Beginners guide: What is EOS Blockchain?
The EOS blockchain is inspiring such euphoria; it is easily the most exciting block chain project of the moment.
Going by the hype, EOS could revolutionize block chain technology. That EOS will include a social media platform, something akin to Steemit, makes it an even more exciting prospect.
But what exactly is the EOS blockchain?
Source: eos website
For a start, besides looking to enable a decentralized Operating System (OS) capable of supporting decentralized applications on industrial scale, the EOS blockchain is primed to:-
- To remove all the transaction fees otherwise charge by other blockchains
- To enable and conduct millions of transactions per second
Hindsight
For any Decentralized application (DAPP) to succeed, particularly if it aims to capture mainstream audience, it must meet some criteria.
These include among others,
It must be scalable, meaning it can, at any one time be able to support and be used by millions of users.
To gain the benefits of a given dapp, no user should ideally be required to pay any fee, which means that its platform should allow developers to create dapps users can use for free.
In addition, developers should find in the platform, the freedom to upgrade the DAPP whenever they want. Indeed, developers shouldn’t have to affect the platform whenever there is need to fix the DAPP, say if it is affected by a bug.
That said, what does EOS offer?
EOS is primed to meet the above criteria. The scalability problem otherwise currently faced by the blockchain space, is the first EOS aims to resolve.
As it is, Bitcoin only manages meager 3 to 4 transactions every second, and Ethereum although slightly better at 20 transactions for every second, still remains low and limiting
Why can’t block chain applications compute as many transactions per second as would otherwise be required?
Simple. For anything to pass through a block chain based application, a consensus must be arrived at by all network nodes.
EOS solution
EOS will use Distributed proof-of-stake consensus (DPOS) mechanism, allowing it to compute as much as millions of transactions every second.
Recently a data access object (DAO) attack brought the entire Ethereum system to a standstill, and as a result of the forklift, effectively dividing the community.
EOS Solution
The use of Distributed proof-of-stake consensus (DPOS) mechanism by EOS makes any such situation unlikely in its eco-system.
DPOS enables block producers to free the DAPP pending the correction of the system, if it were to be attacked. This is because in the DPOs mechanism, chain maintenance does not have to involve every node at any given time.
EOS, unlike the current blockchains, will also support increased usability through its well-defined levels of permission. It its interface development, EOS for instance incorporates features such as the web toolkit as well as self-describing interfaces among others.
Other features that make EOS a big deal include its user binding mechanism of governance. My tagging a hash of the constitution to any given signature, EOS effectively binds users to its constitution of governance.
EOS’s smart contracts will be characterized by parallel processing through scaling horizontally, communicating asynchronously as well as interoperability
Horizontal scalability in particular ensures that EOS is able to scale up by adding to the resource pool, more systems and more computers, rather than by adding more processing power, as is the case in vertical scalability.
In EOS, communication will not be synchronized, namely, either parties don’t have to be available/present at the same time, for them to communicate.
EOS has also buffered itself by ensuring that any blockchain that will base on the EOS software will need to generate 5% natural inflation every year.
The idea is to have this distributed to the producers of the platform vis-à-vis their confirmation of transactions on the platform.
This guarantees EOS’s self-sufficiency, overall ensuring that the Block chain wont have to rely on a single individual or foundation for its growth or development or even maintenance
Finally, and perhaps most critically, EOS is defined by a Decentralized Operating System
Compared to Ethereum which can be thought of as a supercomputer that is decentralized, EOS puts itself as an operating system. This in effect makes EOS, in comparison, a product that is more focused.
