How to Test Smart Contracts With Confidence and Without Testnets

Deploying to a testnet to observe and analyze smart contract behavior is a common testing practice in Web3. But many testnets have been deprecated, Web3 developers face network congestions, faucets are running dry, and deployment times are often too long. 

Tenderly, the all-in-one Web3 development platform, offers a testnet alternative – Tenderly Forks. As a lightweight blockchain replica, a Fork allows you to run transaction simulations based on real-world data. This means you can test a range of smart contract scenarios without sending them to the blockchain.  

Here’s why you should consider introducing Tenderly Forks into your testing flow.  

Develop and test your contracts privately  

Testnets are public networks, so your smart contracts are available to the public. Plus, everyone else relies on the same testnets for their own needs, leading to spikes in network congestion and slow test execution speed.  

Tenderly Forks, on the other hand, are completely private. You can verify your smart contracts on Tenderly and limit who can access them. This way, you can share your smart contracts only once they’re ready for the public.  

Customize and control your environment  

When using Tenderly Forks for testing, you get complete control over your environment. You can adjust different parameters, including block numbers, account balances, and storage overrides. Basically, you can customize your Fork and test your smart contracts under highly specific conditions.  

Choose among a variety of networks  

Tenderly supports more than 20 networks, which means you can fork any one of them. So, you get an instant, zero-setup Fork testing environment preconfigured for any of those networks. Instead of dealing with faucets or a range of deployments, you have everything you need within a click.  

Run smart contract tests quickly and in parallel  

Testnet congestion can slow down your test execution speed. Plus, you may have to wait hours for some test ETH to pop up in your wallet, hoping it’s enough to start playing around with your contract.  

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Running tests on a Tenderly Fork is faster by orders of magnitude. Smart contract deployment and transaction execution are almost instant. Plus, you can run multiple tests simultaneously instead of sending them to a testnet one by one.   

Share testing results with your team  

Tenderly Forks are private, yet sharable. You can give your team access to your test results so they can analyze and re-run the tests as needed. This promotes transparency and facilitates collaboration across different teams.  

For instance, Yield Finance, a known player in DeFi, uses Forks to validate bug fixes and collaborate with their team members. This allows them to run tests in identical environments and ensure code quality and consistency. 

Integrate with other tools in your workflow  

Forks are fully integrated with other Tenderly tools you can use to optimize your testing process. You can use a Fork together with Tenderly Debugger, Gas Profiler, and Transaction Simulator. This way, you can uncover bugs early on, apply a solution, optimize gas, and try it all out without deploying to an actual network.  

Additionally, Forks have JSON-RPC URLs that you can use to integrate with other tools and frameworks. Safe, another key industry player, uses Forks together with Hardhat, creating a rigorous testing workflow.  

Get your private testing environment on Tenderly 

Instead of dealing with testnet challenges, jump straight to playing around with your smart contracts in a safe environment. Set up your own private Fork either through the Tenderly Dashboard or Simulation API in just a few clicks. Set up a Tenderly account for free and optimize smart contract testing.  

This post is commissioned by Tenderly and does not serve as a testimonial or endorsement by The Block. This post is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment, tax, legal or other advice. You should conduct your own research and consult independent counsel and advisors on the matters discussed within this post. Past performance of any asset is not indicative of future results.


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