Decentralized Applications (dApps) -Crypto Academy S5 - Homework Post for Task 8
Q1: What are dApps? Explain the working system of dApps? What are the differences between dApps and other applications? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of dApps? How can dApps developers promote their apps? What should we pay attention to when using dApps? How do we find the information of a DApp that we want to know? Provide the steps (Screenshot required).??
dApps is a short acronym that stands for decentralized application these two words I know are not strange to many users in this academy decentralization we all know is a system which is not controlled by a single person or no central authority. Whiles an app is a software that does certain functions for the user like the popular apps we have on our phones like Twitter, what’s app, facebook and Instagram.
These applications are all owned and runned by a single body unit or a central control meaning certain rules and regulations are laid for the user to abide by failure to follow the rules will lead to the termination of your account. Unlike these centralized applications, we have the decentralized application which is the exact opposite of the centralized apps.
Decentralized apps unlike the centralized ones are not controlled or managed by a single body unit hence giving the users total control of his account. Without having to be told what to do and what not to do.
dApps are able to run on the blockchain due to them all being decentralized in nature. And we are told that the blockchain aims to remove third parties in dealing with transactions, in other to achieve this it operates on the peer to peer system.
dApps are also very transparent as it uses the open source code this implies that anyone can see the code nothing is hidden from the users. With this no one feels cheated.
Explain the working system of dApps?
Remember I said that dApps eliminates third parties?? The whole system of the dApps software uses smart contracts. It’s the responsibility of this smart contracts to digitally record any transactions made on the dApps the idea is to help eliminate the person in the banks who is tasked in recording these transactions.
Once the smart contracts validates and stores these transactions, they can’t be altered again (they can’t be changed again).
Also with the peer to peer, when performing a transaction on the dApps, the users do not need to interact with any intermediate in other to finalize the deal because if you are a buyer, you will be linked to a seller. So no need for any third party to be available this also helps reduce a lot of charges you will pay.
dApps are open sourced this means the code used to write the systems is publicly published for everyone to have a look at. When this happens the users feel that no one is cheated since they can all access it for them selves.
What are the differences between dApps and other applications?
Firstly what are these other applications we are talking about?? These applications are also called the centralized apps. As I clearly said in my above explanation they are controlled by a single body unit. Or central authority let’s take a look at the differences between dApps and Centralized applications.
| Decentralized apps | Centralized apps |
|---|---|
| Not controlled by a central authority | Controlled by a central authority |
| No middle men in transactions | Middle men are present on transactions |
| No verification required | Verification required |
| Smart contracts trigger transactions | No smart contracts to trigger transactions |
| They can run on the blockchain | Are not compatible or can’t run on the blockchain |
| Account is highly secured since the users holds his keys | Accounts are not secured as compare to dApps |
| Fees charged are very low | Fees charges are very high because of the third parties. |
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of dApps?
Every system as we all know will definitely have some ups and downs in this section I will be explaining some advantages and disadvantages of the dApps system.
Advantages of dApps
1 - Purely decentralized : this means means that the apps are not controlled by any central authority hence the users have freedom than on the centralized apps
2 - Elimination of third parties - when dealing in transactions the users is connected directly to the buyer or seller he or she does not need to deal with any third party
3 - Smart contracts - dApps have smart contracts which are responsible for validating and storing of transactions details once installed can not be altered or changed.
4 - Low transaction fees - this is as a result of the elimination of the third parties as it is observe that some of the transactions fees paid on the central banks are paid to the middle men since we don’t have them in the dApps the fees are moderate.
5 - No verification needed - You don’t need to verify your details before you can trade or use the app unlike the centralized apps you will need to provide personal information before you can use the app.
6 - Open source - this means that everyone can access the codes of the system nothing is hidden
Disadvantages of dApps
1 - A lot of scammers join the dApps to steal from users since they system doesn’t require details of its user so many people pretend to be someone they are not.
2 - One way transactions - what I mean by one way transactions is once you send assets to a wrong address it can’t be reversed again.
3 - The interface of dApps are not friendly meaning you will need to know a lot about the system before you go for it.
4 - When a user looses his private key he or she can not access his account again so it’s advised you store it in a very safe place.
How can dApps developers promote their apps
Day in day out a lot of programmers develop dApps buy fail to use the right channels to promote their applications this has seen their project fail. Below are some ways you can promote your dApps.
Firstly, in other to draw the attention majority of people, you will need to use the social media. And not all social media handles but the most important ones like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Almost everyone either owns one of the above social media pages mentioned. So posting it there will help draw the attention of people.
Secondly, Advertising your dApps on either the Dappradar or the televisions. Buy I will advise you run you advertise it on the the Dappradar because this is where most people come to look for new dApps and advertising it there will do the trick.
Thirdly, this third way of promoting dApps is what most people prefer that is by sharing free tokens of their project most users are intrigued by this and sometimes invite more of their friends to the dApps. Which will surely promote your application.
What should we pay attention to when using dApps?
There a lot of things o think we should pay attention the most important of them all is to make sure that whatever dApp you are going into is authentic because scammers have ways and means of creating fake apps only to steal people so you will need to research a lot about the dApp before you can start using the app.
According to this article over 10,000 people download fake apps
The next thing to pay attention is when using a decentralized exchange app you will be given a private key from which your public key is generated from most people for pay attention to these keys and mix them up. The public key is used to send to other users so that you can receive assets whiles the private key is not supposed to be shared with anyone.
Anyone with access to your private key can steal your asset. It’s mostly advised that you store it offline you can write it on a piece of paper if you wish. I friended of mine once asked my why we should store it offline? The reason is that if you store it online like inside your Gmail and your email get hacked your keys are in danger.
How do we find the information of a DApp that we want to know? Provide the steps (Screenshot required).??
Below are simplified steps on how to know the information of any dApp. But first you will need to visit the Dappradar and follow the instructions below.
1 - After accessing the website click on the the four horizontal lines on the top right corner
2 - After clicking on the lines, select rankings from the list of options
3 - All the dApps are ranked by users, to make it more simple click on the ‘All’ to display the categories of the dApps.
4 - From the categories, select the appropriate category your dApp falls under for me I will chose steem
5 - All the dApps that fall under that category will appear from the list I will select steemit in other to display its information.
Below is a screenshot of the details it displayed
Conclusion
This has been a very great lecture I and I must say I have really learnt a lot. dApps really have the upper hand over the centralized apps because they provide the user with freedom to control your account, transactions details that can’t be altered above all high security. Thank you professor for this wonderful lecture.
please note that the screenshot are form Dappradar.