2. Installing the Horizen Sidechain SDK

We’ll get started by setting up our environment.

2.1. Supported Platforms

The Sidechain SDK is available and tested on 64-bit versions of Linux and Windows.

2.2. Requirements

The Sidechain SDK requires Java 11 or newer, Scala 2.12.10+ or newer, and the latest version of zen.

2.3. Installing on Windows

  1. Install Java JDK version 11 (link)

  2. Install Scala 2.12.10+ (link)

  3. Install Git (link)

  4. Clone the Sidechains-SDK git repository

git clone git@github.com:HorizenOfficial/Sidechains-SDK.git

  1. As IDE, please install and use IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (link). In the IDE, please also install the Intellij Scala plugin: in the Settings->Plugins tab, select it from the marketplace:

IntelliJ

  1. In the IDE, you can now go to File and Open the root directory of the project repository, “Sidechains-SDK”. The pom.xml file - the Maven Project Object Model XML file that contains all the project configuration details - should be automatically imported by the IDE. Otherwise, you can just open it.

  2. Keep reading this tutorial, and start playing with the code. You will find a sidechain example in the “examples/simpleapp” directory (link); you can study the code and experiment with it while reading this documentation.

  3. While fiddling with the code, you might also want to see a sidechain in action, understand its configuration files, look at its interaction with mainchain and its user interface. Best way to do that is to install a local mainchain and sidechain example node (link)

  4. When you are comfortable with the SDK core functionalities, you can tackle Chapter 8 and 9, and learn how to extend the software to add your own data and logic. Here the “Lambo Registry” example (link) will complement your reading, and show you how to create your own blockchain-based dApp.

2.4. Installing on Linux

  1. Install Java JDK version 11 (link)

  2. Install Scala 2.12.10+ (link)

  3. Install Git (link)

  4. Clone the Sidechains-SDK git repository

git clone git@github.com:HorizenOfficial/Sidechains-SDK.git

  1. As IDE, please install and use IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (link) In the IDE, please also install the Intellij Scala plugin: in the Settings->Plugins tab, select it from the marketplace:

IntelliJ

  1. In the IDE, you can now go to File and Open the root directory of the project repository, “Sidechains-SDK”. The pom.xml file - the Maven Project Object Model XML file that contains all the project configuration details - should be automatically imported by the IDE. Otherwise, you can just open it.

  2. Keep reading this tutorial, and start playing with the code. You will find a sidechain example in the “examples/simpleapp” directory (link); you can study the code and experiment with it while reading this documentation.

  3. While fiddling with the code, you might also want to see a sidechain in action, understand its configuration files, look at its interaction with mainchain and its user interface. Best way to do that is to install a local mainchain and sidechain example node (link)

  4. When you are comfortable with the SDK core functionalities, you can tackle Chapter 8 and 9, and learn how to extend the software to add your own data and logic. Here the “Lambo Registry” example (link) will complement your reading, and show you how to create your own blockchain-based dApp.