The Blockchains with the Best Developer ROI for Enterprise Use Cases

Algorand can reduce blockchain-related development time for enterprise applications by 600%

Highlights:

Enterprise blockchain products can be built 600% faster on Algorand versus Ethereum or EVM chains.
An experienced blockchain developer using Algorand/Python could deliver in less than a month what a Solidity developer may need nearly a quarter to build.
In a review of the programming languages used by enterprise blockchains, Python ranks highest in the TIOBE Index, a monthly indicator of the popularity of programming languages by developers - significantly outranking other languages, including Solidity, Rust, and Java.
Regardless of their sector, CTOs, research and development departments, and engineering teams drive sustainable business growth. As part of this responsibility, CTOs constantly evaluate new technologies, such as AI, and decide which to adopt.

Blockchain is one of the technologies favored by CTOs, especially those working at the enterprise level building solutions for supply chain management, digital identity, data integrity and provenance, and cross-border payments, among other use cases.

Blockchain’s fundamental design lends security, accountability, and efficiency to not only existing products and systems but can also be used to develop new ones. While it can take time to integrate blockchain properly, the result should be well worth the investment of valuable engineering resources.

Using blockchain with good developer ROI is the best way to protect engineering resources and create marketable, profitable blockchain-based products and services.

As enterprise CTOs know, there is a huge difference between launching a proof of concept/pilot, and building a solution that is scalable and enterprise-grade. This article is focused on the latter - namely, which blockchains offer the best developer ROI for deploying enterprise-grade solutions at scale.

What makes a blockchain have good developer ROI?

For an enterprise, good developer ROI includes:

The ability to find talented and effective blockchain developers/blockchain engineers (to reduce the time spent in securing engineering resources)

And, once hired, for those developers to be able to:

Develop on a blockchain that comes pre-built with essential components and features (to reduce time spent on custom coding or patching security issues)
Develop in a programming language that is complete, secure, and well-known (to reduce time spent and to reduce the risk of future security issues)
Develop on a blockchain with long-term security (reducing the need for resources in the future to, for example, resolve a chain fork or other security vulnerability)

Understandably, not all blockchains are built the same, and as a result, their effectiveness and feasibility vary widely. To get the most ROI from blockchain in an enterprise setting, CTOs must carefully weigh their resources. One of the most significant, competitive resources for enterprises is blockchain developers.

What languages do the major blockchains use for enterprise applications?

Nearly all the major enterprise blockchains have frameworks that make it possible to build applications in various programming languages (at least more than one). However, smart contracts - one of the most powerful elements of blockchain-based applications - are often restricted to a certain programming language, if not the original programming language for the chain for ultimate security. Given that many enterprise applications would include smart contracts, we note below the programming languages used on each chain.

Table 2

In a review of the programming languages used by enterprise blockchains, Python has the largest programming community and ranks highest in the TIOBE Index, a monthly indicator of the popularity of programming languages among programmers.

Ideally, to build a robust, secure, scalable blockchain application for enterprises, CTOs want to hire experienced blockchain-specific developers - not just experienced developers who have worked in the programming language before.

The relative newness of Solidity or Rust may make it harder to find an experienced team, given that it is a lesser-known language (whose errors can cause significant problems - see here for a recent example of a smart contract exploit).

In comparison, Python is a well-known, versatile programming language that is regularly taught at the university level and used in enterprise applications. It may be far easier to build a team of highly blockchain-experienced Python-specific developers than to create the same team for another chain.

Algorand, utilizing Python, has a healthy developer ecosystem and has seen a 13% increase in developer numbers over the past year as well as a 68% increase in developers who code on multiple chains (Electric Capital).

What technologies reduce development time while maintaining timelines and team size?

When a new technology (or platform, or product) saves developer time, product iteration becomes faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality. Namely, without reducing team size (losing institutional knowledge), reducing salaries (and therefore quality of work), or increasing hours worked per week (which reduces the cost per hour for a salaried employee but also reduces work quality and effectiveness for software developers7).

It’s been reported that Github’s Copilot can save developers up to 55%8 of development time. Due to the assistance, developers also report higher percentages of fulfillment and satisfaction with their work. In other words, using Github’s AI technology empowered the developers to work more than twice as fast (and still productively).

What if there was a way to make an even more significant improvement in developer productivity?

ZTLment moved to Algorand for the developer cost-and-time-savings - a 7x improvement

Programmable payments fintech ZTLment announced this month it would be moving its EU-compliant wallet infrastructure to the Algorand blockchain. In their technical review, they realized they would have a significant operational benefit in building with Algorand due to its already available blockchain components.

According to ZTLment, Algorand as their base chain helped their developers work 7x faster to build regulated fiat payments. They initially reserved up to 35% of their developer time for blockchain-based feature and component development. On Algorand, they would only need to attribute 5% of their developer time to blockchain-specific development.

“Our internal study now shows we’re now able to build (and launch) new payments features/components 7x faster by using the Algorand blockchain. In other words: A significant operational benefit (in cost and time) found in moving our engineering/R&D to Algorand, vs. other blockchains.

Where did these numbers come from? Our CTO and engineering team mapped out our actual hour spend on each blockchain, as well as the estimated number of hours to build new components in our programmable payments stack. We then confirmed the increase in development speed in the launch of our latest product version."

In ZTLment’s case, they elected to use Algorand because of the multiple pre-built blockchain components and features - features and components they would have to spend significant developer resources to build if they used another chain, such as an EVM-based one.

Blockchain developers building on Algorand can utilize the following native features instantly:

Delegated authority: Developers have the option to allow delegation authority so transfers can be assigned to execute automatically. The Algorand Foundation also offers concierge-level service to developers who would like a review of their code or products for security of assets, funds, and/or data.
Easy transaction ordering: Algorand provides specific windows for transactions to occur. Its finality of transactions provides security and certainty. Developers do not need to take into account replaying transactions (such as those after a consensus fork), nor do they need to account for the need to re-send, re-submit, or re-order transactions that do not settle. In summary, Algorand keeps developers from having to build (and oversee) a complex transaction ordering system and/or replay mechanisms to avoid enumeration gaps in transactions' nonces.
Multi-sig: Algorand has multi-sig built into the blockchain level - on other chains, this must be coded via a smart contract or provided by a third party.
Asset functionality: On Algorand, a blockchain product can freeze, clawback or even destroy assets, which is essential for financial applications.
Updatable smart contract code: This feature makes Algorand future-proof.
Atomic transaction groups: The ability to compose a group of transactions that must all succeed or otherwise revert. Unlike other blockchains, Algorand provides this ability without relying on smart contracts. This means that the operations of this group are guaranteed to be deterministic. This removes both the need for a technical contract audit as well as the implicit risk of a failed or exploited smart contract.
Accrued balance: Algorand allows users to know their balance after every transaction—on other chains, this must be calculated and built-in.
Instant finalization of transactions: Algorand’s blockchain does not fork, so users can receive confirmation of a transaction instantly without risking the blockchain state updating/changing afterward.

Python-based Algorand makes blockchain-based feature development 600% faster

What could a 600% reduction in developer time needed look like from a resources and sprint perspective? Is it comparable to using AI, like GitHub Copilot?9 Let’s look at an example.

How Algorand saves developers time

Example:

Enterprise A is building a product on an EVM-compatible chain. Enterprise B is building an identical product on Algorand. Each has a motivated group of 5 developers who will work a 15-day sprint10 to complete their work (the equivalent of 600 individual developer hours).

When a team of developers can deliver a blockchain-based product “7x faster,” it means they can both deliver a certain product sprint in less time, freeing up their workweek for other features and product iterations. Instead of finalizing one sprint, they could finalize several.

In this example, a product iteration sprint that previously took 600 hours would only take 100 engineer hours. Over the same three weeks, with the same 5 developers, 500 hours are available for other works.

Enterprise A: Blockchain development (without Algorand)

For 1 development sprint (3 weeks, 600 development hours)

Enterprise B: Blockchain development on Algorand

Table 5

A blockchain startup could, alternatively, employ 1 Python blockchain developer who, over 3 weeks, could deliver similar output to that of a 5-person Solidity or other blockchain development team

Conclusion

CTOs (and their engineering teams) drive operational efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Regardless of whether the company in question is a technology company, they remain responsible for safeguarding systems and data, as well as responsible for optimizing their valuable engineering resources.

And for a technology-based enterprise, their work is the cornerstone of product development and revenue generation. Therefore, using engineering resources effectively is key.

Using an enterprise-grade blockchain protects your engineering resources in three major ways:

When your developers can work in a well-known, secure and native programming environment, like Python, they can work more productively and efficiently.
When your blockchain developers can use pre-built, vetted, secure blockchain components for features like atomic swaps and multi-signature transactions, they can build secure applications in less time.
When your enterprise moves any number of operations to blockchain, it is far better to do so knowing it is future-proofed - namely, that the chain you’ve built on has little-to-zero risk of forking or otherwise significantly changing its underlying functionality and code11.

1. https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/smart-contracts/languages/
2. https://solana.com/developers/evm-to-svm/smart-contracts
3. https://docs.r3.com/en/platform/corda/4.9/enterprise/key-concepts-contracts.html
4. https://docs.r3.com/en/platform/corda/4.9/enterprise/key-concepts-contracts.html
5. https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/
6. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1241923/worldwide-software-developer-programming-language-communities/
7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259781769_Impact_of_Overtime_and_Stress_on_Software_Quality
8. https://github.blog/news-insights/research/research-quantifying-github-copilots-impact-on-developer-productivity-and-happiness
9. GitHub’s initial research showed that developers could experience up to 55% time-saving in their work by using GitHub Copilot. In this example, if the developer teams were able to save 50% of their development time (working 2x faster), they could both finish their sprint in half the time, 300 hours.
10. Developer support and productivity is important - so is avoiding burnout. In this example, we assume both teams work a standard, focused 40-hour salaried work week for 3 weeks.
11. Not every blockchain has this, even some of the most well-known ones (listen to this Bankless podcast to learn more about how other blockchains are struggling with their roadmap).