Perspective by: Alex Nguyen, CEO at VibrantX
The Move programming language does not have roots in the cypherpunk movement. It was developed by Facebook (now Meta) after the Libra/Diem team evaluated major smart contract languages (like Bitcoin Script and Ethereum Virtual Machine bytecode) and determined that their skilled internal team could create a new language grounded in extensive private and public sector research.
The original team, which included founders Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching along with their engineering staff, departed from Facebook to continue as an independent, open-source initiative driven by Aptos Labs and supported by the Aptos Foundation.
Crucially, Meta’s unsuccessful Libra venture equipped us with a programming language specifically tailored for financial applications in crypto. Now open-source, Move on Aptos is backed by the Aptos Foundation, a commercially motivated organization that encourages contributions from builders of various backgrounds.
Currently, Move is regarded as the superior programming language for ensuring the absence of bugs and for detecting alterations and leaks, which represent common vulnerabilities in blockchain security.
This verification process is anchored in two critical aspects of Move on Aptos: (1) “backward compatibility” and (2) the principle of an “auditor at runtime.”
Backward compatibility for future-proofing
Move on Aptos delivers quick and cost-effective transactions, providing a competitive edge, particularly for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Aptos aims for high transaction throughput, with the potential to achieve up to 160,000 transactions per second (TPS) thanks to its parallel execution engine, Block-STM.
Aptos boasts sub-second finality, ensuring rapid transaction confirmations, which significantly enhances the user experience in time-sensitive scenarios.
While other chains possess similar features, Move on Aptos is specifically built to be “backward-compatible.”
Future upgrades will not disrupt existing projects. This fosters developer confidence when creating long-term solutions, as they won’t have to worry about breaking changes resulting from a Move upgrade.
Move smart contracts are crafted to be upgradeable without disrupting user experience, a necessity for mainstream adoption. This allows teams to implement fixes and new functionalities without any disruptions.
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The flexibility of smart contracts utilizing Move on Aptos’ specific security features enables quicker and more efficient product development. Move on Aptos, with its enhanced adaptability, can readily support emerging ecosystems.
“Bytecode” verification to prevent leaks
Contract hacks in Solidity have been widespread over the years. When creating Web3 technology for markets valued in the billions or even trillions, it’s essential to implement security systems that safeguard projects from resource leaks, invalid memory access, and other unauthorized alterations.
Initially designed for Meta’s Diem project, Move emphasizes safety, resource management, and performance, making it appealing for developers in search of a secure yet effective language for smart contracts.
When deploying code with Move, the code undergoes verification against several critical coding standards, such as proper resource management, type correctness, and reference safety. Regardless of what occurs with the code, it will be subjected to verification first in order to prevent flawed or malicious smart contracts from executing.
This exemplifies the strength of Move’s integrated bytecode verification.
Real-time assurance against bugs
Notable computer science pioneer Edsger Dijkstra famously stated, “Program testing can show the presence of bugs, but never their absence!”
The formal verification features of Move enable developers to substantiate that specific code is free from bugs in line with predefined specifications.
While the MoveVM is not as extensively battle-tested as Ethereum’s virtual machine, Rushi Manche, the founder of Movement Labs, has noted that Move requires significantly less code auditing. The MoveVM runtime functions as an “auditor at runtime.”
The verifier within the MoveVM guarantees that the transaction code is safe and does not permit the creation, duplication, or destruction of resources not authorized by the signers of the transaction. In essence, the MoveVM operates as an “auditor at runtime,” rather than relying on human auditors of smart contracts.
As it stands today, Move on Aptos represents more than merely a smart contract language. It has become the most established and widely recognized variant of Move, showcasing one of the fastest-growing developer communities and a rapidly expanding ecosystem of infrastructure, tools, and projects.
The ability to quickly verify code before deployment has fostered the conditions needed for the Move on Aptos ecosystem. Emerging from a challenging Web2 beginning, Move is now poised to drive growth in DeFi.
Perspective by: Alex Nguyen, CEO at VibrantX.
This article serves solely for informational purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of any specific organization.