Installing Dependencies and Tools

Before you can start building decentralized finance (DeFi) applications using AAVE protocol, you’ll need to set up your development environment and install the necessary dependencies and tools. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of installing and configuring everything you need to get started with AAVE protocol.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, it’s important to make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

• A computer with an internet connection
• A text editor or code editor (such as Visual Studio Code)
• Basic knowledge of the command line and JavaScript

If you don’t already have these things, take some time to set them up before proceeding.

Installing Node.js and npm

The first thing you’ll need to do is install Node.js and npm, which are required to run JavaScript code on your computer. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime that allows you to execute JavaScript code outside of a web browser, while npm is a package manager that makes it easy to install and manage Node.js packages.

To install Node.js and npm, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Node.js website (https://nodejs.org/) and click the “Download” button to download the latest version of Node.js.
2. Run the downloaded installer file and follow the prompts to install Node.js and npm.
3. To verify that Node.js and npm are installed correctly, open a command prompt or terminal window and type the following commands:

node -v
npm -v

The output should show the version number of Node.js and npm that you have installed.

Installing Truffle

Next, you’ll need to install Truffle, which is a popular development framework for Ethereum. Truffle provides a suite of tools and libraries that make it easy to build and deploy smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum blockchain.

To install Truffle, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt or terminal window and type the following command:

npm install -g truffle

This will install Truffle globally on your system, allowing you to use it from any directory.

2. To verify that Truffle is installed correctly, type the following command:

truffle version

Installing MetaMask

MetaMask is a browser extension that allows you to interact with the Ethereum blockchain from your web browser. It’s an essential tool for any Ethereum developer, as it allows you to test your DApps, sign transactions, and manage your Ethereum accounts.

To install MetaMask, follow these steps:

1. Go to the MetaMask website (https://metamask.io/) and click the “Get MetaMask” button.
2. Select your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) and click the “Add to [browser]” button to add the MetaMask extension to your browser.
3. Click the “Add Extension” button to confirm the installation.
4. Once MetaMask is installed, click the MetaMask icon in your browser’s toolbar to open the MetaMask extension.
5. Follow the prompts to create a new Ethereum account and set up your MetaMask wallet.

Installing AAVE Protocol Dependencies

To use AAVE protocol in your DApps, you’ll need to install the aave-js library, which is a JavaScript library for interacting with AAVE protocol.

To install the aave-js library, follow these steps:

1. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your command prompt or terminal window.
2. Type the following command to initialize a new npm project:

npm init -y

This will create a package.json file in your project directory.

3. Type the following command to install the aave-js library as a dependency:

This will install the aave-js library and add it to your project’s dependencies in the package.json file.

Congratulations! You have now installed all of the dependencies and tools you need to start building DeFi applications using AAVE protocol. Next, let’s take a look at how to use the aave-js library to interact with AAVE protocol.

Using the aave-js Library

Now that you have installed the aave-js library, you can start using it to interact with AAVE protocol from your DApps. Here are some examples of how you can use the aave-js library:

• Connecting to AAVE protocol: To connect to AAVE protocol, you can use the Aave.createInstance() method, which returns an instance of the AAVE client. For example:

const Aave = require('@aave/aave-js');

const aave = Aave.createInstance();

• Checking the balance of an account: To check the balance of an Ethereum account, you can use the getBalance() method, which returns the balance in wei. For example:

const balance = await aave.getBalance('0x1234567890abcdef');
console.log(balance); // 1234567890

• Lending and borrowing assets: To lend or borrow assets on AAVE protocol, you can use the lend() and borrow() methods, respectively. For example:

await aave.lend('DAI', '100000000'); // lend 100 DAI
await aave.borrow('DAI', '100000000'); // borrow 100 DAI

These are just a few examples of how you can use the aave-js library to interact with AAVE protocol. For a complete list of available methods and more detailed documentation, you can refer to the aave-js library documentation (https://aave.com/developers/docs/aave-js).

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve covered the steps you need to take to install and set up your development environment for building DeFi applications using AAVE protocol. We’ve also introduced the aave-js library, which you can use to interact with AAVE protocol from your DApps. With these tools and dependencies in place, you’re now ready to start building DeFi applications with AAVE protocol.

Exercises

To review these concepts, we will go through a series of exercises designed to test your understanding and apply what you have learned.

npm install -g truffle

npm init -y

npm install @aave/aave-js