In today’s digital world, where automation and scripting are essential for developers, security remains a paramount concern. One of the simplest ways to install developer tools is through scripts downloaded directly from the internet. However, this convenience also comes with inherent risks, especially when dealing with external sources. Web3j

Ethereum addresses, with their 42 characters, have become a hallmark of the web3 ecosystem. However, memorizing these long strings is nearly impossible for most users. The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) addresses this issue by offering a decentralized naming protocol on the Ethereum blockchain.  As of July 30th, ENS domains are

What is Account Abstraction?   Account abstraction is an innovative concept in blockchain that seeks to unify and enhance the functionality of user accounts within a decentralized system. In the Ethereum network, two types of accounts currently exist: * Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs): Controlled by private keys and usually belonging to individuals

In Solidity, dynamic structs are complex data types that can store multiple elements of varying sizes, such as arrays, mappings, or other structs. The system encodes these dynamic structs into binary format using Ethereum's ABI (Application Binary Interface) encoding rules. The system encodes the structs whenever it stores

Over the past year, Web3j has continued its journey of growth and evolution. This report highlights our major updates, project statistics, new features, and community work. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the strides we’ve made, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the exciting future ahead.

Web3j is a lightweight, highly modular, reactive, and type-safe Java and Android library designed to work with Smart Contracts and integrate with clients (nodes) on the Ethereum network. This powerful library enables developers to interact with the Ethereum blockchain without the additional overhead of writing custom integration code. In this

Last month, I published an article highlighting how developers can significantly reduce gas costs by choosing the right storage types in their Solidity smart contracts. This topic garnered considerable interest, underscoring the ongoing developer quest for more gas-efficient contract operations. As the popularity of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks continues

Paving the Way for Stateless Ethereum Clients Ethereum, one of the leading blockchain platforms, relies on cryptographic data structures to ensure data integrity and security. Currently, Ethereum utilises Merkle trees for its state and transaction management. However, as the network grows, Merkle trees face scalability and efficiency challenges.  This is

In recent years, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks have gained significant traction. Every day, a growing number of new users join these networks, engaging in numerous transactions. However, this increased activity leads to rising transaction fees, sparking interest in reducing these fees to make Web3 apps more affordable and user-friendly.

What are Upgradable Smart Contracts? Upgrading smart contracts refers to the ability to modify or extend the functionality of a deployed smart contract without disrupting the existing system or requiring users to interact with a new contract. This is particularly challenging due to the immutable nature of blockchain, where deployed

We are excited to announce that all Web3j repositories have been upgraded to the latest Gradle version 8.7. In addition, we have updated the dependency libraries to their latest versions to address vulnerabilities and deprecated code. This includes essential libraries such as BouncyCastle, jackson core, javaPoet, kotlinPoet, OkHttp, RxJava,

What is web3j-solidity-gradle plugin? Web3j-solidity-gradle-plugin is a handy tool and extension of web3j library. You can use it for integrating Solidity smart contract compilation into your Gradle project. It simplifies the process of building and managing smart contracts within a Java or Android project that uses Web3j. It offers various

In today's landscape, the momentum behind Web3 is clear across various industries. As we move into this new era, it's important to update our tools and methods to match the changing environment. During Web1, one of the key changes involved using authentication methods to verify users

In the evolving landscape of blockchain technology, maintaining the robustness and reliability of private networks is paramount. Hyperledger Besu, an open-source Ethereum client designed for corporate use, offers various methods for backing up and restoring data. This blog post provides a comprehensive guide on how to effectively backup and restore

In an exciting development for the Ethereum and blockchain developer community, Web3j has become the first web3 library to implement support for sending EIP-4844 blob transactions to Ethereum clients. This update brings us one step closer to the future of Ethereum scalability and efficiency, offering a glimpse into what full

At the end of 2023, Web3 Labs announced they had joined the Hyperledger Foundation. For us it was an obvious move to make given that we were offering commercial support for Hyperledger Besu and maintainers of the project. However, our goals within the Hyperledger ecosystem extend beyond Besu. Our intention

Web3 Labs proudly announces its official membership in the Hyperledger Foundation, a global collaborative effort advancing cross-industry enterprise-grade blockchain technologies. This strategic move underscores Web3 Labs' commitment to fostering the development and adoption of Hyperledger Besu, the only Ethereum client designed for both mainnet and private network use cases.

During an internship with Web3 Labs, I had the unique opportunity to delve into the world of Blockchain Benchmarking using Hyperledger Caliper, a tool designed to measure the performance of Ethereum Clients like Hyperledger Besu. Benchmarking is the compass that can guide Blockchain Developers towards network optimization. It’s about

One year ago, we were fortunate enough to receive a new grant from the Ethereum Foundation to help us further our work on the Web3j library and related tooling. As with much Open Source software, it can be challenging to maintain which is why such funding is helpful. In this

In the world of blockchain networks, configuration flexibility and dynamic updates are crucial for seamless operations. Hyperledger Besu, an enterprise-grade Ethereum client, offers powerful features like DNS flags that enable users to leverage domain names for network communication. This blog post aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of DNS flags

Consensus algorithms are the backbone of blockchain networks, ensuring agreement among participants in a decentralised environment. In this blog post, we will delve into three prominent Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus algorithms: PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance), IBFT (Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance) and QBFT (Quorum Byzantine Fault Tolerance). We will examine

Meta transactions are a popular way to enable users to transact on a blockchain without directly paying the gas fees. Instead, they sign a message off-chain, which is then relayed by a relayer who pays the gas fees. The actors of this scheme are: * User: signs a meta transaction (that