Frameless Template

A learning-focused template for building Substrate runtimes without FRAME. This template is designed to help you understand the fundamentals of blockchain runtime development through hands-on examples.

🎯 What is Frameless Template?

Traditional Substrate Development

Most Substrate projects use FRAME - a framework that provides pre-built modules (pallets) for common blockchain functionality like accounts, balances, staking, etc. FRAME is powerful but can be overwhelming for beginners because it abstracts away many fundamental concepts.

What Makes This Template "Frameless"?

This template doesn't use FRAME at all. Instead, it builds a Substrate runtime from scratch using only the core Substrate primitives. This means:

• No pallets - you write everything yourself
• No macros - you understand every line of code
• No abstractions - you see exactly how blockchain logic works
• Full control - you decide how to implement every feature

Why "Frameless" is Better for Learning

1. Fundamentals First: You learn how Substrate actually works under the hood
2. No Magic: Every function, every storage operation, every call is visible
3. Custom Everything: You can implement features exactly how you want
4. Deep Understanding: You'll understand FRAME better after using this template
5. Real Runtime: This is a real, working blockchain runtime, not just examples

What You're Actually Building

• Runtime Logic: The core business logic of your blockchain
• Storage Management: How data is stored and retrieved
• Call Handling: How external requests are processed
• State Management: How the blockchain state changes over time
• Block Processing: How blocks are created and finalized

Perfect For

• Beginners who want to understand blockchain fundamentals
• Developers who want full control over their runtime
• Students learning about blockchain architecture
• Anyone who wants to see how Substrate works without FRAME

Not For

• Production applications (use FRAME for that)
• Quick prototypes (FRAME is faster for simple things)
• Complex DeFi protocols (FRAME has battle-tested pallets)

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Get it running

git clone <repository-url>
cd frameless_template
cargo build --release
./target/release/solochain-template-node --dev

Step 2: Test basic functionality

# Test the basic SetValue call
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "jsonrpc":"2.0",
  "id":1,
  "method":"author_submitExtrinsic",
  "params":["0x0139050000"]
}' http://localhost:9944

📚 Learning Path - Examples

We've created a series of examples that guide you from basic concepts to more advanced functionality:

Example 1: Hello World ✅

• Goal: Add your first custom call to the runtime
• Learn: Basic runtime development, rebuild workflow
• What you'll do: Add a simple call that stores a message

Example 2: Simple Counter ✅

• Goal: Build a counter with increment/decrement/reset
• Learn: Working with existing storage values, helper functions
• What you'll do: Create a counter that persists across blocks

Example 3: Custom Storage Types ✅

• Goal: Store different data types (String, u32, bool)
• Learn: Multiple storage types, storage key management
• What you'll do: Store and retrieve different data types

Example 4: Simple Token System ✅

• Goal: Build a basic token system with transfers and balance tracking
• Learn: Account management, balance tracking, transfer logic
• What you'll do: Create accounts, mint tokens, transfer between accounts

🔧 How to Use This Template

For Beginners

1. Start with Example 1: Hello World
2. Follow each example step by step
3. Make small changes and see immediate results
4. Use the examples as a foundation for your own ideas

For Experienced Developers

1. Use the examples as reference implementations
2. Modify and extend the functionality
3. Add your own custom calls and logic
4. Use this as a starting point for your own projects

🎓 What You'll Learn

• Runtime Development: How to build Substrate runtimes without FRAME
• Storage Management: How to store and retrieve data
• Call Dispatching: How to handle different types of calls
• State Management: How to manage runtime state
• Testing: How to test your changes and see results
• Debugging: How to troubleshoot and fix issues

🎯 Why This Template?

• Learning Focused: Designed for education, not production
• Step by Step: Progressive complexity from basic to advanced
• Immediate Feedback: See results of your changes right away
• Well Documented: Each example explains what and why
• Extensible: Easy to modify and extend

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Ready to start learning? Begin with Example 1: Hello World!