The recent rise and fall of the traditional ICO model revealed a trend: people are extremely eager to build on blockchain technology.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency created the new Wild West of tech, with thousands of companies emerging within a very short amount of time. This frantic rush to adopt blockchain resulted in a plethora of applications built entirely on the blockchain. Unfortunately, that’s not such a good thing.

Why? Well, if today you go use any of these solutions that have actually real working products, they’ll function wildly different to applications and websites that the average user is accustomed to interacting with.

For example, most of today’s functional DApps require the use of Metamask to function: a third-party plugin which allows the application’s users to write on the blockchain.

Writing data includes any outward-facing action such as publishing a blog post, an instagram photo, or simply pushing a button on a website. Because writing data is much of what users do on the internet, they can’t be expected to stop and wait for the blockchain upon each interaction.

Let’s use Twitter as an example. Imagine if each time you wanted to tweet, you had to open a third part app, approve the process, pay a small fee, then wait for the transaction to be written on the blockchain (without a notification of its completion), then return to Twitter to confirm the post. The user adoption of Twitter would be dismal.

So what’s the issue?

The strengths of blockchains can also be seen as their weaknesses.

Impenetrable forts are excellent for security, but if they are impenetrable, how are the occupants supposed to interact with the outside world? Herein lies the biggest predicament for today’s blockchain community.

The reason these DApps are largely nonfunctional is because they were put entirely on the blockchain, rendering them unable to interact with external features.

Functionality in today’s traditional (non-blockchain) applications primarily comes from the integration of various external technologies, such as email, bank accounts, databases or cell phone notifications. These connected technologies are responsible for effortlessly guiding users through a journey.

Blockchains, though, are popular for their impenetrability. So how can we connect technologies, in real time, to blockchains, so that apps can have the best of both worlds: security and functionality?

There are a few tools out there today which help ease this problem. An example of such a tool are oracles. They only allow blockchains to retrieve data from the outside world, but don’t facilitate bi-directional communication, aren’t easily modifiable and they require transaction fees which add up quickly for users.

Both verification and functionality are essential

We must have both. Advanced verification and decentralization of data are the reasons people are excited about using blockchain technologies, so these can’t be compromised. Otherwise, we’d be defeating their initial purpose.

User experience, on the other hand, cannot be overlooked either. After all, this is what is going to allow products to quickly gain momentum and devoted followers. This too is an essential step for any product to become successful.

We need a flexible solution which allows blockchains to be utilized without requiring the entire app to live on the blockchain.

A new way of thinking

The sheer lack of tools on the market right now which help you to combine blockchains with external technologies without compromise is perhaps because the current working solution requires an entirely different way of thinking.

Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) isn’t a new concept, but it has only recently gained traction in popular application development. EDA requires builders of applications to rethink how applications function.

EDA is a fundamentally-different architecture which uses a message broker as an intermediary between applications and their components. This effectively allows applications to use both centralized and decentralized components in a much more flexible way, so that an optimal balance of features, security and decentralization can be achieved within each unique application.

This is quite different from style of building that the vast majority of today’s developers are accustomed to, called Imperative Programming. This style the application directly connected to each function, so that the application is responsible for making external technologies cooperate with it.

Event Driven Architecture reverses the process. Instead of the application responsible for executing each function, it simply constantly listens for inputs, waiting to react.

Each element of event-driven applications, whether the application’s business logic, or each of the connected technologies or blockchains, exist independently, without a direct connection to each other. With each element independent and simply listening, the heavy interconnectedness of applications becomes a thing of the past. The working components of applications are able to interact without being wildly interconnected.

This means that not only is it very easy to add new technologies or features to existing applications, but updating and maintaining applications becomes drastically more simple and cost-effective too.

Event-driven future

Sometimes the biggest leaps of progress come from stepping back and looking at problems in a new way, untethered to the plethora of today’s popular solutions and ways of thinking.

Event driven systems are the solution we are looking for. They will allow users to connect technologies with ease to any other technology including blockchains, resulting in true modularity, efficiency, and even shareable components of applications, creating an even more efficient building process.

They also allow users to find their perfect balance of UX features, security and decentralization. With EDA, users can utilize the blockchain without putting everything on it.

These concepts are shown in a working product called MESG, which allows users to use the absolute best features of blockchain technology while also providing connectability to any technology.

It’s a truly flexible platform which allows you to connect existing DApps or build your own, with unlimited levels of both security and usability.

Now, safe, secure decentralized applications can also deliver excellent user experiences, finally opening the door to wide adoption and ensuring the long-term success of blockchains.

Check out mesg.com to get started building DApps or business solutions that utilize blockchains optimally while using features that users have grown to expect.