CBIA - Add Developer Tool Compatibility Matrix to Cardano Developers Portal

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

CBIA - Cardano Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co proposers and Additional applicants

Pedro Lucas - 45B

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

8

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

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Create a system for easy gathering of dependency/compatibility data across Cardano tools and expose it through insightful visualizations that enable one to browse and foresee downstream impacts.

[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.”

Cardano Foundation: To discuss changes and collaborate in moderating PRs to the Developer Tools repository.

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

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

This proposal is an enhancement to the Cardano Development Portal which is licensed under an MIT license.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

This proposal is CBIA’s first official mission of contributing to the Cardano developer ecosystem. From our initial calls, we identified a need to foresee update issues by having better visibility of infrastructure components’ compatibility and interdependence in the Cardano ecosystem.

The Cardano Foundation Developer Portal already includes an extensive list of Cardano infrastructure components and other tools or dApps. https://developers.cardano.org/tools 

The proposed solution will enhance this list’s format with details about compatibility and interdependencies between the listed items.

This will be done through attributes, such as Protocol version compatibility, that will be recorded as a ‘Trait’ of each component.

The new data will enable projects to clearly see updates for the components they depend on, and identify which other components depend on themselves.

We will then use this data to construct explorable visualizations and a Trait matrix table to facilitate insights across tools and dApps.

We believe this solution will make the Cardano network’s tooling relationships more comprehensible, and contribute to making our ecosystem considerably more versatile.

IOG’s Cardano node, although important, is not the only root for all downstream updates. Some tools start depending on alternative implementations of protocol clients. Between CBIA members there is a Rust implementation [Tx.Pipe], a Go implementation [Blink Labs], and a TypeScript implementation [hLabs] in the making that we trust will contribute to diversifying the communities of developers contributing to Cardano, strengthening our network’s foundations.

Also, further downstream, this solution will enable dependency insight at an intermediate level of tools (e.g. data providers), identifying and documenting relevant ‘Traits’ at this level. More about Traits and data+viz mocks here.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Our main point of alignment is to “make it easier to build and scale.” By having a clear and declared view to the community of what each tool is reliant upon and compatible with, we will make it a lot easier for all to make decisions about upgrading a version of a tool, foreseeing in what downstream impacts may incur, and facilitate bridging and communicating between project authors to align and support each other to propagate compatibility faster where it may bring value.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

CBIA is composed of several Infrastructure providers on Cardano with extensive experience in building complex solutions. From infrastructure tools and services, to smart contract tooling and complete SDKs for web3 development on Cardano. Namely:

• Tx.Pipe
• Blink Labs
• Maestro
• Dandelion / Gimbalabs
• Five Binaries
• MeshJS
• HarmonicLabs

CBIA members run and are the authors of many widely adopted tools for which we are aiming to document compatibility. Therefore, CBIA deeply understands how to document, articulate and present this data and information.

Also, we are in close contact and will rely on collaboration from the Cardano Foundation to collaborate in improving their Developer tooling website. Other partners and participants of CBIA are Emurgo and IOG.

Goals and Feasibility

• Goal: Establish a reference format and location for finding compatibility information amongst tooling authors and dependent projects
• Feasibility: The CF Dev Portal is already one of the most central points for a list of tools. Adding compatibility will enhance this status and utility.
• Goal: To add move value and utility to the Developer Portal in such a way that fosters community-driven contribution and engagement
• Feasibility: This goal will be facilitated by achieving the previous point and because apps have an incentive to use the latest components to generate the best value for their users and downstream tools.
• Goal: Build an intuitive and useful dataviz for dependencies and traits explorer
• CBIA will leverage their experience and skills in building solutions, plus existing visualization tools that are available and appropriate in the context of the CF’s website.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

• Obtain participation and input from a critical mass of tooling authors
• Agreement and documentation on data structures adopted
• Document the data update PR process - To facilitate sharing with tooling authors for reference

Dataviz source code and documentation - To facilitate extending it and building on this project

Trait matrix table code and documentation - To facilitate extending it and building on this project

• Document community feedback, access statistics, related PRs
• Documentation on relevant information extracted from the gathered data
• Share and discuss with the broader community

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

CBIA internal workgroup to collaborate during the project

Data structure and implementation on CF Dev Portal

Cardano infrastructure components and tooling insight

• Chris Gianelloni - Founder, Blink Labs
• https://github.com/wolf31o2 

DataViz implementation

• Juan Calle - DataViz consultant - Tanglius
• https://tanglius.io

Project management and communication

• Pedro Lucas - Technical Project Manager, 45B.io
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedrohlucas/ 

Bridge to Cardano Foundation, articulating about the Development Portal

• Matthias Benkort is our contact within Cardano Foundation.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone 1

• Project management and interaction with stakeholders
• 50 hrs x $50 = $2 500
• Data structures and Technical changes to Developer portal
• 40 hrs x $55 = $2 200

Milestone 2

• Dependency Graph visualization research and implementation
• 100 hrs x $55 = $5 500

Milestone3

• Trait matrix/table research and implementation
• 30 hrs x $55 = $1 650

Milestone 4

• Project management and interaction with ecosystem
• 45 hrs x $55 = $2 475

Total

$14 325 at $0.30/ADA = 47 750 ADA

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

The value of having more visibility of interdependencies between Cardano tooling will come from the resulting better management and foresight of impacts, less or more controlled risk when community members are updating their tools, and ease of communication between the right tooling authors.

It will be the value in having developers and toolmakers updating their tools and using each other’s latest features in a more reliable way, to more rapidly deliver their own products.

The cost we request from Catalyst is strictly needed to sponsor our time and costs, validating the project. The services budget is according to or below standard rates for these professional services in Europe or the USA.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund 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