Announcing the Release of Dash Platform v0.12 on Evonet

As the first release conforming to our newly outlined release process, Dash Core Group is excited to introduce Dash Platform v0.12, recently deployed to Evonet. This release contains numerous improvements to the Dash Platform Protocol (DPP), implementation of the initial version of the platform credit system, and a significant improvement to the platform architecture. When combined, the changes introduced in this release make Dash Platform more performant and easier to use for developers.

Release Highlights

Due to the breaking changes introduced in this release, a result of numerous improvements to the Platform Protocol (DPP), all data on Evonet has been wiped. Developers should make adjustments to their local setups to reflect this.

Below you’ll find a list of the most important updates included in the Platform v0.12 release. You can view all of the updates in greater detail by visiting the release notes for each platform component, which are included in the last section of this article.

• Initial Credit System Implementation: The first version of the credit system has been implemented, which provides basic spam protection and incentives for masternode owners. Every data operation (i.e. state transition) processed on the platform has a fee denominated in the form of a platform credit. Developers can spend credits by funding an identity using a Layer 1 (core) transaction with a rate of 1 duff (0.00000001 Dash) equaling 1000 credits. Fees are currently determined by the size of the state transition, where 1 byte of data costs 1 credit. At the moment, data operations typically cost somewhere between 600–1000 credits. Fees are collected and sent to a distribution pool, where they will eventually be distributed to masternodes as compensation for hosting platform services. In later versions, we will make more improvements to the credit system and specific details will be revealed in an upcoming blog post.
• Simplified Platform Architecture: The logic for the Platform State Machine (js-machine) has been merged into the Drive codebase, which greatly simplifies the overall platform architecture and speeds up the time needed to create a block.
• Simplified Identity Usage: In brief, separate identities are no longer required to create data contracts. Previously, multiple identities were required to create data contracts, but now, a single identity is all that is needed to create any number of documents and data contracts.
• Improvements to the Distribution Package: Previously, gRPC-Web requests wouldn’t work when connecting to a node that was started using the distribution package. This bug has been fixed. Furthermore, the distribution package now allows users to run their own testnet node.
• Resource Monitoring for Evonet: Dash Core Group will monitor memory, disk, IO, CPU, and other resource metrics in order to keep Evonet live and stable. Issues with the network will be reported to team members much more quickly, resulting in reduced downtime and faster problem resolution. In addition, monitoring for these network health metrics will provide us with information to set minimal system requirements for masternodes. For developers creating their own devnets, resource monitoring can be turned on through configuration in the Dash Network Deploy Tool.

Conclusion

This release is part of our ongoing commitment to providing regular, transparent development updates. Everyone within DCG is tirelessly working toward defining, refining, and building the highest quality product for our community and for the countless people around the world who would benefit from true digital cash. It is my honor to represent their hard work through this and future blog posts. In roughly 6 weeks’ time, Dash Core Group observers can expect another release to Evonet as we continue demonstrating our industry-leading efforts at realizing value for our network and users.

Congratulations to all of the platform team developers for the hard work that went into developing and preparing this release!

Release Notes

• Dash Platform Protocol v0.12
• Drive v0.12
• DAPI v0.12
• MN-Bootstrap v0.12
• Dash Platform Services Controller v0.12
• Dash Network Deploy Tool v0.12