Welcome to the first edition of ‘In the Node,’ R3’s developer newsletter. Here you’ll find the latest Corda platform updates, along with news about upcoming training sessions, bootcamps, and events. Thanks for all your hard work and interest in Corda!



Technical Updates Corda 4 Brings 1800+ Commits and More! Corda 4 was released to much fanfare at the end of February! You can find more information about it on the Corda Medium blog.



In summary, new data model features include reference states, signature constraints, wire stability, and network parameters in transactions. Several other improvements were made as well, in addition to support for rolling app upgrades.

Developer Preview: Java in Intel® SGX On March 4th we announced the official release of our ongoing work to allow the secure execution of JVM bytecode inside Intel® SGX. The project’s goal is to provide tooling that enables the development of Intel SGX enclaves in Java, Kotlin, Scala, and more generally in any JVM based language. This first release showcases our progress to date – the basic capability of building and hosting JVM enclaves. Read our latest blog to learn more!

Token SDK Coming Soon! The Corda team is currently working on a token SDK set to be released in Q2 of this year. The token SDK is a set of libraries which provides CorDapp developers with the functionality to: Create and manage the reference data which define tokens

Issue, move and redeem amounts of some token

Perform operations on tokens such as querying and selecting tokens for spending The token SDK is intended to replace the "finance module" in the core Corda repository. The finance module didn't meet the requirements of the increasing amount of token projects undertaken on Corda because: There was little documentation on how to use the finance module

The finance module did not define any standards for using tokens

There were only two state types defined: Cash and Obligation. Defining new types resulted in significant code duplication.

Coin selection required database specific implementations and didn't parallelize well. If you’re interested, check out the design document and watch this space for more info!

Contribute! With hundreds of community contributions already, jump on in and help us further build out Corda, whether it's new features, bug fixes, refactors or new CorDapps. We've highlighted some great first issues for you to get your hands dirty, find them here and if you're stuck for inspiration for building new CorDapps check out our 'Corda Science Projects'.



Or, check out some of the CorDapps built by our community. Want to take the discussion further? Join #contributions on public slack.



Training and More...

Ready to Become a Corda Certified Developer? Since launch, over 1500 developers have become Corda Certified. Plan to earn your certification in this year!



Certification can be obtained by passing the Corda Certification exam with a score of 75% or better. If you have attended a Corda developer training session or have equivalent experience, you should be well-equipped to take the exam with some additional independent study.



Developers who pass will receive an invitation to claim a digital badge that can be shared on social media and with the developer community at large.



Ready? Register for the exam. Attend a Corda Training Session Near You... Prepare for the Corda Certification Exam with a two-day training session. Upcoming session dates and locations are listed below: London: April 9-10

Bangalore: April 16-17

New York: May 15-16

Virtual (US Eastern): May 28-29

Or, join a free Corda Bootcamp! Alternatively, get a crash course and learn to build a CorDapp in one day with a free Corda Bootcamp. Be sure to check out our eventbrite page frequently for updates!



London: April 4

London :May 3



Events

SXSW Hackathon: Best Use of Corda Winners! This month, R3 was an official sponsor of the SXSW hackathon! The event had a great turnout and we enjoyed spending a grueling 24-hours with hackers working on media focused projects.

A big congrats to team Fanchain, who’s project was a blockchain application that rewards music fans based on loyalty. They were awarded Best Use of Corda! Read more about the event in this Hacker Noon article and specifically about Fanchain’s project here!

Save the Date: DevDay at CordaCon 2019! Mark your calendar: CordaCon 2019 will take place on October 23-24 at etc.venues in London! Last year 700+ blockchain leaders and Corda enthusiasts joined us for what proved to be the most exciting CordaCon yet! Missed it? Check out the recap below.



This year DevDay, dedicated to all things Corda, will take place on October 23. Be the first to hear when registration opens! Drop your email and fill out a short survey on the event website.



From the R3 Ecosystem...

GrowSuper is hiring developers! GrowSuper is looking for CorDapp developers with experience in either open source or Corda Enterprise! Prefer candidates to be based in Australia, but open to a remote working arrangement. Candidates can contact the team or email CVs to david.baxter@growsuper.com.





Get involved!

Run a local bootcamp or meetup near you. We encourage our community of Corda enthusiasts to run local bootcamps, meetups, and more. If you are interested in hosting an event, we can provide you with guidance, materials, and best practices. Reach out to devrel@r3.com for more info!