If Bitcoin was the great impetus for the creation of cryptocurrencies as we know them today, Ethereum was responsible for the creation of thousands of other cryptocurrencies , NFTs , Tokens and Web 3.0 . Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, together with his team, explored blockchain technology not only for the creation of decentralized and secure virtual money, but for the decentralization of the entire internet through distributed networks and “smart contracts” (smart contracts) . ). This way, a programmer from anywhere in the world could publish their projects on the Ethereum network and participate in an innovative environment, which later became even bigger than the original Bitcoin, although with a smaller capitalization than it.
My idea with this article is to give you introductory knowledge about how the Ethereum network and its blockchain work, so that you can then awaken your interest and ability to further explore this incredible universe that never stops growing.
So, shall we go?
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a data structure in the form of a block chain focused on storing records in a transparent, decentralized and secure way. One of its main characteristics is the strategy of how information is recorded, which is where much of the security of this decentralized database is based and it is precisely this strategy that I will be explaining below. Basically, normally when you add data to a blockchain, all this data will be stored within a block, to later be added to the list of blocks in your blockchain, each of these blocks has a digital signature called a hash, which is created by from a mathematical calculation based on the values within the block. Furthermore, each of the blocks has the hash signature of the block before it (which is also added when calculating the block's hash), except for the genesis block, as it is the first block in the entire chain. This connection of hashes between blocks allows all blocks to be linked to each other, and once there is an attempt to change or delete a block from the blockchain, the blocks after it will stop working, breaking the chain.
Once the blockchain is generated, each device connected to it has its own version of the blockchain, being a completely decentralized model and different from a common centralized server standard. Once a new block is created within this network, it needs to be propagated to all connected devices (also called nodes) so that they all have the same complete version of the blockchain. In some cases, conflicts between node versions may end up occurring, generating 'forks'. To avoid and also resolve situations like this, consensus protocols are created, which vary from network to network.
In the case of the Ethereum network, which has its own cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH), the blockchain is used to record transactions across the network, and block creators (miners) are rewarded for processing transactions and creating blocks.
What are smart contracts?
A differentiator of the Ethereum network is the ability that developers have to create the so-called smart contracts (or smart contracts. In simple terms, smart contracts are virtual contracts (which cost ETH to be processed) and that, once certain requirements of the contracts are completed, they will self-execute without the need for any type of interference. For example, when selling a product, instead of paper or card, the buyer would bear the costs using cryptocurrencies and the seller would deliver, for example. , a digital certificate for the product. The contract would then force this exchange once both the payment method and the digital certificate were available. This process would reduce human interference in the transaction (or possibly failed processes), avoiding errors and guaranteeing. the operation.
The concept of smart contracts has existed since the beginning of Ethereum, but it was years later that Gavin Wood, one of the network's founders, created the Solidity language, with the aim of developing contracts both on the main Ethereum network and on compatible networks. Contracts created using the Solidity language are published on the network and once activated by a user, they run in an interpreter called EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), which would be similar to the Java virtual machine (JVM) for those familiar with this language. .
Although there are other languages for developing smart contracts, Solidity remains the main one today. Therefore, it is practically mandatory that you learn this language if you want to create an application that works using blockchain.
Smart Contracts and blockchains are still recent technologies, but with time and the popularization of both, they tend to be increasingly used to create new decentralized applications, generating the promise of a new era of the internet, Web3.
For those who are starting out in the Web3 world, this article may have generated more questions than it answered, this seems to be the natural way of things for newcomers, this feeling tends to diminish as you delve deeper and follow the upcoming articles.
If you want to go a little deeper, one way is the official Ethereum development documentation, Until next time!
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