Building a Lite Stateful VIDA
A learning-focused implementation of stateful applications
A Lite Stateful VIDA is a learning-focused version of a stateful VIDA that demonstrates core concepts without production complexity.
Key Characteristics:
Stateful = Remembers data between transactions
// Each transaction builds on previous state
User A: 1000 tokens β Transfer 100 to User B β User A: 900 tokens
User B: 500 tokens β Receives 100 from User A β User B: 600 tokensLite = Simplified for learning
β In-memory storage (HashMap) instead of databases
β Single instance instead of distributed validation
β Simple logging instead of production monitoring
β Basic error handling instead of complex recovery
What Makes It "Stateful"?
Unlike stateless VIDAs that process each transaction independently, stateful VIDAs:
Remember Previous Transactions: Each new transaction can depend on what happened before
Maintain Application State: User balances, game scores, inventory levels persist
Process Sequentially: Transactions must be handled in blockchain order
Provide Consistency: All instances of the VIDA reach the same state
Lite vs Production Comparison:
Storage
HashMap (memory)
Merkle Trees
Validation
Single instance
Multi-instance consensus
Recovery
Restart from scratch
Crash recovery + rollback
APIs
None
HTTP REST endpoints
Learning Focus
βββββ
ββ
Production Ready
β
β
Prerequisites to Building a Lite Stateful VIDA
Good knowledge in the coding language you want to use
Completed Building a Stateless VIDA tutorial
Building a Lite Stateful VIDA
In this tutorial we will build a token transfer system.
3. Initializing PWR with an RPC Endpoint
5. Define Transaction Data Structure
While PWR Chain stores all transaction data as raw byte arrays, VIDAs can encode this data into structured formats like JSON. Defining a schema for your transactions ensures consistency, simplifies development, and enables collaboration across teams.
Why Define a Schema?
Consistency: Ensures all transactions follow a predictable format.
Documentation: Serves as a reference for developers interacting with your VIDA.
Validation: Helps catch malformed data early.
Example:
6. Setup Hashmap and Transfer Function
The Hash Map will be used to store all balances.
7. Define a Starting Block
Stateful VIDAs must define a starting block because they need to build up their state by processing every relevant transaction in order. Without knowing where to start, they can't guarantee their state is correct.
Best Practice: Set your starting block to the latest PWR Chain block at the time of your VIDA's development or launch, since previous blocks won't contain any transactions for your VIDA (it didn't exist yet).
You can find the current latest block at: https://explorer.pwrlabs.io/
8. Set Initial Balances
Since we're creating a token VIDA, some addresses must have tokens when the VIDA launches. Without initial balances, no one would have tokens to transfer, making the system unusable.
9. Read Data from PWR Chain & Handle it
Stateful VIDAs need to read data from PWR Chain to update their state. This is done by subscribing to the VIDA's transactions and handling them accordingly.
10. Send Transactions
Final Notes & Best Practices
When building a Lite Stateful VIDA, your primary goal is to maintain the benefits of a stateful designβverifiable consistency, auditability, and resilienceβwhile minimizing complexity and overhead. By storing only essential state, validating transactions from a known checkpoint, and leveraging PWR Chainβs immutable ledger, you can achieve strong guarantees without excessive resource usage.
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