🏛️Built on Dymension
Dymensify is a bridge that leverages the technical infrastructure and advantages of the Dymension blockchain. Therefore, it is important to understand the technicalities behind Dymension to, in turn, have a firm understanding of how Dymensify works under the hood.
Blockchains have different layers that enable them to function well enough. Generally, there are often layers for data availability, settlement, execution, and application. Each of these layers is not mere semantics as they are pivotal to the effective operation of a blockchain.
Monolithic Blockchains
A blockchain often has all these layers within itself, which is logical. Using Ethereum as a case study, the blockchain has a hardware, data, consensus, and execution layer. Projects that build on it can exist as distinct application layers.
This all-in-one layer architecture has been in practice for long. However, there are technical overheads that limit such designs, which was due to the monolithic architecture of Ethereum.
At a point, the throughput of Ethereum became so slow, and there was a corresponding increase in gas fees, which made the network buggy and unnecessarily expensive.
Hence, the network has implemented various scalability measures such as sharding, side chains, rollups, and proto-dank sharding.
Modular Blockchains
Seeing the fallibility of the monolithic architecture, more blockchains and networks are fast-embracing the modular architecture. Networks such as Celestia, EigenLayer, and Fuel are pioneering modularity in the blockchain space.
Dymension, a modern blockchain, adopts modular architecture from the start to foster long-term sustainability. It embraces limitless building and ensures lightning-fast throughput.
The vertical scalability solution is connected to the need for modularity. To better understand how this works, there will be a need to delve a bit into traditional software engineering.
Horizontal Scalability
In engineering, horizontal scalability refers to the process of distributing more database load and computational tasks on new machines so the old machine will have fewer loads to process. MongoDB, which database developers should be familiar with, uses horizontal scalability.
Back to the blockchain, some blockchains scale by getting other dependent blockchains that will process the computational load outside the main blockchain.
This is what Polygon does to Ethereum, which is horizontal scaling in the blockchain sense of it.
Vertical Scalability
Vertical scalability is carried out by increasing the ability of a machine or server to process workloads, which can be in the form of upgrading the storage or RAM.
On the other hand, some blockchains, from the outset, only provide data availability and settlement, but the execution is planned to be on the networks. This is what it means to scale vertically in blockchain protocol engineering.
This is the main difference between the two scaling methods: new servers are added for horizontal scaling, while only the power or capacity of the existing server is increased in vertical scaling.
It is noteworthy that Dymension operates vertical scalability at this junction according to its design. In turn, Dymensify is a bridge RollApp that was built with the Dymension RollApp Development Kit (RDK). What, then are RollApps?
Blockchain-natives will at first think of Rollups at the mention of RollApps. While the two are fundamentally different, they have some similarities.
Without controversy, a good background in Rollups is necessary to understand RollAps. By way of introduction, Vitalik Buterin birthed the idea of Rollups in one of his technical blogs.
Rollups are layer-2 blockchains that take transactions from the main chain, process them, and then batch them back into the main chain. The main use case of rollups is taking some computational workloads off the main chain. Recall this is horizontal scaling.
RollApps, on the other hand, are similar but different.
First of all, RollApps only work on modular chains—and are more native to Dymension—because they will have their custom execution environment and autonomy - albeit not sovereignty.
An ideal RollApp in the Dymension ecosystem comprises server and client components. The client component implements p2p messaging, cross-chain communications, and block production. The server side defines the business logic.
RollApp Sequencer
Sequence, as a word, means “order of things.” For rollups, sequencers verify, order, and push processed transactions into the main chain.
RollApp sequencers perform similar responsibilities. Transactions are made into and out of RollApps as autonomous applications.
As a result, a transaction is sent into the sequencer, which in turn carries out two crucial activities. The first one is the batching of the processed transaction into a block. The second responsibility is publishing the batch and its state root proofs into settlement and data availability layers.
In the context of Dymension, the batched RollApp transactions are published on the Dymension Hub.
RollApp Virtual Machine
Virtual machines such as the Ethereum Virtual Machine help process and implement smart contracts in the protocol-native language.
Interestingly, the RollApp Virtual Machine (RVM) does this and more.
Primarily, the RVM saves RollApp the stress of adding EVM logic to their settlement layer whenever they want to support the EVM in their execution environment.
In addition, its strategic placement in the settlement layer also helps during RollApp dispute resolution, which can replay how a transaction in dispute was indeed executed.
RollApp Development Kit
Engineers are more conversant with the Software Development Kit, which helps use software to create custom applications.
In the same vein, the RDK contains the packages that are often required to create a Dymension-inclined application.
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