Substrate is an open and interoperable blockchain framework that helps developers focus on the business logic of the chain and easily build multiple blockchains. Read our blog to learn more about it.

1. Substrate: A Framework to
Efficiently Build Different
Blockchains
As you might have experienced or imagined, creating a blockchain
platform from the get-go is extremely challenging. The execution of low-
level network protocols as well as the consensus code writing it entails
makes it pretty complex.
Enter Substrate by Parity Technologies. If you are linguistically inclined,
you will be interested to know that the Oxford Dictionary defines the
word ‘substrate’ as ‘a substance or layer that underlies something, or on
which some process occurs. Clearly, it can be used to build something
on it. People in the software realm say, why not blockchains?
Substrate is an open, flexible, interoperable, and future-proof set of
libraries that features consensus, networking, and a cross-platform
DB/file storage abstraction, among other value additions. It helps
developers to focus on the crux of their project – the business logic of

2. the chain – by providing generic implementations of typical algorithms.
In this blog, let’s take a closer look at its benefits, structure, technology,
and how our team at Nitor Infotech has been working with it.
Why Use Substrate?
Here are the benefits of Substrate at a glance:
Simply put, Substrate as a blockchain framework enables users to make
chains safer, cheaper, easier, and faster! This enables a user to start
development without investing much time in chain, genesis, and
consensus configuration. All of this is possible by configuring in a JSON
file. It provides different options to use it and one of them is to use RPC
endpoints.
Substrate endpoints are integrated in languages like Python, Ruby, and
JavaScript. This library adds the integration of endpoints in PHP
language increasing the usability of Substrate. This project will help to
avail Substrate features in applications or platforms built using PHP
language.
Do note that this is an addition to the Substrate ecosystem. This middle-
level library is built to facilitate the PHP projects to use the power of
blockchain in their projects. Its uses and integration are very simple.
Take a look at the image below that illustrates the component structure
of Substrate:

3. Component structure
Here is a glimpse of the technology involved in the process:
Ecosystem Fit
• The library helps in making Substrate endpoints available for
applications built in PHP.
• It is adding a library to the client integration section of Substrate.
• Any PHP application that needs to have a Substrate blockchain
capability can use this library.
• The middle-level application extends the integration of Substrate.
Development done so far

4. Here is a sneak peek of what our team has built so far:
All the Substrate RPC endpoints are available in this package. A balance
transfer example is also integrated in this. A user can use this package
to perform transactions like balance transfer, getting the account
details, getting the block details, current chain status, and so on.
How to use Lib
Lib is an API for Substrate. To utilize Lib, we need a running Substrate
node. For running the Substrate node, the following steps need to be
followed:
• git clone https://github.com/polkascan/substrate-interface.git
• cd substrate-interface
• git checkout 0.10.3
• git submodule update –init –recursive
• docker-compose -p substrate-interface -f docker-compose.polkadot-
local.yml up –build –remove-orphans
Important notes
• The repository https://github.com/neha0921/package-test.git is a
sample project to show how our
repository https://github.com/neha0921/substrate-interface-
package can be integrated to a PHP project.
• The repository https://github.com/neha0921/substrate-interface-
package is the main repository which has all integrated endpoints.
A sample project is helpful in playing around with the library. To run the
sample project, you need to perform the following steps:
1. Clone the demo/sample project
2. Update the composer

5. 3. To test the output in the browser
4. In the browser use the following URL to check the output
Future Plans
There are some goals we envision when it comes to Substrate; we are
thinking and working on these lines:
• Substrate is continuously changing, to support its functionality and
working with changes, we are planning to provide lifetime support.
• We are working on blockchain as well, so we want to be involved in its
development with multichain connectivity and future development.
• With our expertise in Rust development, we are looking to contribute to
the development and issue fixing of Substrate.
It is evident that Substrate’s technology is building up a new wave of
innovation in the blockchain industry, since it is effectively tackling a lot
of limitations of previous-generation networks and is smoothly evolving
according to developers’ needs. I hope my blog has helped you get
better acquainted with it.
Get in touch with us at Nitor Infotech to share your comments or learn more
about us and click here to learn more about the astonishing possibilities
of blockchain technology. Also check out our interesting video that will
acquaint you with the array of advantages and industry use cases of
blockchain.