Is Custom JSON the Future of Steem? | The one thing that has been going up on Steem in the bear market!
What the heck is custom JSON anyway?
For the non techie Steemians out there. Here is what Wikipedia is saying:
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an open-standard file format or data interchange format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and array data types (or any other serializable value). It is a very common data format, with a diverse range of applications, such as serving as replacement for XML in AJAX systems.
JSON is a language-independent data format. It was derived from JavaScript, but many modern programming languages include code to generate and parse JSON-format data. The official Internet media type for JSON is application/json. JSON filenames use the extension .json.
Basically, it is a standardized data format that can be used by a different application, providing interoperability between different programming language. It is a very simple format as well. It goes something like this:
"account":"dalz",
"reputation":"66",
"posts":"268"
You get the idea. It can than become a bit more complex with nesting more data in, but that’s not the point here.
If you want, you can broadcast a custom json transaction and just store text. Maybe you have some important text to store. You will just need to remember the block and look at it in the blockexplorer.
The Steem blockchain has this ability to store json data. It has been a secondary thing for the blockchain, as the main purpose is posting, commenting and upvotes. The json data is not fully displayed by the steemit.com and the tribes frontends as posts. They may use some of it, but usually it just sit in the background, and one of its first usage was followers. Nowadays it is a totally different thing.
Share of Top 5 Avtivities on the Steem Blockchain
Here is a chart I complied from the @arcange stats.
It is based on daily data on a given day.
The above are the top five activities on the blockchain that happens each day. They consist more than 95% of the overall daily activities.
The json data is the blue color. In the last 11 months the share of the json activities on the Steem blockchain has grown from around 20% to 50%. In absolute numbers it has more than doubled from 200k custom json per day to more than 400k per day.
In this same period the number of posts and comment per day has went down form around 60k to 30k. A totally opposite pattern.
Distribution on the top 5 transactions March 28, 2019
Distribution on the top 5 transactions January 28, 2020
The voting was a top transaction before, but the json transaction have overtaken the lead.
Who is making the custom json transactions?
Users basically. But from which dapps. Here are few:
- Steem-Engine
- Tribes
- Steemmonsters
- Nextcolony
- New games
Yes, Steem-Engine, Tribes and Steemmonsters has been driving the increase in the custom json transactions.
The number of applications taking advantage of the custom json transactions and data stored on the Steem blockchain is growing. More and more apps are doing it. They just use the blockchain for it essential function to store data on an open public database that is immutable and protected.
JSON Transaction are now dominating the Steem blockchain
Looking at this numbers and the development activities it really opens up the discussion in which direction should be Steem heading. The social media blockchain? The upvote of the internet? I guess there will always be a space for that and to power up web application trough an upvote mechanism, but this other option has appeared and grow larger than the original intends.
I don’t know what exactly to think about this for the moment. How about you? Any comments?
All the best
@dalz
Posted via Steemleo
I am using custom JSON for transactions in my game (still under development). All good except sending Tokens with Steem Keychain approval. I have problems with that and I can't find help in the community. With more documentation and support there would be many more projects.
Totally agreed on documentation ... It will be much easier for developers. Now is like asking around and figuring it out. But the knowledge is spreading and as more apps appear and people involved it will become easier overtime. What exactly is the issue you are having?
I'm at work now but my request is on #developers channel in Steem Engine Discord
.
Thanks @crokkon ....I havent specificly for these stats.... but as I can rememeber from other stats I think the ssc id is somewhere around 40k to 50k daily transactions, meaning somewhere around 10% of the json tranasactions .... but take this number with doubt :) .... I will probably do a follow up breaking down the custom json
We use custom jsons to make all our games transparent by saving the game results to the blockchain and then read them on our server side :) We really like them!
Yep ... they are great :)
An excellent post. This is terrific insight as to what is taking place. We are seeing a lot more activity that does not come from the blogging end of things. I knew Steem-Engine was growing in its daily activity. Splinterlands is growing and now we see a few more games going live. This will only push the activity higher.
Posted via Steemleo
Thanks!
Looks like the trend is for dapps using custom jsons.... not sure how will smts impact this.
May do a follow up post with closer look and data who is making the json transactions.
Would be nice :)
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This is great post..... I am also with Nextcolony gaming, so how can I use in this project. I want by the study this project and follow for more stuff.
NextColony have great documentation
https://jarunik.github.io/nc-docs/
The JSON ability is great. It opens up the chain capabilities to more developers, allows for a variety use cases, and can be adapted to your specific needs without feeling like you're breaking the system or using a loophole.
It's cool to see more people taking advantage of them! I'd like to know the specific breakdown for each dapp & game that are using these :^)
Yea this was mentioned already ... will do it soon :)
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