Blockchain Development Platform

Reach is the platform for practical blockchain development, making it exponentially faster and cheaper to launch decentralized apps on any network while providing the safety you need to grow. While our platform does the work of a dozen tools, it broadly consists of a programming language, compiler, and suite of testing and deployment tools.

Programming Language: Reach is easy to learn, as it’s syntactically and semantically similar to JavaScript. The language is modeled after a user’s perspective instead of the low-level logic of a state machine. Developers are spared error-prone logic of state machine manipulation of network protocols.

Compiler: Reach is capable of compiling to any protocol. The compiler includes a built-in verification engine which lets you guarantee the safety and correctness of your code by encoding your assumptions about its behavior into the program via assert statements.

Deployment Tool: Reach is capable of compiling to any protocol, so you can launch your app on the chain that’s best for you! The toxic tribalism of siloed protocol communities obstructs the path to mass adoption. That’s why we’re striving towards a future where protocols aren’t an obstacle to support.

What Reach Isn’t

Understanding what Reach isn’t is just as important as learning what it is. Reach isn’t a protocol like Ethereum or Algorand. It’s not a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, either.

Install IDEs and language support for Atom, Sublime Text, Vim/Neovim, and Visual Studio Code.

Atom: Reach Language Support, Reach IDE

Sublime Text: Reach Language Support (3rd-Party Maintained), Reach IDE

Vim/Neovim: Reach Language Support (3rd-Party Maintained), Reach IDE (3rd-Party Maintained)

Visual Studio Code: Reach IDE

You can get a basic understanding of the Reach Platform in this 90-second explainer video. Our documentation provides a basic overview of key concepts and structures. You can get a feel for what it’s like to build an app in Reach by completing this tutorial. A series of self-guided workshops is available for practice and experimentation. Our awesome sherpa team is available in Discord to answer questions and guide you onto the platform.

While Reach is capable of compiling to any protocol, it’s currently compatible with the Ethereum and Algorand networks. If there are other protocols you’d like us to support, tell us! Tell them! Your advocacy helps us get the ball rolling.

Reach supports an independent community of creators like CasualGardener and kwame.eth who build applications in Reach. Some of our most popular apps came from hackathons. A number of programs are also available as guided workshops. An assortment of programs built in Reach is listed below.

• Pokéchain: a blockchain implementation of the famous Twitch Plays Pokémon experiment. This project won first place in our inaugural Algorand Bounty Hack. Click here to read an article about the creation of this app and here to watch an interview with its developers. Hamza Karabağ and Namig Samadov had just three months of training as programmers before building their first decentralized application in Reach!
• Blackjack: Mert Malaz, Volkan Erdemli, and Turan Ege Caner expanded on the rules of blackjack with an Algorand app that won first place in Bounty Hack Türkiye! Click here to view their GitHub repo and here to watch their demo video.
• Rock Paper Scissors: Nick Burka (A.K.A. CasualGardener) used Reach to build a modified rock, paper, scissors app on Algorand! Click here to view the live app. You can watch his interview with Reach CEO, Chris Swenor, on YouTube and read about his experiences building in Reach on Medium. Nick is also the mind behind the first crypto wallet built in Reach. You can view the code to that project here and watch his video tutorial here.
• NFT Auction: Alim Şahin, Bahri Buğra Meydan, and Zafer Güray Gündüz built this NFT auction system for Bounty Hack Türkiye! Click here to view the project’s GitHub repository and here to watch their demo video.
• Insurance dApp: Ridvan Karataş developed a simple insurance app on Algorand for Bounty Hack Türkiye. The code is available on GitHub. You can watch the demo video on YouTube.

Even better. You’re about to save a ton of time. Put yourself on the fastrack to blockchain development with the Reach Tutorial. Here are a few other resources to help you dive in:

• Blockchain Basics: Glossary and Use Cases (IBM)
• Blockchain: the New Technology of Trust (Goldman Sachs)
• Blockchain Basics: Introduction to Distributed Ledgers (IBM)