Remix
What Remix is, what it is used for, and how to use it for development on the XDC Network.
🧭 Table of contents
📰 Overview
Remix is a browser-based IDE, which stands for Integrated Development Environment. Remix provides you platform with tools for development smart contracts on Ethereum-like blockchains.
What you will learn
This article will teach you what Remix is, what Remix is used for, and how to use the features of Remix for development on the XDC Network.
What you will do
Learn what Remix is
Explore features of Remix IDE
Learn how Remix can be used to develop on XDC network
📰 About Remix
Remix is intergrate development environment which lets you compile, test and deploy smart contracts on Ethereum-like networks. Remix is all-in web application so it requires no setup. You can start developing on XDC right after openning XinFin Remix.
Why do you need development environment
Deploying smart contracts is a very complex task and can cost you a lot of money if you do it wrong, that's why you need to use development environment like Remix.
Remix comes with all tools you need out of box, including built-in Solidity Editor, File Explorer and Terminal, which make you life easier and increase your productivity as dApp developer.
🎧 Remix Overview
Remix consists of four key parts:
Solidity Editor
File Explorer
Solidity Compiler
Plugin Manager
Terminal
🎧 Start New Project
To create new project, simply press + near Workspaces in File Explorer and then provide a name for your project.
Remix project structure
Remix project has the following folders:
contracts: folder for smart contract source codecontracts/artifacts: contains contract compilation artifactsscripts: folder where scripts for deploying are storedtest: place to store both Javascript and Solidity tests
🎧 Remix Solidity Editor
In Solidity Editor, you can edit our smart contract and it will recompile it each time it is editor. It also provides word completion and syntax highlighting for solidity language. You can open and edit multiple files in different.
🎧 Remix File Explorer
File Explorer displays workspaces and their files. You can select workspace by clicking workspace dropdown or add new workspaces. Each workspace represents separate Remix project, with folder structure described above. File Explorer lets you create, move, rename, delete, copy files. You can run custom scripts by right-clicking and pressing Run on them.
🎧 Remix Compiler
In compiler panel you can configure options for solidity compiler:
compiler: version of solidity compilerlanguage: Solidity or Yul (for version >=0.5.7)evm version: version of ethereum virtual machineauto compile: compiles your solidity contract each time it is changedenable optimizations: optimize smart contract gas usage
Once configured, you can compile contract currently selected in File Explorer by hitting Compile button. Compiler will compile contract and all its dependencies.
After compilation is finished, you can publish resulting contract on IPFS, see the compilation details or copy its ABI.
🎧 Remix Deployer
Now lets take a look at Deploy & run transactions panel. First is Environment menu. XinFin Remix provides for options for connecting to a blockchain:
Javascript VM: For connecting to a local browser-based blockchain node started by XinFin Remix. On each reload XinFin will create new blockchain instance and the old one will be deleted.Injected Web3: For connecting XinFin Remix to an injected web3 provider. The most common injected provider isMetamaskandXDCPay.Web3 Provider: For connecting XinFin Remix to a remote node.
Account field shows XDC address which will be used to deploy your contract. In Gas Limit field you can select maximum amount of gas used to deploy your contract and in Value you can set amounts of XDC tokens sent on creation. Then you select previously compiled contract in Contract field and hit Deploy to deploy it on selected environment.
Once contract is deployed, you can interact with its methods by expanding it in Deployed Contracts list. If you already deployed your contract and just want to interact with it through Remix IDE, you can paste its address in At Address field.
Recording & Replaying transactions.
Recording and replaying use cases are:
automating multi-transaction deployment
testing your contracts in simulated environment and then deploying it to live network.
record transactions for debugging
To record transactions, simply press save icon under Transactions recorded block. Transactions will be save in JSON format under provided name or scenario.json by default. To replay transactions, select one of scenarios you recorded in File Explorer and hit run icon in under Transactions recorded block.
🎧 Remix Terminal
In Remix terminal you can do the following things:
View logs of Remix actions, like deploying or interactions with a contract
Search for transactions
By checking
listen on networkyou will get a log of all blocks mined to currently connected blockchain network.Run custom web3 scripts. To do that, type
remix.execute(pathToScript)or elect script to be active in editor and typeremix.exeCurrent()in command line at the bottom.
🎧 Remix Plugin Manager
Remix has extensible plugin architecture and plenty of ready-to-use plugins avaiable in Plugin Manager panel. With plugins you can add support for a specific blockchain network, enable testing and debugging capabalities to solidity and more. If you want some plugin that is not present in Plugin Manager, you can always add new plugins buy pressing Connect to a Local Plugin.
Some of useful plugins for starting dApp development are:
Debugger: lets you debug transactionsDGit: adds git capabilites to Remix IDEFlattener: flattens contracts which use dependency so you can verify them on Block Explorer.Solidity Unit Testing: adds support of unit testing for your solidity contracts
For more information about Remix, Please Visit Remix Documentation. For more information about XinFin Network, Please Visit XDC Network Documentation on GitBook.\
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