Cardano today announced the launch of the alpha phase of Aiken, a smart contract language and toolkit designed to simplify and improve smart contract development on Cardano. Aiken is intended to solve various problems associated with setting up, learning and using the Haskell Plutus platform, including difficulties with debugging smart contracts and low-level blockchain interactions, as well as poor compatibility with other off-chain languages besides Haskell.
📣Exciting Announcement - Aiken's alpha phase has launched!📣#Aiken is an open source #SmartContract language & toolchain, specifically created to simplify & enhance the development of smart contracts on #Cardano.
— Cardano Community (@Cardano) April 13, 2023
Learn more below ⬇️⬇️⬇️@aiken_eng @rvcas @_KtorZ_ @MicroProofs
According to developers, Plutus is difficult to use with other languages for off-chain code, and teams cannot work with tools and languages they are familiar with. Aiken solves these problems by leveraging IOG's research on Plutus, making it compatible, focusing on on-chain code and simplifying integration into any off-chain infrastructure stack.
What does Aiken add to Cardano's table?
Aiken, on the other hand, is easy to learn, strongly typed, optimized for developers and offers easy integration with other tools and languages, according to the authors of the project. It also features the modularity of the toolkit, allowing developers to use only what they need. Built specifically for Cardano, Aiken includes several specialized features to make the development process easier and more efficient.
The Aiken team further plans to conduct audits to ensure that Aiken meets the standards expected of an enterprise-level toolkit.
Overall, this launch is an exciting announcement that will simplify the process of developing smart contracts on Cardano and potentially attract more developers to the platform. With Aiken, developers can focus more on the creation and deployment of decentralized applications on the Cardano network, rather than wasting time sorting out complications.