JAM protocol development progress: 38 teams collaborating in 15 languages to build Web3 infrastructure

Last month, another group of developers and students completed their studies on Web3 at the Polkadot Blockchain Academy in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gavin personally attended the graduation ceremony, bringing blessings and visions to everyone. At the event, several JAM protocol implementation teams also shared their journeys with JAM and their deep understanding of the JAM protocol with the graduates.

Whether you are a developer looking to join JAM or an ordinary user optimistic about the future development of JAM, this article is worth reading and learning for everyone.

Abstract:

• Introduction of the JAM implementation team and the motivation for joining JAM
• JAM Development Status: 38 teams, 15 languages, no boss, no orders
• What are the medium and short-term goals of JAM and the development team?
• What will the migration path from Polkadot to JAM look like?
• Feelings and future expectations about JAM
• What impact does JAM have on the entire Blockchain market?
• The core application scenario of JAM is national-level infrastructure?

Introduction to the JAM Implementation Team

Tomek from Fluffy Labs stated that their team decided to implement the JAM protocol using TypeScript about eight months ago, and this implementation version is called Typeberry. They are also actively building a toolchain related to JAM to improve the development experience for other JAM teams.

Daniel works on the jamixir team, primarily using the Elixir language to implement JAM. He started after participating in the PBA course, developing while learning, and sharing content on Twitter in hopes of raising awareness about JAM.

Maciej is from the Graymatter team, building the JAM implementation with Elixir. Their team consists of four people, all part-time. They focus on collaborating with other teams, such as sharing tools and testing resources, hoping to make the protocol more robust together.

Alistair is currently the Chief Scientist at the Web3 Foundation, primarily working to support the design of JAM from a theoretical perspective.

Kian works as a project manager in the Graymatter team and part-time participates in JAM development.

Why join JAM development?

Tomek initially wanted to participate part-time out of interest. He had previously participated in the development of Polkadot at Parity and believes that JAM is a great opportunity to return.

As a developer of Polkadot, Maciej is often consulted about JAM. He feels a responsibility to understand it, and the best way is to build it himself and read the gray paper.

Alistair initially joined because someone consulted him about JAM. He finds the data availability design of JAM very attractive and can't wait to witness its application scenarios.

Daniel's story begins with PBA. He believes in the Web3 vision proposed by Gavin and thinks that JAM is the best opportunity to achieve this goal.

Kian pointed out that their team members have diverse backgrounds, including veterans from Polkadot and newcomers who graduated from PBA. This indicates that as long as one is willing to invest in learning and practice, regardless of background, they can become a part of promoting JAM.

JAM development status

Currently, 38 teams have publicly participated, covering about 15 programming languages. The design of the JAM reward program incentivizes developers from different backgrounds to independently implement the protocol around the same Gray Paper. The JAM Experience event will be held in Lisbon this May, where the launch of the JAM testnet is planned.

JAM and the development team's medium to short-term goals

Tomek hopes to have a stable running testnet within a year. Their team has adjusted the goal to complete Milestone 2 (basic functionality), and then shift towards developing a browser light client.

Daniel plans to stay in the JAM ecosystem for at least the next ten years. He really enjoys this current way of working: no company, no boss, no clients.

Maciej hopes the support team will build ELVES (Execution Environment) and share shard-related experiences with other teams. If everything goes smoothly, we should see preliminary results of ELVES running on JAM within a year.

Alistair is focused on which features can be included in the first version of JAM and which must be pushed to a later date.

Polkadot migration path to JAM

Parachains still have a place in JAM, and there will be services to support their migration and operation. The basic idea is to first develop a Core Chain Service that can support the operation of parachains on JAM. Currently, the goal of Parity and Fellowship is to achieve seamless migration as much as possible.

Feelings about JAM and future expectations

Tomek believes that JAM has opened up many new possibilities for us, such as whether we must use the "chain" form in the future? Can there be new models? What new services can be built based on JAM?

Daniel stated that if we want to achieve true Web3, Polkadot and JAM are the only choices.

Alistair pointed out that the various abstractions and generalizations in JAM can open up new possibilities.

Maciej looks forward to new innovations based on JAM, and Coreplay is one of the directions he is most excited about.

Q&A Session

Regarding the core application scenarios of JAM, Daniel firmly believes it is as a national-level infrastructure. He believes that Polkadot and JAM are the only way for a country to achieve technological independence.

For how to participate in the JAM project, developers can read the gray paper, contact the existing team, or join the Element group.

Regarding the impact of JAM on the blockchain market, Maciej believes that JAM has the potential to become the industry standard. Alistair emphasized the importance of improving user experience.

The development of the JAM protocol is divided into five stages, from the implementation of basic functions to the final audit and achieving production-level performance. Currently, there are 38 teams publicly participating in JAM development, of which about 20 to 25 teams are truly active and continuously advancing. Ultimately, at least 8 mature JAM implementation versions may emerge.