Blockchain Enabled Smart Contract Based Applications: Deficiencies with the Software Development Life Cycle Models

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the incompatibility of traditional SDLC models with blockchain-enabled smart contract applications, highlighting the need for new development frameworks due to block immutability and contract complexities.

Contribution

It systematically compares SDLC models with smart contract requirements, introduces the concepts of block and contract immutability, and advocates for new development standards.

Findings

Traditional SDLC models are unsuitable for smart contract applications.

Identified conflicts between SDLC phases and blockchain properties.

Highlights the need for new development models for blockchain smart contracts.

Abstract

With the recent popularity of Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), blockchain enabled smart contract applications has attracted increased research focus. However, the immutability of the blocks, where the smart contracts are stored, causes conflicts with the traditional Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models usually followed by software engineers. This clearly shows the unsuitability of the application of SDLC in designing blockchain enabled smart contract based applications. This research article addresses this current problem by first exploring the six traditional SDLC models, clearly identifying the conflicts in a table with the application of smart contracts and advocates that there is an urgent need to develop new standard model(s) to address the arising issues. The concept of both block immutability and contract is introduced. This is further set in a historical context from legacy smart contracts and blockchain enabled smart contracts extending to the difference between "shallow smart contracts" and "deep smart contracts". To conclude, the traditional SDLC models are unsuitable for blockchain enabled smart contract-based applications.