The Ethereum network is a revolutionary project that lets anyone with a good working knowledge of JavaScript create their own apps on the network. The difference between these apps and the apps that we are used to, is that they are completely decentralized; there is no single centralized authority that controls them. Hence, a new term had to be coined to describe them. That term is Dapp – pronounced ‘D-app’ like ‘E-mail’.
These Dapps can be programmed to do literally anything. From setting up a chat or social platform, to gaming and gambling on the Ethereum network, anyone can program anything on the network, and learning how to do so is easy, once you know JavaScript. The whole philosophy behind this is to democratize the web, and generate a trustless system on which DApps can multiply, grow their audience and become profitable.
Here are some of the advantages of creating Dapps over creating the centralized Apps that we are used to:
- No need to trust the issuer. Ethereum is a trustless network which guarantees users will be safe.
- Your Dapp will never be DDoS’d. The Ethereum network does not rely on servers but rather on nodes that check the legitimacy of the operations on the network. The computing power needed to overwhelm them is too great to make it worthwhile for the hacker.
- There are no middlemen on the Ethreum network, which means Dapp designers will get close to 100% of the proceeds from their work.
- It will be automatically scalable.
Dapps Powered by Smart Contracts
The main feature behind the Dapps on the Ethereum network is the smart contract. This means that once a programmer programs Dapp protocols, and provides enough funding, the network will start executing them automatically according to the functions embedded in the DApp. Any subsequent changes done to the Dapp, will be done following the decision made by its users. No central authority will be allowed to control the Dapp.
Dapp Changes and Potential
These ‘democratized’ changes that can be made on a Dapp on Ethereum, depend on the proof of Stake – POS – mechanism, which states that the weight of the vote of any party involved, is proportional to their stake in the project. This, coupled with the principles of decentralization and security that Ethereum brings, will give way to the creation of decentralized organizations with the potential to surpass multinational corporations in terms of size.
An Encouraging Project
Dapps are cleary a very big part of how we will conduct business in the future. The Ethereum network in particular offers a great way to get started, by opening Dapp creation to anyone who knows JavaScript – one of the most popular computer languages out there. In theory, this will encourage many people who have the knowledge to create their own services and automatically market them to the whole world.