Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook, introduced Move in 2019. This open-source programming language originally aimed to develop Libra, a blockchain-based stablecoin designed to transform the global economy. However, Meta's plan to merge the decentralized world with Libra's centralized ecosystem ultimately failed, leading to the project's discontinuation in favor of the new Diem chain.
Despite this setback, a valuable development emerged: Move. Engineers working on the short-lived Diem project created this new programming language to aid Web3 developers in crafting blockchain applications. The core philosophy of Move focuses on the secure transfer of resources between accounts, which inspired its name.
Though relatively new, Move has gained popularity beyond Diem, becoming the primary programming language for several other blockchains, including Aptos and Sui. This adoption stems from Move's design to counteract common DeFi and smart contract development issues, such as reentrancy attacks, which had plagued earlier systems. Meta designed Move with specific features to safeguard against these vulnerabilities.
Move is a statically typed language, requiring developers to declare the type of each variable before compilation. This requirement reduces the likelihood of unknown errors and generally enhances the readability of the language. It also offers a significant advantage to developers already familiar with other statically typed languages, providing them with a familiar experience.
Developers designed Move with productivity in mind, as evidenced by its robust standard library and premade modules. These features make it easier for developers to implement and expand common blockchain elements such as coins, fungible assets, NFTs, and more, without compromising flexibility.
The Move programming language focuses on typical blockchain resources, emphasizing security and predictability when managing digital assets. It treats these and other assets as “resources,” a special type within the language that forms a fundamental design component. This guarantees that assets are unique, preventing their accidental duplication or disposal.
These features ensure that resources have a single owner at any given time and are used exactly once, providing an intuitive method for managing and handling digital assets.
Smart contracts unlock numerous DeFi possibilities but also introduce their own risks. Too often, bad actors exploit a protocol or smart contract, with vulnerabilities discovered only afterwards. Move addresses these risks by employing formal verification that ensures code correctness. Unlike other smart contract languages, where developers must guard against vulnerabilities like reentrancy attacks, Move has these safeguards built-in.
This strong focus on safety and security guarantees that contracts perform as expected once deployed in the real world. By implementing these critical measures, Move developers can be confident that their contracts are free from common errors that could lead to vulnerabilities or exploits.
Some developers may already be familiar with Rust, a general-purpose language from 2011 that gained prominence as the primary programming language for the Solana blockchain. Move, based on Rust, specifically addresses common smart contract development issues right out of the box.
Both Rust and Move employ parallel programming, which involves running computer tasks simultaneously across multiple CPU cores. Unlike languages like Solidity, which face throughput bottlenecks due to sequential processing, Move uses parallel processing. This approach provides scalability and higher throughput, essential for large-scale projects where speed and accuracy are crucial.
Although Meta designed Move with blockchain development in mind, it does have its drawbacks. The language provides extended security for new developers, but it also suffers from slow general adoption, fewer tools and resources, and a smaller community for support. Additionally, it lacks multichain support, a feature that Ethereum’s primary programming language readily offers.
The advantages of using Move become apparent when considering its sophisticated asset representation and transaction logic. These features are crucial for building decentralized applications involving NFTs, coins, and data structures.
Move offers a familiar language for experienced developers to learn and provides extensive security benefits for new developers. These security features can help in building high-performance applications on robust L1 blockchains.
If you want to learn more about Move you can visit the Move Language Github.
Interested in exploring software outsourcing in Canada? Contact EastCode here.