How to build Move Developer Community for Web3

On the 3rd of March, Pontem hosted a panel discussion at MoveCon featuring industry leaders from Rooch, A41, and MoveDID. The topic of the discussion was how to build Move developer communities for Web3.

You can listen to the full recording on Twitter or YouTube.

Meet the Speakers:

• Haichao Zhu: Co-Founder of Rooch Network, a Move based layer-2 multi-chain settlement network on Ethereum that provides scalability for public chains. Haichao has years of experience in developer relations, having worked at Solana, Algorand, and Aptos.

Rooch seeks to harness the power of the Move language to create a high-performance solution for Move developers everywhere.

• John Park: CEO of A41, a reputable validator firm based in Seoul, South Korea. John started his career as one of the co-founders of Nonce Foundation, a co-working/co-living community for crypto builders in Seoul. John has years of experience working with several projects and teams and was head of business development at DSRV.

A41 serves as a validator for Aptos, and recently emerged as the winner of a Sol hackathon for their cutting-edge Infra tooling, called MoveHub.

• Steve Wang: Builder on NoNceGEEK, the largest developer community DAO in China based on Move. Steve is working on MoveDID, a decentralized identity (DID) protocol on Aptos that aims to be the foundation for the next generation of large-scale Web3.

Building with Move: Perspectives from A41 and MoveDID

The Speakers began the panel by sharing their unique perspectives on why they have chosen to build using the Move language. Specifically:

1. A41: A41 decided to build with Move because of its modular architecture, which sets it apart from other languages like Solidity.  Move's modularity makes it easier for developers to create complex applications and facilitates the incorporation of new developers from the Web2 community.

John emphasized the importance of having metadata for Move modules, which can significantly enhance the development experience. Since Move is based on module functions, having metadata for these modules allows for more streamlined and efficient development processes.

2. MoveDID: According to Steve, the main reason for starting the MoveDID community was to take advantage of the early ecosystem and the large number of developers in China.

Steve further explained that in other languages like Solidity, DID information is scattered across different smart contracts, which poses a challenge to efficient development.

However, the Move language offers a more convenient approach, as all resources are stored under a user's address and can only be accessed by the user, thus enhancing security.

Overcoming Obstacles in Learning Move: Insights from Developers

While the Move language is relatively easy to learn, most developers are hesitant to start working with it due to the perceived steep learning curve.

However, just like any other language, Move is not without its limitations.

John, for example, has pointed out that the A41 team struggled with finding existing module functions for reuse, as there is a lack of indexing. Additionally, unmapped information on modules and challenges in executing functions through the web UI can create unease for developers. Moreover, the absence of support for aggregated transactions in Move presents yet another challenge for developers.

Move has a remarkable capability of emulating the behavior of resources in the physical world, which is made possible by its unique interface for developers to design prototypes and implement their applications. This feature requires developers to specify the abilities of specific data structures which can be demanding since Move is a strongly typed language with a syntax that's not very intuitive.

Despite these challenges, the capabilities of the Move language are top-tier when compared to other languages such as Solidity.

To overcome these challenges, solutions are being developed, including indexing existing functions to make it easier for developers to find them. Furthermore, efforts are being made to address infrastructure opportunities and framework interfaces, making Move more user-friendly for developers.

Web3: The Decentralized Future of the Internet

Imagine an internet that is not controlled by a few large companies, but instead, is operated independently by a network of decentralized nodes. An internet where users have sovereignty over their data, and can earn rewards for their actions on the network. This is the vision of Web3.

Web3 is the third generation of the internet, following the static web pages of Web1 and the dynamic web applications of Web2. It represents a new level of interactivity and user applications, where users can not only consume content but also create and share their own. With Web3, power is distributed among many users, and the network is more resilient and resistant to centralization and manipulation.

Web3 features significant similarities between tangible assets in the physical world and data on the network. This makes it a perfect fit for DeFi applications, with great native functions for it. The ability to earn rewards for actions taken on the network is another key tenet of Web3, which is why it is referred to as “the internet of value”.

The potential of Web3 is enormous, with a wide range of dApps being developed for various purposes such as finance, gaming, and more. The democratization of the internet through Web3 is a key step towards a more decentralized future, where users have more control over their data.

The Future of Web3 Development: Will Move Language Take the Lead?

As the Web3 ecosystem continues to grow and diversify across multiple chains, it is anticipated that there will be a growing demand for a variety of programming languages to support it.

Move is a language that is purpose-built for blockchain applications, and it is known for its exceptional modularity and safety features.

But the question remains: will Move be the go-to choice for most Web3 developers in the future, particularly as more Web2 developers enter the space?

Several features of Move make it an attractive option for developers. Its design philosophy and innovation in resource management and safety features set it apart from other blockchain languages like Solidity. Its strong typing and auditing tag features inherited from Rust, make it a secure and reliable option for building decentralized applications.

Additionally, Move's potential to solve problems like high gas fees on the Ethereum network, as well as its potential to become a core pillar of the Web3 ecosystem, make it an exciting prospect for developers.

However, several challenges could hinder Move's widespread adoption. For one, the market for Move developers is still relatively small as compared to Solidity. However, with the support of various Layer 1 blockchains adopting Move as their language, the potential for the language to grow and become a major player in the industry cannot be ignored.

Furthermore, the infrastructure supporting Move is still nascent, making it difficult for developers to find documentation and tutorials for the language.

In the end, whether Move will become the language of choice for developers in the future remains to be seen. It is clear, however, that it has the potential to be a significant player in the blockchain space, offering innovative solutions to longstanding problems in decentralized application development. As Web3 evolves and the ecosystem expands, we can only wait and see how Move and other blockchain languages will adapt and grow to meet the needs of the industry.

Building a Thriving Move Dev Community: Strategies for Success

A thriving developer community can help drive innovation, attract new talent, and ensure long-term sustainability. However, building such a community requires a well-thought-out strategy that involves understanding the needs and aspirations of developers, and providing them with the right resources and tools.

Here are some strategies that our partners suggest would help build a strong Move developer community:

1. Offering easier solutions:

Making your platform or technology user-friendly for developers is crucial for its success. Developers are the backbone of any technology, and making their job easier will result in more efficient development and better products.

This means creating an environment where developers can easily find and utilize modules and functions, as well as providing a user experience that is intuitive and user-friendly.

2. Focusing on dev tooling and infrastructure:

Many L1 blockchain platforms and foundations tend to focus on bringing in big DeFi projects or dApps to their ecosystem first. While this can be important for initial growth, it's also important to focus on the dev tooling and infrastructure side of things to attract more developers in the long run.

3. Incentivizing developers:

Offering rewards for contributions to open-source projects can incentivize developers to contribute more and drive continuous development.

By incentivizing contributions, projects can attract a wider range of talent and encourage more regular contributions, ultimately leading to faster development cycles, more robust software, and increased user adoption.

Building a Thriving Move Community: Collaboration is Key

Building a Move community that thrives cannot be achieved alone. It requires cooperation and collaboration from all parties involved.

To successfully establish a robust developer community, it is imperative to have the right infrastructure in place. However, constructing the necessary technical infrastructure is a considerable challenge that necessitates the cooperation of all core teams involved.

Moreover, support from the ecosystem is also crucial. This support may come in the form of grants, funding, and other types of assistance, including addressing the needs of the community.

Cooperation with wallets is also vital since wallet interfaces need upgrading to support new technologies. To achieve this, community feedback is essential, and integration with other tooling infrastructure must be given attention.

Ultimately, success in developing a strong community hinges on prioritizing the user experience. Developers should be empowered to select the appropriate building blocks for their projects and then seek support from the ecosystem.

Final Thoughts

To build a Move developer community for Web3, it is necessary to address the perceived steep learning curve of Move by offering easier solutions such as making the platform user-friendly and intuitive and focusing on dev tooling and infrastructure. Incentivizing developers through rewards for contributions can also attract more talent and ensure long-term sustainability.

Although challenges such as the small market for Move developers and the nascent infrastructure exist, Move's potential to solve pressing challenges and become a core pillar of the Web3 ecosystem make it an exciting prospect for developers.

ABOUT PONTEM

Pontem is a product development platform that enables global financial inclusion through blockchain technology. Pontem is developing infrastructure and decentralized tools for the fastest and most scalable Layer 1 blockchain – Aptos.

The Pontem Wallet is the gateway to the Aptos ecosystem available for Chrome,  Firefox, and iOS. Pontem Wallet users can send and receive tokens, connect to decentralized applications, and explore the Aptos ecosystem.

As a result of its partnership with Aptos, Pontem has developed foundational dApps like the Move Playground IDE, Liquidswap AMM, and ByteBabel code translator.