The Howdy Glossary

Motoko is a new programming language designed to make smart contract development easier on the Internet Computer (IC), a blockchain alternative. The language — part of the WebAssembly ecosystem — emphasizes simplicity and safety, allowing developers to create dApps without needing to integrate various libraries or handle complex low-level concepts directly. Motoko natively supports asynchronous programming and enforces memory safety through its type system. It comes with support for first-class, native language-level object-capability security patterns. Motoko provides seamless integration with other canister modules within the IC environment.