Write a Move Package

Before you can build a Move package and run its code, you must first install Sui binaries for your operating system.

Create the package

To begin, open a terminal or console at the location you plan to store your package. Use the sui move new command to create an empty Move package with the name my_first_package:

sui move new my_first_package

Running the previous command creates a directory with the name you provide (my_first_package). The command populates the new directory with a skeleton Move project that consists of a sources directory and a Move.toml manifest file. Open the manifest with a text editor to review its contents:

cat my_first_package/Move.toml
[package]
name = "my_first_package"
version = "0.0.1"

[dependencies]
Sui = { git = "https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui.git", subdir = "crates/sui-framework/packages/sui-framework", rev = "framework/testnet" }

[addresses]
my_first_package = "0x0"

Defining the package

You have a package now but it doesn't do anything. To make your package useful, you must add logic contained in .move source files that define modules. Use a text editor or the command line to create your first package source file named my_module.move in the sources directory of the package:

touch my_first_package/sources/my_module.move

Populate the my_module.move file with the following code:

module my_first_package::my_module {

    // Part 1: Imports
    use sui::object::{Self, UID};
    use sui::transfer;
    use sui::tx_context::{Self, TxContext};

    // Part 2: Struct definitions
    struct Sword has key, store {
        id: UID,
        magic: u64,
        strength: u64,
    }

    struct Forge has key, store {
        id: UID,
        swords_created: u64,
    }

    // Part 3: Module initializer to be executed when this module is published
    fun init(ctx: &mut TxContext) {
        let admin = Forge {
            id: object::new(ctx),
            swords_created: 0,
        };
        // Transfer the forge object to the module/package publisher
        transfer::public_transfer(admin, tx_context::sender(ctx));
    }

    // Part 4: Accessors required to read the struct attributes
    public fun magic(self: &Sword): u64 {
        self.magic
    }

    public fun strength(self: &Sword): u64 {
        self.strength
    }

    public fun swords_created(self: &Forge): u64 {
        self.swords_created
    }

    // Part 5: Public/entry functions (introduced later in the tutorial)

    // Part 6: Private functions (if any)

}

The comments in the preceding code highlight different parts of a typical Move source file.

• Part 1: Imports - Code reuse is a necessity in modern programming. Move supports this concept with imports that allow your module to use types and functions declared in other modules. In this example, the module imports from object, transfer, and tx_context modules. These modules are available to the package because the Move.toml file defines the Sui dependency (along with the sui named address) where they are defined.

• Part 2: Struct declarations - Structs define types that a module can create or destroy. Struct definitions can include abilities provided with the has keyword. The structs in this example, for instance, have the key ability, which indicates that these structs are Sui objects that you can transfer between addresses. The store ability on the structs provide the ability to appear in other struct fields and be transferred freely.

• Part 3: Module initializer - A special function that is invoked exactly once when the module publishes.

• Part 4: Accessor functions - These functions allow the fields of the module's structs to be read from other modules.

After you save the file, you have a complete Move package.

In the next topic, you learn to build and test your package to get it ready for publishing.