Hedera Hashgraph scans testnet environments quarterly

Hedera Hashgraph, a smart contract company for developing and deploying scalable dApps, has announced changes to its test environments.

Quarterly resets

In a Jan. 13 tweet, Hedera said that every quarter, starting Jan. 26, they will reset their mirror and consensus node testnets. Details like account, token, contract and more will be erased.

However, developers will not have to generate new public and private keys. Each pair created even before the reset will remain unchanged. This allows creators to quickly re-create accounts and continue as before.

Upon reset, Hedera said developers will not access state data as broadcast from network compatibility test nodes. Therefore, those who created accounts prior to the hard reset will not, for example, query data or check transaction history.

However, developers working on the testnet mirror node will still have access to critical data two weeks after the rest before it’s completely removed. During these two weeks, developers will be free to make inquiries on the old testnet.

Each reset will take place on the specified dates of 17HRs UTC, lasting approximately 2 hours. Subsequent events will be on April 27th, July 27th, and October 26th.

After this update, hedera is urging developers to keep track of reset dates. Additionally, developers must have the technical ability to recreate test data for their dApps, ensuring smooth operations.

Hedera developers need testnets

Testnet environments are extremely important to developers. Since it mimics the mainnet, it is easy for dApp creators to optimize their products before deploying to the mainnet. When testing a dApp, builders carefully examine the underlying code, picking out flaws, for example, in smart contracts.

By detecting defects at this point, corrections can be made and massive losses, which are detrimental to the dApp’s reputation, can be prevented at launch into the mainnet. In 2016, a DAO hack in Ethereum locked millions of ETH after a exploiter identified a flaw in the organization’s smart contract. With millions of ETH locked away and community members disillusioned, Vitalik Buterin and his supporters have voted to fork Ethereum.

Hedera has safety nets to prevent this from happening. With a testnet, developers can run code “designed for a pre-production environment” before it goes live on the mainnet. Meanwhile, the Preview Test Grid allows developers to try out features that are scheduled for a later release.