EOS Whitepaper walkthrough: An overview
Read the Whitepaper here
Last time we finished going over the abstract, note and disclaimer of the EOS whitepaper and now we are going take an overview of the how the whitepaper is divided and which parts might of be particular interest to you.
There are ten parts to the whitepaper, I'll list them along with a short explain of what to expect, and briefly how it is different from Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This part talks about the history of, and the reason behind the effort to build a new Blockchain architecture.
Bitcoin is the first generation of blockchain architecture and it was designed for financial transactions.
Ethereum is the second generation of blockchain architecture and it was designed for smart-contracts and decentralize applications.
This part talks about capabilities of Blockchain applications that are built on top of the EOS blockchain.
Most blockchain applications today are used by a very small number of people.
The main reason being that blockchain applications simply do not scale, unable to sustain millions of users that traditional web applications can. A secondary reason being using blockchain applications are very expensive, as every transaction comes with a transaction fee, limiting the amount of activity each user can perform base on his account balance.
Bitcoin's most popular "application" is the bitcoin currency itself. Though there are approximately 2.9 to 5.8 million wallet holders, they are unable to transact with each other at the same time.
Ethereum's most popular application as of now is it's ICO smart-contract and a game called Crypto-Kitties. However, these two applications must compete for the same resource
This part talks about the consensus algorithm behind the EOS blockchain.
Bitocion uses the Proof-of-Work algorithm.
Ethereum uses also uses the Proof-of-Work algorithm but it is moving towards a Proof-of-Stake.
Accounts are a model of structuring information updates to the blockchain. EOS imposes some restriction on this model to make it more scalable.
Bitcoin uses the UTXO transaction model of information update to the blockchain.
Ethereum also uses the Account model of information update to the blockchain but it is more general than EOS' model.
This is probably the most technical, and confusing part. Most blockchains today cannot do parallel execution.
Parallel execution is when multiple computer operations take place at the same time. Most modern computers allow for this but not all programs take advantage of this. One example of this is the Bitcoin currency application.
The reason being it is built on the transaction model, which forces sequential execution, or one-after-the-other approach.
Tokens are units of measure to limited resource. The limiting resource in the EOS.IO network is storage, computational power, and memory.
In Bitocoin, this resource is bitcoin, which will forever be 21 million tokens.
In Ethereum, this is the amount of computational power that the ethereum network has.
Governance is the decision making process coded in the protocol. Though this might sound trivial, most blockchains today does not have, and was designed not to have, one.
Bitocoin was designed not to have a governing process. Ethereum is another.
However it does not mean that no decision is made on these blockchains. Decisions on these blockchain are made outside of the blockchain, either through mining power (Bitcoin) or through influence (Ethereum).
Every blockchain has its own scripting language that allows the manipulation of data on the blockchain.
Bitcoin uses a limited version of a scripting language that allows for people to send and receive transactions. That programming language is called Script. There are restrictions placed so that certain actions cannot be done. This is both a security feature and a way to make the network more efficient.
Ethereum has Turing complete language called Solidity. This means that anything you can do on a regular computer, you can do on the Ethereum network.
EOS, is adopting a new programming language called WebAssembly which major programming language like C and C++ can be compiled into, with support for more languages coming soon.
(Ethereum is also working on getting Solidity to adopt the WebAssembly standard, through an effort call eWASM. Though it is restricted to handle smart-contracts only.)
Inter-Blockchain communication refers to the ability of one blockchain to read data from another blockchain, and base on that information to perform an action.
This might sound trivial but as it is with everything in the blockchain space, it is much more complicated.
For one, you must proof that the transaction is valid. To do this it means you have to replay the whole history of the blockchain you are reading data from. Though there are ways to avoid doing this.
Secondly, you must make sure that you are getting the information from a legitimate chain, and not a fork.
Another thing is to keep in mind that in Proof-of-Work blockchain, there is NO finality. There is just a greater chance of finality. That means that what was legitimate a few seconds ago might no longer be because the chain has been reversed.
Inter-blockchain communication is not only important for relaying information but also for scaling existing blockchains.
Bitcoin uses inter-blockchain communication to power the Lightning network. Which is another blockchain that overlays on the Bitcoin blockchain. with this, Bitcoin transactions are much cheaper and faster, though not without some caveats.
Ethereum uses inter-blockchain communication to allow for the exchange of assets into and out of Ethereum. One of the most important projects being Cosmos.
Inter-blockchain communication is also the basis for decentralized exchanges, which eliminates the risk of exchanges being shut-down or hacked, a huge problem in the cryptocurrency space.
This could be the most important problem to be solved by EOS, as it would allow for inter-operation of cryptocurrency projects that have been, for the most part, siloed from another.
EOS is trying to solve many of the fundamental problems in the blockchain space. All at once. It is no surprised that most people are skeptical of the bold claims. But there is reason, and evidence to believe that it just might work.
EOS is a fundamental shift in the blockchain landscape. It is an earthquake that is just beginning to rumble. Brace yourselves.
In the next article we'll be going over the first part, Background, of the whitepaper and see why a new blockchain architecture is needed to advance the blockchain ecosystem.
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If you would like to know more about me and what I'm doing you can read my introduction post here.
Read my series on the Steem blockchain:
Steem: Welcome to the Matrix. Part One
Steem: Operating in the Matrix. Part Two
Steem: Construction of the Matrix. Part Three
Read my series on the EOS blockchain:
EOS whitepaper walk-through. Abstract
EOS whitepaper walk-through. Note and Disclaimer
And you can contact me in the following way:
@bluabaleno on Steem.chat
I like your detailed approach! I too was quite sceptical about EOS befor digging deeper into the concept, and realizing how well composed a project it is. Looking forward to your next articles... Upvoted and Resteemed!
Thanks for reading!
I don't blame you. Most of the experts in the industry have a bias against the Bitshares, Steem, and now EOS line of blockchain technology.
Only up till recently have they started acknowledging some of the concepts in these projects like DPoS.
For the longest time, Steem was not even considered a blockchain.
But things are changing due to the reality of scalability and increasing support from the market.
I hope I can help clarify some of the philosophy, and the rationale behind the design decision of the EOS blockchain.
Until next time!
Wonderful post ..thanks for sharing...Best of luck friend ✫