AdaStat.net - Open Source Cardano Blockchain Explorer

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Tetiana Stashenko

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

info@adastat.net

Additional applicants

Dmytro Stashenko

Olha Domornikova

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

9

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

We use a third-party software like PostgreSQL, Cardano Node, DB-Sync, NodeJS, and some JS/CSS frameworks and libraries like progressive JavaScript framework VueJS or CSS UIkit framework for rapid prototyping and fast development. All the dependencies are open source. There are no external factors (such as third-party suppliers, external resources, third-party software, etc.) that may cause a delay.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

Explorers

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Explorers are an important part of every blockchain ecosystem. Cardano is no exception. At the moment there are no open source explorers that support all the Cardano features. Moreover, there is only one open source Cardano explorer - very old explorer developed by IOG, which has not been updated for a long time and does not have support for a newest Cardano features at all. Our team has already developed the AdaStat.net Cardano Explorer that supports all the Cardano features like blocks, transactions, epochs, accounts, byron and shelley addresses, pools, tokens, and many other. But at the moment AdaStat doesn't have an open source code. And now we want to make AdaStat fully open source. Unfortunately, there is no easy and fast way to do this. The following will explain why.

So, what do we have at the moment:

AdaStat has 3 modules written in JavaScript - backend module, frontend module, and its own blockchain parser. In total, more than 150K lines of code. The backend and frontend modules are executed on the server and client (browser) sides respectively. The purpose of these modules is clear from their name. As for the blockchain parser - AdaStat uses DB-Sync as a blockchain data provider, but since DB-Sync does not have all the data AdaStat needs, the blockchain parser module is required to parse needed data and store it to PostgreSQL database.

And now what we are planning to do: 

1. First of all, we have to check all dependencies that AdaStat uses. This is a very important step, because at the moment there are many outdated extensions that AdaStat uses, which (possibly) have vulnerabilities. Disclosure of information about this will increase the risk of an external attack, therefore, before uploading the AdaStat code to the public repository, we will need to thoroughly check everything and update all dependencies to the latest versions. Updating dependencies will almost certainly entail a change in the AdaStat code, since new extensions most likely have new code requirements, therefore, after updating the dependencies we will need to check and rewrite the code if necessary, as well as check our code again for vulnerabilities.
2. Secondly, we will need to do a complete code refactoring, to enhance the readability, maintainability, and scalability. Code refactoring is needed because at the moment the code does not have a clear structure, since it was not written to be read and understood by other people unfamiliar with this code. So, we will need to add the descriptions for some methods, rewrite code to enhance the readability, etc. We will also have to move a lot of variables from the code to the settings, because at the moment they are just hardcoded.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The Cardano Ecosystem will have an open source blockchain explorer which supports all Cardano features. This will increase the number of Cardano developers and their activity in ecosystem and let other developers run their own copies of Cardano blockchain explorer. This in turn will increase utility, transparency and friendliness when users interact with the Cardano ecosystem. Hence the number of users and the adoption will increase. Moreover the number of explorers in the terms of decentralization is crucial, since the explorer is a point of failure and can potentially cheat with data, it's important to have as many explorers as possible.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The key metrics will be the number of issues raised on GitHub, commits, stars, forks, etc. An indicator of success will be represented by the growth of these metrics.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We plan to share the outputs and results of this project through AdaStat Twitter account as well as Cardano TG Groups like Cardano Developers, Cardano StakePool Operators, Cardano Stake Pool Best Practice, etc

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

As mentioned above, our team has already developed the AdaStat Cardano Explorer. So we have enough experience and understanding of how and what to do to achieve results.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goal is making AdaStat Cardano Explorer fully open source. We will measure our goal with the numbers of people that understand / can work on the project and number of developers which run their own copy of Cardano blockchain explorer.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

The development process will take approximately 9 months and will have 3 milestones:

Milestone 1

• Tasks: checking and refactoring parser code and uploading it on GitHub
• Duration: 3 months

Milestone 2

• Tasks: checking and refactoring backend code and uploading it on GitHub
• Duration: 3 months

Final Acceptance Milestone 3

• Tasks: checking and refactoring frontend code and uploading it on GitHub
• Duration: 3 months

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1

• Deliverables: by the end of the third month, we expect that the blockchain parser code will be fully available on GitHub public repository. It will be possible to run the parser and make sure that the PostgreSQL database is being filled with necessary data

Milestone 2

• Deliverables: by the end of the sixth month, we expect that the backend code will be fully available on GitHub public repository. The Cardano developers will be able to run their own copy of AdaStat backend, so AdaStat API will be fully available.

Final Acceptance Milestone 3

• Deliverables: by the end of the ninth month, we expect that the frontend code will be fully available on GitHub public repository. The Cardano developers will be able to run their own copy of AdaStat Cardano Explorer and the project will be completed

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

The total requested funds are 150,000 ADA, which is equal to ~$42,000 at the current rate

• Servers and infrastructure cost for 1 year: ~$225/month * 12 months = $2,700
• Developers salary: $39,300

Initial Payment

• Servers and infrastructure cost: 10,000 ADA
• Total cost: 10,000 ADA

Milestone 1

• Estimated man-hours: 270 hours
• Developers salary: 45,000 ADA
• Total cost: 45,000 ADA

Milestone 2

• Estimated man-hours: 270 hours
• Developers salary: 45,000 ADA
• Total cost: 45,000 ADA

Final Acceptance Milestone 3

• Estimated man-hours: 296 hours
• Developers salary: 50,000 ADA
• Total cost: 50,000 ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The average cost of development per hour is 50$, the average cost of testing per hour is 25$. We assume that our 2 devs will not spend more than 25% of their working time (i.e. 2 hours per day / each dev = 4 hours per day). We also assume that the project development process will take 8 month (i.e. 184 working days). So we can calculate the total development cost

• 184 * 4 hours = 736 hours
• 736 hours * $50 = $36,800

Also, we assume that testing the project at all stages of development will take no more than 100 hours, So we can calculate the total testing cost

• 100 hours * $25 = $2,500.

And now we can calculate the total amount

• $36,800 + $2,500 = $39,300

which is equal our team work cost.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept