FireFly is an open-source, modular and configurable distributed ledger platform developed and maintained by the Hyperledger community. It is designed to be flexible and scalable. Therefore, it can be customized to meet the specific needs of various use cases. It will likely be used by various organizations and individuals, including businesses, governments, non-profits, and developers. Some of the features of Hyperledger FireFly include the following:
- Support for a variety of consensus algorithms, including PBFT and RAFT.
- A modular design that allows for the addition of new features and components.
- Support smart contracts are written in various languages, including Go, Java, and JavaScript.
- An API that allows developers to build applications on top of the platform.
Orchestration
Hyperledger FireFly is designed to provide a rich orchestration layer that sits above the underlying blockchain infrastructure, allowing developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) that can interact with multiple parties and systems securely and transparently. The orchestration layer provides a set of APIs and tools that can be used to design and implement the business logic of the dApp, as well as to manage and monitor the data flows between different parties. That makes it easier for developers to build complex multi-party applications without worrying about the blockchain’s underlying technical details.
There are two modes of usage for Hyperledger Firefly: Web3 Gateway and Multiparty
The Web3 Gateway
The Web3 Gateway feature in Hyperledger FireFly allows a FireFly Supernode to connect to any blockchain ecosystem that supports the Web3 protocol, a set of open standards for decentralized applications (dApps) running on the Ethereum blockchain. Using the Web3 Gateway, a FireFly Supernode can interact with Ethereum dApps, smart contracts, and other decentralized protocols and platforms supporting Web3. That allows organizations to leverage the capabilities of the Ethereum ecosystem within their FireFly-based applications and to integrate with other decentralized technologies easily.
The Multi-party
It is designed to support the creation of multi-party systems for enterprise data flows, allowing organizations to securely and transparently track and verify the exchange of data and other assets. It is built on top of the Hyperledger Fabric framework and utilizes the modular architecture of Hyperledger to provide flexibility and scalability.
Pluggable Microservices Architecture
Hyperledger FireFly has a pluggable microservices architecture that allows developers to customize and extend the platform’s functionality easily. The architecture is based on the concept of “microservices,” which are small, independent units of software that can be developed and deployed separately from the main application. Each microservice is designed to perform a specific function and can be plugged into the overall system as needed.
In the context of Hyperledger FireFly, microservices can be used to implement different aspects of a decentralized application’s business logic and data flow (dApp), such as data validation, transformation, or data storage. Because microservices are modular and can be easily replaced or upgraded, they provide a high degree of flexibility and scalability for dApp developers. This makes it easier to build complex, multi-party applications that can adapt to changing business needs and requirements.
Use-cases
Some possible use cases for Hyperledger FireFly:
• Insurance - first notice of loss, subrogation, re-insurance document flows
• Healthcare - coordination of care, provider data quality, clinical trial data management
• Financial Services - digital asset management, bill of lading, certificate of indemnity
• Supply Chain - track and trace, food safety, supplier payments
Other applications require a secure and transparent record of transactions. The platform is intended to be modular and configurable, allowing it to be tailored to the specific needs of different users and uses cases.
Conclusion
It is very quick and easy for a developer to build an app on top of FireFly using a local development environment. The FireFly CLI will walk a developer through the process. The FireFly CLI (Command Line Interface) is a tool that allows users to interact with a Hyperledger FireFly network and perform various tasks, such as deploying and interacting with smart contracts and creating and managing identities for both public and private blockchain environments.
Reference:
[1] Home - Hyperledger FireFly Docs
[2] Meet FireFly, one of the new Hyperledger Labs taking on cross-chain and off-chain operations – Hyperledger Foundation