Writing a CorDapp

Overview

CorDapps can be written in either Java, Kotlin, or a combination of the two. Each CorDapp component takes the form of a JVM class that subclasses or implements a Corda library type:

  • Flows subclass FlowLogic
  • States implement ContractState
  • Contracts implement Contract
  • Services subclass SingletonSerializationToken
  • Serialisation whitelists implement SerializationWhitelist

Web content and RPC clients

For testing purposes, CorDapps may also include:

  • APIs and static web content: These are served by Corda’s built-in webserver. This webserver is not production-ready, and should be used for testing purposes only
  • RPC clients: These are programs that automate the process of interacting with a node via RPC

In production, a production-ready webserver should be used, and these files should be moved into a different module or project so that they do not bloat the CorDapp at build time.

Structure

You should base the structure of your project on the Java or Kotlin templates:

The project should be split into two modules:

  • A cordapp-contracts-states module containing classes such as contracts and states that will be sent across the wire as part of a flow
  • A cordapp module containing the remaining classes

Each module will be compiled into its own CorDapp. This minimises the size of the JAR that has to be sent across the wire when nodes are agreeing ledger updates.

Module one - cordapp-contracts-states

Here is the structure of the src directory for the cordapp-contracts-states module:

.
└── main
    └── java
        └── com
            └── template
                ├── TemplateContract.java
                └── TemplateState.java

The directory only contains two class definitions:

  • TemplateContract
  • TemplateState

These are definitions for classes that we expect to have to send over the wire. They will be compiled into their own CorDapp.

Module two - cordapp

Here is the structure of the src directory for the cordapp module:

.
├── main
│   ├── java
│   │   └── com
│   │       └── template
│   │           ├── TemplateApi.java
│   │           ├── TemplateClient.java
│   │           ├── TemplateFlow.java
│   │           ├── TemplateSerializationWhitelist.java
│   │           └── TemplateWebPlugin.java
│   └── resources
│       ├── META-INF
│       │   └── services
│       │       ├── net.corda.core.serialization.SerializationWhitelist
│       │       └── net.corda.webserver.services.WebServerPluginRegistry
│       ├── certificates
│       └── templateWeb
├── test
│   └── java
│       └── com
│           └── template
│               ├── ContractTests.java
│               ├── FlowTests.java
│               └── NodeDriver.java
└── integrationTest
    └── java
        └── com
            └── template
                └── DriverBasedTest.java

The src directory is structured as follows:

  • main contains the source of the CorDapp
  • test contains example unit tests, as well as a node driver for running the CorDapp from IntelliJ
  • integrationTest contains an example integration test

Within main, we have the following directories:

  • resources/META-INF/services contains registries of the CorDapp’s serialisation whitelists and web plugins
  • resources/certificates contains dummy certificates for test purposes
  • resources/templateWeb contains a dummy front-end
  • java (or kotlin in the Kotlin template), which includes the source-code for our CorDapp

The source-code for our CorDapp breaks down as follows:

  • TemplateFlow.java, which contains a dummy FlowLogic subclass
  • TemplateState.java, which contains a dummy ContractState implementation
  • TemplateContract.java, which contains a dummy Contract implementation
  • TemplateSerializationWhitelist.java, which contains a dummy SerializationWhitelist implementation

In developing your CorDapp, you should start by modifying these classes to define the components of your CorDapp. A single CorDapp can define multiple flows, states, and contracts.

The template also includes a web API and RPC client:

  • TemplateApi.java
  • TemplateClient.java
  • TemplateWebPlugin.java

These are for testing purposes and would be removed in a production CorDapp.

Resources

In writing a CorDapp, you should consult the following resources:

  • Getting Set Up to set up your development environment
  • The Hello, World! tutorial to write your first CorDapp
  • Building a CorDapp to build and run your CorDapp
  • The API docs to read about the API available in developing CorDapps
    • There is also a cheatsheet recapping the key types
  • The Flow cookbook to see code examples of how to perform common flow tasks
  • Sample CorDapps showing various parts of Corda’s functionality