Algorand Award
AUSTIN, Texas, August 24, 2021 - HEADLINE INC unveils PIPELINE-UI, Algorand’s latest industry-leading technical achievement—a React.js-based component library that is being built from the ground up to address crypto’s biggest challenges.
- The on-ramp dilemma
- A HEADLINE challenge
- Library deconstruction
- A PIPELINE solution
- Developer experience
The On-ramp Dilemma
Among the issues facing blockchains in 2021, almost none are more urgent than solving “the on-ramp dilemma.” This singular problem, plaguing the blockchain industry since its earliest days, is a frustrating reminder of how technology innovation can far outpace the speed of adoption.
100,000 developers
build on blockchains today.
Algorand Inc. CEO Steve Kokinos recently summarized the issue as follows:
– Steve Kokinos“There’s something in the neighborhood of 100k developers working on blockchain today. There’s close to 20M (developers) who aren’t. Developer experiences need to improve dramatically for mainstream applications to take hold.”
But how do you improve developer experiences when the underlying technology behind next-generation blockchains like Algorand, Solana, Ethereum 2.0, and others continues to advance (both in terms of speed and complexity) at breakneck speed?
Developers are often left in the dust.
Adding to the problem, existing solutions like developer demos, documentation platforms, style libraries, etc are often deprecated soon after being released.
Oftentimes because the open-source developers moved on to other projects, or because blockchain forks/upgrades made the existing solutions obsolete. And to make matters worse, the issues referenced above are not subsiding, they are compounding as more blockchains come online, stretching developer teams over a larger subset of projects, which in turn leads to more deprecation.
A HEADLINE Challenge
Aaron Martinez, founder of HEADLINE INC, became acutely aware of the on-ramp dilemma in April of 2021. Over the next two months, Martinez worked closely with the Algorand Foundation to lay the foundation (no pun intended) for a project that could fundamentally change the entire blockchain developer onboarding experience.
By June of 2021, Martinez’s plan was put into motion; PIPELINE-UI was born. What is PIPELINE-UI and how does it solve the on-ramp dilemma? To answer this question, we must first understand what a component library or design system is—and what it is not.
Library Deconstruction
– Langvad“A component library is a set of reusable components. It could be a folder inside your project with common components used throughout the application. It could be a distributed package on npm. It could also be a part of a bigger design system. A component library can be small and it”
While the above explanation describes a component library in broad terms, a component library defined in the general sense is much more specific. Typically component libraries refer to a collection of reusable design elements that make up the UI/UX of an application or website.
These libraries typically exist in one of two forms:
- The library is totally custom and proprietary to an organization (very advanced features).
- The library/design systems are open-source projects with tons of flexibility and broad appeal (very basic features).
Why don’t open-source projects have advanced features?
Quite simply, the more advanced the functionality, the more exclusive the appeal. On top of that, updating a component library is not for the faint of heart, especially when components have advanced features or functionality.
So what does all of this mean for the end developers?
It means that (typically) component libraries will look incredible, but it is up to the developer to make the components actually work in an application. Component libraries are essentially hollow shells. That is, until now.
A PIPELINE Solution
PIPELINE-UI solves the blockchain on-ramp dilemma by redefining what a component library is. No longer component shells, PIPELINE-UI’s standardized Algorand components ship with batteries installed.
Hard Coded =
Batteries Included
Martinez and his team wrote a new Algorand SDK that is hard coded into Algorand components, meaning that the components are literally plug-and-play. Developers can now build and deploy custom DAApps (Decentralized Algorand Applications) in under 3 minutes.
Hard-coding SDK functionality into an open-source component library is wholly unprecedented. In the traditional tech industry, it would be unthinkable.
Why hamstring your developers with limited usability components?
And that’s where it gets even better. PIPELINE-UI is not putting developers in a box, it is opening a new world of blockchain possibilities with not one, or even two component libraries, but three different suites of tools for every developer at any stage in their career.
Developer Experience → Mass Adoption
HEADLINE INC interns, with zero coding experience, were able to successfully build and deploy functional blockchain applications in under 4 minutes. And to think, this is only Milestone 1.
Milestone 1
is only the beginning
Totally customizable and fully interchangeable, the PIPELINE-UI component library, courtesy of HEADLINE INC in partnership with the Algorand Foundation, is the solution to the blockchain on-ramp dilemma.