You've probably heard of Web3 unless you've been living under a rock. Web3 is widely regarded as the Internet's future, and Web3 apps have recently become all the rage. What is Web3? How can developers create Web3 apps?
Let's get started
The first phase of the Internet, Web1, was mainly about providing online content and information. As such, Web1 was largely static and practically only allowed users to read information.
The cloud, which is a remote data storage and processing service accessible over the internet, powers most online services like email, social networking, and shopping. Cloud services are available through Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and other platforms. This means that any information shared by users on these platforms is stored by the cloud service provider employed by an online business, such as food delivery or e-commerce. That is known as Web2
Web3 is the next generation of the internet, with blockchain-based services. Data in Web3 is shared rather than owned by centralised institutions. Furthermore, Web3 prioritises back-end functionality, whereas Web2 prioritised front-end functionality. The advent of dApps, or decentralised applications, which could eventually replace standard applications, is another notable element of the Web3 era.
You may have heard about "Web3.js" while learning about Web3 and its practical uses. What exactly is Web3.js? The Web3.js library is the primary JavaScript library you'll use while creating Web3 applications. This library is primarily used to interface with the Ethereum blockchain. Web3.js can be thought of as an Ethereum JavaScript API. As a developer, you can use the Web3.js library to create clients or applications that communicate with the Ethereum blockchain. If you wish to properly deal with an Ethereum blockchain from JavaScript, you'll need to bridge the gap between JavaScript and Web3.
The transition to Web3 is, without a doubt, the Internet’s most significant paradigm shift since the emergence of Web2. So, what is Web3? Well, whereas Web1 was a largely static, read-only web, and Web2 was a dynamic, read-write web, Web3 will provide a decentralized, unmediated read-write Internet.
Obviously, cryptocurrency is a key building block for Web3 since one needs to transact crypto coins or tokens to participate in them. But Web3 is a lot more than that and its use cases are still evolving.
The best example of the Web3 universe is NFTs or non-fungible tokens, which are bought using crypto coins.
Are Metaverse and Web3 related?
Though there is a lot of interest around both, experts said both are not correlated. The metaverse is about creating digital avatars and interacting with others in virtual spaces, be it offices or arcades. It does not have to be on a blockchain.
Most role-playing games offer similar services. Imagine metaverse as a role-playing game in a 3D realm. Microsoft is rolling out metaverses through MS Teams in 2022, which will probably run on Azure rather than Ethereum or Solana.
The whole point of Web3 is decentralisation. While building a metaverse on blockchain is a possibility, it does not make it a purely Web3 use case.
An example
Below, I shall list the differences between Web1, Web2 and Web3 for clearer understanding.
- Web1
- Web2
- Web 3
Image Credits: Cloudflare
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Abhiraj
Top comments (29)
Interesting reading arguing against web3 - 'Web3 is Bullshit' - I have to say, I tend to agree. Also, there are plenty of other projects and ideas around for 'decentralising the web' and owning your data - one notable one being 'Solid' from Sir. Tim Berners-Lee who probably knows a thing or three about the web 😛
Blockchain technology is ridiculously wasteful of resources, and in most cases is still a solution looking for a problem. This handy diagram should help out in most cases...
Don't even get me started on the metaverse...
There's also Beaker browser:
Blockchain is just another technology aimed at making a quick buck with no regard for the consequences.
Web3 theoretically protects user privacy better, because it’s devoid of authorities and intermediaries that are doing most of the data collection. Of course, this is all an idealized vision of Web3 sketched out by blockchain developers and boosters for the future, so it might not be so true and accurate in practice.
WebRTC allows most of what most people describe when they talk about "web3". Obviously we have a long way to go with the IPv6 rollout and the removal of NAT before we can have a real P2P net, but that's what has to happen.
IPFS (which is used a bunch in the nft space) is an example of the kind of technology we can build, improve and leverage to make this new less centralised world.
It doesn't seem entirely unlikely that cryptocurrencies will have a role in all this, but it feels very far from certain too, and NFTs... ergh.
I like the idea of web3, but in practice it seems stupid to rely on an extremely wasteful technology like Blockchain to achieve the goals outlined by Web3.
The Internet we have today is broken. We do not control our data, nor do we have a native value settlement layer. Blockchain, as the backbone of the Web3, redefines the data structures in the backend of the Web, now that we live in a connected world. It is based on p2p tech.
Is it p2p though? Those blockchain nodes have to run on some servers somewhere.
Your typical dapp should do as much as possible in the client side code, which can be served by IPFS, together with all static assets. The rest would run in smart contracts. The blockchain is your backend, API, database.
If it's just frontend code, the simplest would be to host it via IPFS and pin it.
Other than that you can also spin up a Tor node which can also do backend work.
No, I'm familiar with the concept. I'm being skeptical about blockchain as replacement for your hosted back-end server. Any application were it requires a ledger-like concept would work great. So anything finance related or being able to confirm integrity like supply chain. Yes, but not a database.
Going back to my previous point, those blocks need to be validated and those validators live on other servers.. So if the company had 51% control of where the servers live, it doesn't solve the whole "decentralized" aspect of blockchain. A blockchain can be centralized and those are the ones to avoid.
P2P, being person-to-person protocol where you are both the server and the client, I don't think you can apply that analogy to how blockchain works.... Well maybe if you think of the miners as being the clients and the server in a mesh network... but it's not quite the same imo
Final point, just to other's point in this comment section, running an enterprise level product on AWS is wasteful enough, i cannot see that scaling on blockchain anytime soon.
Pity we need to burn preposterous amounts of energy just to achieve it. Not sure deforesting the planet is worth the trade off for decentralization, personally.
If you’re worried about control you be talking about ActivityPub(Mastodon, Peertube, …), OCS (Nextcloud), maybe even scuttlebutt.
Web3 proponents write blogposts about privacy while seeing their altcoin increase.
What role does the blockchain play in this whole thing? And why ethereum?
In the case of blockchain, data is distributed across networks and no single entity owns the information. Using this technology, people can confirm transactions without a need for a central clearing authority. And web3 is decentralized so it runs on the blockchain
Web 3 refers to an Internet that is made possible by decentralized networks, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Thank you, but I still do not get it. Ethereum should work as database? so let say I have a blog with 7000 articles, where will they be stored? in some blockchain? why? what does it bring?
Going along with your example, supposing you use Netlify CMS for managing your blog, then your articles are stored there. If you are doing the same thing on a decentralized file storage service, no one other than you can have access to view or change that, if you wish to do something like that.
Data cannot be stored on a blockchain, atleast not 7000 articles 😅. If you store something on a blockchain, you can't change or delete it.
Well actually anyone can view the data stored in a public blockchain like ethereum. Data can be stored in the blockchain (avoid to add sensitive data). Data in the blockchain can be changed (only by the owner), but can't be deleted. 😃
Yes you are right. Even altering data on a blockchain is a tough job.
Probably best to give credit to Cloudflare for those images.
Sure, I have done that!
The question for Metaverse is: Do we need ownership in Metaverse? Second Life had no real ownership, because everything was controlled by LindenLabs, even the currency. But now that we have crypto currencies and NFTs we could build a real economy in the Metaverse. Though I'm not convinced whether we need another economy besides the one in the real world... I mean... it's probably getting very expensive.
Economy, I think, should not be fiddled with. 😅
Although, I feel that the concept of metaverse is still far from being into existence and daily use.
I don't know any use case for this. Could you tell us some?
Some of the use cases of Web3 are DAOs, Decentralised Finance (DeFi), Stablecoins and private and digital infrastructure, and creator economy enablers like NFTs and blockchain-based games.
I find it odd that crypto currencies are valued in $. Maybe that will change when/if we realise the inherent value of metaverse and such like?
Yes, crypto hopefully will blow up more in the coming days. But I don't think it is just valued at dollars, in my country India, we get them at rupees too.
I was gonna add a range of currencies 😀 but lacked for creativity. Apologies if I committed the sin of equating dollar with generic concept of money lol.
But main point is that I find it strange that crypto is seen as the mechanism for a new way of being, but everyone values it against the non-metaverse currency of their choice!
Yes you are right. Crypto is here to stay but it is still very far from having any effect on how society at its core works.
But why decentralize anything? Honestly anyone who promotes decentralization should get there pc check for child porn because if you aren't doing anything illegal I don't get why would you want that.
By being decentralized, individuals can easily access transparent information, contribute to the community and protect their data. Decentralized solutions could make sure that your money is safe on a platform, your artwork is protected for copyright issues and your files cannot be hacked. Even if not decentralized, nobody can access files on your own pc anyways.