Ethereum is often referred to as a "Dapp Platform".
Nothing more, nothing less.
That's exactly what it is.
When I heard this kind of explanation, I only thought “Okay, Ethereum is a Platform”, now, however, I realized that Ethereum plays a much more important role than I had expected, and there is a lot more thought and technology that goes into it.
So, this article will explain the importance, ideology, and technology of Ethereum.
😌 P.S. About me: Hi, I'm Tom. I’m a blockchain developer and I love crypto and Ethereum so, today, I’ll explain about Ethereum as a developer and fan.
What is Dapp
Why decentralization does matter?
Differences between Bitcoin & Ethereum
Conclusion
First, what is Dapp?
Dapp is short for decentralized applications.
Since, “application” is used in a broad sense, “dapp” is also used in a broad meaning.
At a minimum, it has the following components.
A web frontend
A backend with a public blockchain like Ethereum.
Dapp refers to an application where most or all of the applications have been decentralized up to now.
Dapp is an application in which some or all of the applications up to now have been decentralized.
The official Ethereum documentation also defines it this way.
A dapp has its backend code running on a decentralized peer-to-peer network. Contrast this with an app where the backend code is running on centralized servers.
Thus, dapp is just some or all of the traditional applications like Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, etc. managed by a decentralized platform!
I guess here you must be thinking this 🧐
That's what I thought at first too. So why does decentralization matter? I will explain next section.
I would guess that most people in the world have no complaints about Twitter, Instagram, or Youtube.
However, there is one particular profession that has a big gripe.
They are Developers and Entrepreneurs.
Why do they hate it?
The answer lies in this graph
This is from the article “Why decentralization matters”.
This is the predictable route in a traditional NOT DECENTRALIZED company.
Initially (left side of the graph), it attracts implementers such as developers and entrepreneurs. For example, they can obtain users’ information for their services in the form of APIs and reduce the fees for those who do business there.
And when a company grows to a large size (center of the graph), what is the attitude of the company when it enters the phase of trying to grow?
It's that the company adopts a policy of exclusivity. For example, they will stop offering something they used to offer, use users' information for advertising, or increase their commission fee on the platform.
This is a well-known example of the BAN on the use of Twitter's API and the 30% imposed on iOS apps as a TAX. This is how some platformers make a lot of fees.
If you use your iPhone to send money to a Youtuber, this money will be charged the iOS tax and the Youtube tax, so the money going to the creator will be 60% of the total 😱
Thus, in the traditional system, there have been many cases where people who have contributed to the growth of the platform have been sacrificed for the growth of the centralized company. This is inevitable in the structure of a stock company to maximize returns to shareholders.
So how can this problem be solved? 🤔
If the decision to raise fees or ban APIs was made by a vote of those who have contributed to the growth so far, it would have been a different possibility.
This is why decentralization does matter.
If a new centralized platform is created, it will be difficult for developers and entrepreneurs to do business for fear of exploitation by the platform when it grows again🥶
But with a decentralized platform, these fears will be unnecessary.
Furthermore, the platforms like Ethereum also enable dapp developers and entrepreneurs to share the common goal of network growth and token valuation so, this allows decentralized networks to predict accelerated growth over traditional centralized networks.
That’s why decentralization does matter.
So how did Ethereum make the dapp platform a reality? I will explain the technical aspects of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Bitcoin is not Turing Incompleteness
Ethereum is Turing completeness
What is Turing Complete? 🤔
Turing-complete is explained in a variety of ways but in simple terms, “the ability to use all of a computer's computing power”.
Turing-complete means the ability to perform any computational problem. It does not mean that it can solve an unsolvable problem.
Alan Turing, “Turing-completeness” is the brainchild of his name, proved the halting problem which states that it is impossible to judge whether a program will eventually stop or not until it is executed.
※ I guess humans, like computers, cannot judge whether they will succeed or fail before they try.
There are so many Turing-complete programming languages. e.g) C, Java, Javascript, Python, etc.
So…. can't bitcoin calculate something?
Exactly! You are a genius if you think so!💡
Bitcoin Script is the language Bitcoin uses to do everything, and this one cannot do loops.
Bitcoin scripts currently do not enable loops. Therefore, they are commonly considered to be not Turing Complete. This limits the types of algorithms the Bitcoin scripts can execute to linear or tree-like instructions.
Quote: Bitcoin Script White Paper
Sequence, Selection, and Repetition are said three basic programming processes. One of them is not possible in Bitcoin Script. This means that in rock-paper-scissors, you can't get a par. ✊✌️ | 🧱⛓🖐⛓🧱|What a severe limitation! However, this limitation gives Bitcoin some advantages
It achieves functional prevention of the halting problem by not allowing loops, regardless of intentional malicious attacks or unintentional programming errors.
In contrast, Ethereum is Turing-complete and must face this problem. Ethereum solves this problem with the concept of “Gas“⛽️
Users must pay ETH for gas in advance when executing transactions on Ethereum. The gas price is determined by the calculated volume of the transaction (which does not fluctuate) and the gas price at that moment (which does fluctuate).
See here for more details
It is correct that unsolvable problems like infinite loops can be executed as long as ETH is available, so to be exact, Ethereum is quasi–Turing-complete.
Then, why is there a difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum?
That's because each project has different purposes. Let's consider this from the white papers of each project.
A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.
Quote: Bitcoin White Paper
Bitcoin is designed to realize "decentralized electronic cash online" so Bitcoin does not require complex calculations.
Ethereum does this by building what is essentially the ultimate abstract foundational layer: a blockchain with a built-in Turing-complete programming language, allowing anyone to write smart contracts and decentralized applications where they can create their own arbitrary rules for ownership, transaction formats and state transition functions
Quote: Ethereum White Paper
Gavin can also be largely credited for the subtle change in vision from viewing Ethereum as a platform for building programmable money, with blockchain-based contracts that can hold digital assets and transfer them according to pre-set rules, to a general-purpose computing platform.
Quote: A Prehistory of the Ethereum Protocol by Vitalic
Ethereum is created to realize "blockchain anyone can build general-purpose" so, Ethereum requires a lot of functions like a complex calculation.
Ethereum is often referred to as a "Dapp Platform".
Nothing more, nothing less.
That's exactly what it is.
There are many different thoughts and technologies in just this one phrase. When you understand this, the world you see changes a lot!
I love the thought and technology that Crypto has to offer! I hope this article has changed your view of Ethereum and Crypto. If you have any questions, please DM me.
See you next time 🖐 💨 | 🧱⛓⛓🧱|
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform
Turing Complete Bitcoin Script White Paper