DFINITY Launches ICP Ninja Upgrade With AI-Enhanced Tools To Drive New Wave of Development on ICP

DFINITY Foundation, a Swiss not-for-profit organization of world-leading computer scientists and cryptographers, and a major contributor to the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), has announced a major upgrade to ICP Ninja, the free browser-only integrated development environment (IDE) for creating and deploying applications on the Internet Computer.

The ICP Ninja upgrade is set to make the entry to ICP development and deployment extremely easy to developers on all platforms (Mac, Linux, Windows).

The next frontier for creating and deploying applications

ICP Ninja is designed to make building on the ICP network fast and easily accessible. Previously, developers faced challenges such as downloading and mastering various tools or working with Docker containers, both of which required a substantial time investment. With this upgrade, the developer experience has been transformed through a strong focus on productivity and collaboration. The integration of AI-powered tools, seamless GitHub integration, and many other features make building on the ICP network more intuitive and efficient.

Fast, easy and scalable development

Getting started in Web3 is often perceived as difficult and associated with a steep learning curve. Users think that applications will be slow, non-scaleable and non-user-friendly because users are required to hold crypto tokens to use them. The Internet Computer Protocol was designed with usability front and center. Applications on ICP are fast, can scale easily, and feel like Web2 to users. With this major upgrade to ICP Ninja, the DFINITY foundation closes the last gap and removes all hurdles for onboarding new developers.

Improving the developer and user experience

The upgrade first incorporates productivity enhancements with a completely redesigned editor, live compilation feedback, canister logs, and more. The introduction of an AI Learning Assistant allows users to have any questions answered about development on ICP - it also helps and explains canister code.

The landing page revamp makes it even easier for users to navigate and create new dApps with options for a frontend, backend, or both, or start from a curated template, and now they can share projects with others by a generated link. If users log in with internet identity or GitHub they are granted access to extra features, and they can export their projects to GitHub. For ease of access and use, projects can also be saved across different devices so they can return to them at a later time.

ICP Ninja in action at DFINITY’s hackathon

ICP Ninja is already in action - ICP Hub Indonesia is hosting a hackathon throughout March that welcomes developers from the region to showcase ICP’s capabilities by producing their own dApps using ICP Ninja. The hackathon features three tracks, including a track specifically dedicated to decentralized AI, demonstrating the DFINITY Foundation’s continued efforts to support AI innovation in the ICP ecosystem. ICP already boasts a significant decentralized ecosystem, with more than 60 AI-related projects building on ICP.