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# Cosmos SDK
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[](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/releases/latest)
[](https://godoc.org/github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk)
[](https://cosmos.rocket.chat/)
[](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/blob/master/LICENSE)
Branch | Tests | Coverage | Report Card
----------|-------|----------|-------------
develop | [](https://circleci.com/gh/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tree/develop) | [](https://codecov.io/gh/cosmos/cosmos-sdk) | [](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tree/develop)
master | [](https://circleci.com/gh/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tree/master) | [](https://codecov.io/gh/cosmos/cosmos-sdk) | [](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tree/master)
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The Cosmos SDK is the middleware platform which the [Cosmos Hub ](https://cosmos.network ) is constructed from. The Hub is a blockchain (or, internet of blockchains) in which the Atom supply resides. The Atoms supply is defined at genesis and can change based on the rules of the Hub.
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Under the hood, the Cosmos SDK is an [ABCI application ](https://github.com/tendermint/abci ) designed to be used with the [Tendermint consensus engine ](https://tendermint.com/ ) to form a Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrency. It also provides a general purpose framework
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for extending the feature-set of the cryptocurrency by implementing plugins.
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This SDK affords you all the tools you need to rapidly develop
robust blockchains and blockchain applications which are interoperable with The
Cosmos Hub. It is a blockchain development 'starter-pack' of common blockchain
modules while not enforcing their use thus giving maximum flexibility for
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application customization. For example, does your app require fees, how do you
want to log messages, do you enable IBC, do you even have a cryptocurrency? In
this way, the Cosmos SDK is the **Rails of cryptocurrencies** .
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Within this repository, the `basecoin` app serves as a reference implementation for how we build ABCI applications in Go, and is the framework in which we implement the [Cosmos Hub ](https://cosmos.network ). **It's easy to use, and doesn't require any forking** - just implement your plugin, import the libraries, and away you go with a full-stack blockchain and command line tool for transacting.
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## Prerequisites
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* [golang ](https://golang.org/doc/install )
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## Installation
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```
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go get -u github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/cmd/basecoin
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```
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See the [install guide ](/docs/guide/install.md ) for more details.
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## Guides
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* Getting started with the [Basecoin basics ](/docs/guide/basecoin-basics.md )
* Learn to [use the plugin system ](/docs/guide/basecoin-plugins.md )
* More features of the [Basecoin tool ](/docs/guide/basecoin-tool.md )
* Learn how to use [Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) ](/docs/guide/ibc.md )
* See [more examples ](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-academy )
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To deploy a testnet, see our [repository of deployment tools ](https://github.com/tendermint/tools ).
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# Inspiration
The basic concept for this SDK comes from years of web development. A number of
patterns have arisen in that realm of software which enable people to build remote
servers with APIs remarkably quickly and with high stability. The
[ABCI ](https://github.com/tendermint/abci ) application interface is similar to
a web API (`DeliverTx` is like POST and `Query` is like GET while `SetOption` is like
the admin playing with the config file). Here are some patterns that might be
useful:
* MVC - separate data model (storage) from business logic (controllers)
* Routers - easily direct each request to the appropriate controller
* Middleware - a series of wrappers that provide global functionality (like
authentication) to all controllers
* Modules (gems, package, etc) - developers can write a self-contained package
with a given set of functionality, which can be imported and reused in other
apps
Also at play is the concept of different tables/schemas in databases, thus you can
keep the different modules safely separated and avoid any accidental (or malicious)
overwriting of data.
Not all of these can be compare one-to-one in the blockchain world, but they do
provide inspiration for building orthogonal pieces that can easily be combined
into various applications.
