Sphere 10 Software has recently launched a flipstarter for the CashSQL project - a database integration-broker for Bitcoin Cash.
An MVP of this software can be found here.
It has 9 days to go and has raised about 50% so far. This signals there's some market interest in this product and it is worth pursuing. The purpose of this article is to elaborate on "why this project is relevant" and on "where this project is going".
How is this useful to me?
Some in the Bitcoin Cash community may look at this and wonder "how is this useful to me?" .
The reality is, it is not immediately useful to most users whatsoever. This is because it is not a user-facing product but rather an "industrial product". However, not being useful to you does not mean it has no value to you. For example, a crane may not be useful to you but without one, the domicile in which you dwell may not have been built.
Similarly, if CashSQL can help builders rapidly develop new infrastructure which you may use, that's valuable to you. If that infrastructure grows BCH then it means more developers are in BCH and more activity is occurring in BCH. This means it's worth more, something which benefits you directly.
This is generally true for all sorts of industrial-level investments.
What does this product actually do?
Simply put, this product allows anyone to create a custom relational database out of the BCH blockchain. This database becomes their property which they own and control on their servers. They can use this database in a totally unrestricted (and unmetered) manner. This is useful to many.
This database is "proper" in the sense that it is a "relational database". Think of it like a bunch of spreadsheets that are all inter-connected. For example, it creates a spreadsheet for Blocks, Transactions, Accounts, SLP Accounts, anything. In fact, the product allows users to customize and build their own spreadsheets out of the blockchain data.
This is useful for builders who want to use the blockchain for new applications and protocols other than cash. For example, a company wanting to build a P2P YouTube (like LBRY) on BCH could use CashSQL to prototype their idea and eventually power their systems.
All LBRY does (when it comes to the blockchain part) is embed video content as small tags in OP_DATA instructions within transactions. The actual video data is managed separately, but the consensus of the system is encoded in the chain.
CashSQL can allow a builder to replicate what LBRY does on BCH (plus much more) but without requiring millions in investment and a team of developers to do so. By using CashSQL to maintain a "custom spreadsheet" for videos, comments, etc only a small amount of development would be ever required (for the blockchain-integration aspect).
CashSQL would act as an "integration broker" between this P2P YouTube and the BCH blockchain. This is what integration brokers do and what CashSQL really is, at it's core. This is an extremely valuable tool to many, and it should be open-sourced for the benefit of all.
Why can't they just use BCHN?
If you wanted to do that now, the node software cannot help you much. The reason is that Bitcoin Core (what BCHN is based on) was not built using traditional relational database model. Instead they store all the blockchain data in a far more primitive (but generally faster) type of database called a "Key-Value Database".
Think of it like one gigantic phone book where you look up phone numbers (value) using a name (key). That's it - all the data is stored in this very simple, low-level but fast form. The price for being faster is that it loses the relational structure. In other words, it stops being like "spreadsheets" and remains forever a dull "phone book". As a result, these databases are practically useless for anything other than what the node needs it for.
In fact, the database used by nodes are generally considered private and not to be accessed by anything other than the node itself. So in this sense, there no blockchain database at all just a private storage layer!
CashSQL fills in this gap by exporting BCHN's "phone book" into "spreadsheets" and keeps them synced up in real-time. It does this for other software to use freely. Other software can both read from and write to the blockchain "spreadsheets". It is bi-directional. This means software that wants to write to the chain need only to write to a "spreadsheet" and forget about it. CashSQL takes care of marshaling and broadcasting transactions with funds/data out to the network and then providing notifications back in the database.
This sort of workflow is actually quite challenging and expensive for many companies to build. I've seen some give up half-way through (after seeing how expensive it can get). Many also get the run-around from developers seeking endless time and budgets. In my opinion, this is a big reason why we've not seen an explosion of blockchain apps around public blockchains - it's way too expensive and complex to integrate. That needs to change!
By making blockchain integration easier and cheaper, it can be brought within reach of smaller builders. It allows them to get their ideas out to market quicker and faster and saves them from re-inventing the wheel over and over.
What's the vision for CashSQL?
The road-map for CashSQL is for it to evolve into it's own P2P network. It is not intended to replace a node, and it never will. However, it can become an overlay network with many public access nodes for all to use.
Such a network can facilitate all sorts of P2P apps that integrate into BCH. These apps can be written in Javascript/WASM and even deployed as web apps on browsers. Such apps can maintain consensus, communicate with each other, and make payments using these public access CashSQL nodes maintained around the world.
This is one way that BCH-based services like P2P file storage, P2P chat, P2P message boards, P2P YouTube, etc can emerge.
This is not part of our commitment of delivery in the flipstarter. It is our vision for where this product could go were it to be funded.
Sphere 10 is committed to building out the deliverables enumerated in the flipstarter and open-sourcing it all under the MIT license. If/when it gains traction, the project should start to attain a life of it's own. Future flipstarters may be commissioned to advance the product to meet this vision, if needed.
Thank you for reading and consideration - if you want to help bring some new developer talent into BCH (i.e. myself and other Sphere 10 devs) and if you believe this product can help grow the eco-system, please do support our flipstarter.
More Links:
Official Flipstarter
Reddit post with Q/A
By Herman Schoenfeld
Director
Sphere 10 Software
Hallo Herman, Ich könnte dir anbieten diese Software zum halben Preis fertig zu stellen, da ich in Venezuela wohne und meine Lebenshaltungskosten hier so gering sind, würde ich für die Hälfte des Lohns arbeiten den du für den deutschen Entwickler eingeplant hast.
Ich selbst habe seit 2006 Erfahrung als Freelancer, habe mit 8 Jahren mit der Software Enticklung begonnen und bin auch dreifach durch Sun und Oracle zertifiziert (Diplom Wirtschaftsinformatik sowie Bachelor in Medieninformatik) und habe erfolgreich in vielen Grossprojekten mitgearbeitet und auch eigene Produkte auf die Beine gestellt.
Zuletzt hatte ich in Deutschland einen Vertrag für 78€ pro Stunde bei der TK.
Mein Code zeichnet sich durch hohe Qualität aus, da ich besonders auf Code Quality Assurance spezialisiert bin.
Sonst wüde ich mich auch freuen falls du einen Job anzubieten hast, wie gesagt ich kann dir anbieten zum halben Preis zu arbeiten, da ich besonders gerne für bitcoin projekte arbeite und eben diese geringen Lebenshaltungskosten hier in Venezuela habe.
Schreib mir ne mail falls es dich interessiert und wir telefonieren mal.
trbc@bitcoinmap.cash