12th March, 2022
I am pleased to announce that the dFund team has taken a huge step forward in the development cycle, and we are now in the process of styling the interface and extensively testing the smart contracts. To be clear, this means that the core functionality and interface to be used for the dFund platform are now implemented and integrated together well enough that we are entering the testing and polishing stage that precedes the platform’s public release. This is exciting stuff, so I will offer more details on our development — on the progress we have made toward releasing the public beta, as well as the work that still remains to be done before we can reach that point — throughout the remainder of today’s dev diary.
Progress Made on dFund’s Interface
As was mostly the case last time, dFund’s frontend interface for our web application is now fully functional and integrated with our new smart contracts. This includes pages and buttons for browsing available loans, making new offers and requests, and managing outstanding loans. Every page used to share a simple white-and-blue color theme with similar layouts of the content across different pages.
We envisioned the current layout from the beginning, but the simple color scheme used for testing was never meant to appear in the public beta. Accordingly, we have significantly changed the style, going from a light background with black text to a dark background with light text.
Styling the Interface
Don’t get me wrong, the interface as it stood before was visually appealing and well-organized, and much of the current layout will remain. However, the simple white-and-blue theme had too much of the sterile look you would expect from a TradFi product. This is why we have already changed to the black-and-orange theme that you see on our main website, and also why we are beginning to change the layout on a few pages.
Our timeline for implementing these changes to the interface is under one week. This work is hardly a challenge for our development team since we have already changed the color theme across all pages, and the changes yet to be made only involve rearranging the size and positioning of elements, and not their functionality.
Progress Made on dFund’s Smart Contracts
If you have already read our previous dev diaries, you know that our smart contracts have gone through a lot over the past couple of months. We re-wrote the entire set of smart contracts, re-integrated them into the frontend, and then introduced a credit rating system that itself underwent significant enhancements. After all this, the smart contracts have reached a point of stability, a point where we no longer plan to make major changes as frequently. Thus, we now enter the testing phase.
Smart Contract Testing Must be Extensive
Our team has already created dozens of tests for our smart contract functionality in the past, but the testing we have already performed only covers roughly half of all possible scenarios that could be encountered by users of our platform. There are several “edge cases” that we must account for before we can certify to the public that we have held our development team to the highest standards possible.
The credit rating system in particular introduces several interesting scenarios that, while they likely won’t break the entire system, might still result in unexpected outcomes. We are testing extensively in order to eliminate technical bugs and minimize the risk of glitches, but since our testing involves a credit rating system, we must also run scenarios involving potential bad actors who will “game the system” any way they can. These tests of game theory involve simulating multiple users over time, and so it will take the team more than one week to complete. After this, we will be able to safely release the public beta version.
Community Involvement
I want to point out that dFund is more than a stylish interface and thoroughly tested suite of smart contracts. It’s a community, and only an active community can take dFund to the level that we all want to see it reach. That’s why I always end these dev diaries by asking for your feedback and support, on any aspect. There is always a way to participate actively in our community — whether you’re a developer who can help test for unexpected behavior, or a leader who can help to raise dFund’s visibility, or simply a crypto enthusiast who can try out the beta and help us improve with your feedback.
Getting involved in the dFund community begins with discussion, so I look forward to hearing from you soon. I’m excited to see just how big of an impact your words can have.
