ask! Development

⚠️ Production Warning ask! eDSL currently has several limitations and issues being actively addressed. It is not recommended for production environments. Consider using ink! for production contracts.
View known issues

Introduction

ask! is a framework that enables AssemblyScript developers to write Wasm smart contracts for pallet-contracts. With TypeScript-like syntax, it makes smart contract development accessible to JavaScript/TypeScript developers.

💡 Project Status ask! is a Polkadot treasury funded project currently under active development.

Prerequisites

Basic understanding of TypeScript/JavaScript
Familiarity with package managers (yarn/npm)

Environment Setup

1. Install Yarn

npm install --global yarn

2. Clone Template Repository

git clone https://github.com/ask-lang/ask-template.git
cd ask-template

Project Structure

ask-template/
├── asconfig.json        # AssemblyScript config
├── askconfig.json       # ask-lang config
├── build/              
│   └── metadata.json    # Contract metadata
├── flipper.ts          # Contract code
├── index.d.ts          # TypeScript definitions
├── package.json        # Dependencies
└── tsconfig.json       # TypeScript config

Contract Development

Basic Contract Structure

// Event Definition
@event({ id: 1 })
export class FlipEvent {
    flag: bool;
    constructor(flag: bool) {
        this.flag = flag;
    }
}

// Storage Layout
@spreadLayout
@packedLayout
export class Flipper {
    flag: bool;
    constructor(flag: bool = false) {
        this.flag = flag;
    }
}

// Contract Logic
@contract
export class Contract {
    // Contract implementation
}

Key Components

1. Storage

@spreadLayout
@packedLayout
export class Flipper {
    flag: bool;
    constructor(flag: bool = false) {
        this.flag = flag;
    }
}

2. Contract Methods

@contract
export class Contract {
    // Constructor
    @constructor()
    default(flag: bool): void {
        this.data.flag = flag;
    }

    // Mutable Method
    @message({ mutates: true })
    flip(): void {
        this.data.flag = !this.data.flag;
        let event = new FlipEvent(this.data.flag);
        env().emitEvent(event);
    }

    // Read-only Method
    @message()
    get(): bool {
        return this.data.flag;
    }
}

3. Events

@event({ id: 1 })
export class FlipEvent {
    flag: bool;
    constructor(flag: bool) {
        this.flag = flag;
    }
}

// Emitting events
env().emitEvent(new FlipEvent(true));

Building Your Contract

# Install dependencies and build
yarn && yarn build flipper.ts

This generates:

flipper.optimized.wasm: Compiled WebAssembly code
metadata.json: Contract metadata
flipper.wat: WebAssembly text format (human-readable)

Deployment Process

Access polkadot.js
Select your target network
Upload contract files:
- metadata.json for ABI
- flipper.optimized.wasm for contract code
Follow the deployment wizard
Confirm deployment success

Additional Resources

Documentation

Support

Need help? Join our Discord Community

Development Tips

Use TypeScript-aware IDEs for better development experience
Keep track of event IDs to avoid conflicts
Test thoroughly before deployment
Monitor gas usage and optimization

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Last updated 2 months ago

ask-template/ ├── asconfig.json # AssemblyScript config ├── askconfig.json # ask-lang config ├── build/ │ └── metadata.json # Contract metadata ├── flipper.ts # Contract code ├── index.d.ts # TypeScript definitions ├── package.json # Dependencies └── tsconfig.json # TypeScript config

// Event Definition @event({ id: 1 }) export class FlipEvent { flag: bool; constructor(flag: bool) { this.flag = flag; } } // Storage Layout @spreadLayout @packedLayout export class Flipper { flag: bool; constructor(flag: bool = false) { this.flag = flag; } } // Contract Logic @contract export class Contract { // Contract implementation }

@contract export class Contract { // Constructor @constructor() default(flag: bool): void { this.data.flag = flag; } // Mutable Method @message({ mutates: true }) flip(): void { this.data.flag = !this.data.flag; let event = new FlipEvent(this.data.flag); env().emitEvent(event); } // Read-only Method @message() get(): bool { return this.data.flag; } }