Introducing the Lisk Documentation and Migration Guide
The Lisk team has been working diligently on our biggest accomplishment to date — Lisk Core 1.0. We’re nearly at the finish line. However, ahead of the release of Lisk Core 1.0 to testnet on Thursday, June 28, we’d like to share the updated Lisk Documentation and Migration Guide to ensure that everyone is able to migrate and be aware of the changes and updates in our products.
The Lisk Documentation and Migration Guide contains a series of comprehensive documentation for the Lisk Protocol, Lisk Core, Lisk Elements, Lisk Commander, Lisk Hub and Lisk Explorer, to help you begin working with Lisk as quickly as possible. In this blog post, we will break down the various sections of the documentation and guides to help with the on-boarding of the latest versions of our products and teach you the basics, as well as more complicated aspects, of the network.
Lisk is a blockchain application platform whose mission is to bring blockchain technology to the mainstream through an SDK (Sidechain Development Kit) written in JavaScript, the most commonly used programming language in the world. The cryptocurrency used in the Lisk ecosystem is called Lisk (LSK).
In this section, we provide an overview of the Lisk Protocol. Here you can learn all about the fundamentals of Lisk. We thoroughly explain the ins and outs of the Lisk Consensus Algorithm, how Lisk secures its network, such as the use of cryptographic hashing to secure all aspects of the system, how the blocks in our ecosystem function, how transactions work and available features related to transactions, and finally, how peer-to-peer communication serves as a vital function within the network. This form of communication allows for the facilitation of network consensus, block propagation and transaction propagation.
Lisk Core is the application that implements the Lisk Protocol. It is necessary in order to run a node — in turn, enabling participation in the network. We will initially release Core 1.0 Testnet to perform actions in testing mode before reaching the real network. New versions and fixes of Lisk Core are tested here before they are released to Mainnet. Mainnet serves as the real Lisk ecosystem, where users are able to transfer money from one account to another, register accounts as delegates or vote for other delegates.
The Lisk Core section of the documentation details how to prepare a system for the installation of Lisk Core, the prerequisites that are needed, how to install it and upgrade it in the future. We’ve also included a comprehensive guide to troubleshooting in case any issues come up. And finally, this section also contains a Lisk Core User Guide for managing and configuring Lisk Core nodes. If you are a new user, we recommend you start with the general configuration. If you wish to run a delegate or public node, extra configuration will be necessary.
There are a significant number of changes that come with Lisk Core 1.0. During the course of Lisk Core development, we have introduced some changes in the configuration which are not backwards compatible and are strictly related to the version you are running. The Lisk Core Migration section describes each of those changes in detail.
We have completely changed and improved the Lisk API, which you can read about in great detail under the Lisk Core API User Guide with a helpful comparison chart for all endpoints — previous and new ones.
We openly welcome contributions to the Lisk Core project. Please take a look at our Lisk Core GitHub, Contributions Guidelines and join our development focused conversation on Gitter.
Lisk Elements is a JavaScript library containing several separately-installable modules, each covering a distinct region of Lisk-related functionality.
This section includes a step-by-step guide on how to set up Lisk Elements, which prerequisites are needed to install it, and installing instructions. You can also learn how to upgrade the installation, and finally, how to properly use Lisk Elements with the Lisk Elements User Guide. There are also comprehensive subsections about the Lisk Elements’ API Client, Constants, Cryptography, Passphrase, and Transactions.
Lisk Commander serves as a low entry point and the most convenient tool for developers who are looking for an efficient way of coding with a command line interface (CLI). With Lisk Commander, it is easier and quicker to plug new commands into the CLI than building a Graphical User Interface (GUI) around every command. This will facilitate delegates, node operators, contributors to the Lisk codebase, developers using Lisk’s infrastructure (and anyone else who’s interested) to make use of Lisk’s functionality from the command line with ease. Lisk Commander allows you to communicate with a remote or local node and carry out Lisk-related functionality using an interactive or non-interactive command line tool. Going forward, we’ll be adding more commands to provide a comprehensive suite for all your Lisk-related needs.
This section explains how to set up Lisk Commander, which prerequisites are needed to install it, and installing instructions. You can also learn how to upgrade the installation, and finally, how to properly use and configure Lisk Commander with the Lisk Commander User Guide. We have also dedicated subsections to Lisk Commander’s Sensitive Inputs and Commands.
Lisk Hub is an all-in-one solution to manage your Lisk ID, access and send LSK tokens, sign messages, and vote for delegates. It combines functionality from the former wallet and blockchain explorer. In the future, Lisk Hub will feature a DEX (decentralized exchange), sidechain registration and the ability to launch your own ICO.
You can download Lisk Hub in this section. After downloading Lisk Hub to your device, you will be able to participate in the Lisk network. The app will automatically notify you when latest versions are available. But in case you may have dismissed upgrades, you can check upgrade availabilities by going to “Help” and “Check for updates” in your menu bar.
The Lisk Hub User Guide also provides a detailed overview of the many features offered by Lisk Hub and explains the configuration process step by step.
Lisk Explorer is a tool for visualizing and presenting the information and activity surrounding the Lisk Blockchain. It can be used to gather information about particular blocks and transactions, and general information about the whole network and delegates’ status. Components like Network Monitor and Delegate Monitor show the status of the whole ecosystem in real-time.
This section includes detailed steps on how to set up Lisk Explorer, which prerequisites are needed to install it, and installing instructions. You can also learn how to properly use Lisk Explorer with the Lisk Explorer User Guide with its various tools and API.
We hope you find the Lisk Documentation and Migration Guide helpful! Your feedback is very important to us — please let us know if you have any thoughts or contributions for the guide.
Follow us on our social media and chat channels for the latest developments. Thank you again to our community for the continuous support!
-The Lisk Team
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