries of what's possible in the decentralized space.

Through hackathons, developers not only showcase their technical expertise but also foster meaningful connections with like-minded peers, mentors, and industry experts. The collaborative spirit encourages knowledge sharing, experimentation, and collective problem-solving, laying the groundwork for the next wave of Web3 innovation.

As we reflect on the success of this collaborative hackathon with Push Protocol and LearnWeb3, we anticipate the ripple effects of the Web3 plugins and ideation concepts. These projects represent not only individual ingenuity but also the collective ambition of the Web3 community to pioneer a decentralized future. The journey of Web3 development continues, fueled by the passion and creativity of developers worldwide.

Learn more about web3.js

If you want to explore web3.js further, all functions with code examples can be found in the web3.js docs:

👉 Visit web3.js docs

👉 Follow @web3_js on Twitter for updates!

Still have questions? You can connect with other developers and get web3.js support in the ChainSafe Discord channel.

Just go to #web3js-general for all your web3.js questions. We hope to see you there soon! 😀

👉 Join us on Discord!

About ChainSafe

ChainSafe is a leading blockchain research and development firm specializing in protocol engineering, cross-chain interoperability, and web3 gaming. Alongside its contributions to major ecosystems such as Ethereum, Polkadot, and Filecoin, ChainSafe creates solutions for developers across the web3 space utilizing expertise in gaming, interoperability, and decentralized storage. As part of its mission to build innovative products for users and improved tooling for developers, ChainSafe embodies an open-source and community-oriented ethos to advance the future of the internet.