STEEMIT CRYPTO ACADEMY SEASON 4-HOMEWORK POST FOR TASK 8//DECENTRALIZED APPLICATIONS

I have used the study materials provided by professor @wahyunahrul about DAPPS and I will be using the knowledge that I have gained to answer the question below.

WHAT ARE DAPPS? WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DAPPS AND OTHER APPLICATIONS? EXPLAIN THE ADVATAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DAPPS. HOW CAN DAPP DEVELOPERS PROMOTE THEIR APPS? WHAT SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN USING DAPPS? HOW CAN YOU FIND INFORMATION OF A DAPP THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW?

Let's dive in!

WHAT ARE DAPPS?

Decentralized applications (DAPPS) are a software that run on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network.They apply a consensus within the nodes to inorder to validate changes and transactions. They run on thousands of nodes throughout the world while operating on a decentralized system. That being said, it is important to note that all the principles of decentralization apply to DAPPS.

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Types of dapps
• Type I
These dapps run on the financial system but the key feature is that the cryptocurrencies they create are what is used as a means of payment eg Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano etc.

•Type II
Type 2 dapps run on the blockchain of the type 1 dapps. The difference between the two is; type II dapps use the tokens that they issue as a means of payment as compared to type I dapps. These too are used for financial purposes.

•Type III
These happen to be the most used dapps today. These dapps are as a result of the translation of types I and II.

Dapps have uniques characteristics that set them apart from regular dapps. It is these characteristics that make up the advantages of dapps as we shall see later on.

EXPLAIN THE WORKING SYSTEM OF DAPPS.

Each user on the blockchain is a node and everytime a transaction takes place, the nodes communicate with each other to reach a consensus. Once validated, the details of the transaction are recorded on the blockchain in a way that is immutable. These nodes employ the use of smart contracts in order to store this data.

Smart contracts refer to digital contracts that are stored on the blockchain and are automatically executed when predetermined terms and conditions are met.

These smart contracts provide a middle ground for validating each transaction and once the transaction occurs, all the nodes are updated. In other words, they qre the link that connect the dapps to the blockchain.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DAPPS AND OTHER APPS?

Factors like speed, security, usage costs, and costs of development are what we cam use to differentiate dapps from regular apps. Let's see how!

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✓Speed
Dapps are slow compared to other regular apps. They process about 15 transactions per second.

✓Security
Dapps are more secure and tamper proof compared to other apps. They cannot be tampared with because they are protected by cryptography.

✓Usage costs
Most regular apps are free but dapps require a payment of a small fee.

✓Cost of development
The costs of development dapps is cheaper than that of regular apps. Dapps costs include development, deployment and sometimes upgrade cost while other apps have extra costs like maintenance costs, cloud server fees among others.

✓Dapps use a P2P network while other applications usually use a single server.

✓Dapps are resistant to censorship as compared to other applications. This is because of the aspect of decentralization that eliminates the need for third parties.

EXPLAIN THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DAPPS

Everything has two sides to it and dapps are no different. We are going to explore someone of the advantages and disadvantages of dapps below.

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ADVANTAGES
As I mentioned earlier above, the characteristics of dapps that make them unique from regular apps make up the advantages that we are going to discuss. These include;

✓Fault tolerance
It is impossible to have a dapp down due to node failure. It is also impossible for a hacker to manipulate and control the system because it is protected by cryptography...this is the reason why dapps are highly secure.

✓Accessibility
Dapps use an open source system therefore, the codes recorded on the system can be accessed and viewed by anyone.

✓Realiable
Dapps cannot disappear once they have joined the blockchain. This is because they use smart contracts/ledgers that record all transactions without human assistance; and these transactions are immutaboe and distributed to all servers around the world.

✓Speed and cost effective
There is speed because of the absence of third parties. And the transaction fee that users are required to pay in order to use the DAPP is minimal.

✓They are trustless

✓They allow interconnection of developers and users directly since there are no third parties.

DISADVANTAGES
Some of the down sides of dapps include the following;

× It is hard to fix bugs
In case of an upgrade, the upgrade has to be sent to all servers not just one. And in case there is a bug in the system, it takes a lot of resources and time to fix it thus it's both time and resource consuming.

× Dapps are also complex to scale. This is because of the complications that arise with protocols used in making the software run in a distributed manner.

× They are slow
Compared to regular applications, dapps are slow. For instance, they process about 15 transactions per second. This affects their scalability.

HOW CAN DAPP DEVELOPERS PROMOTE THEIR APPS?

It is important for developers to promote their applications in order for people to know about their availability. So let us look at some of the things that a developercan use to promote his app.

• Use of social media
Social media is a big part of the world we live in today. It is almost impossible for information to go unnoticed on social media as it is one of the fastest ways that news goes. Therefore, a developer has a better chance of attracting more users by promoting his app on social media platforms like Twitter and so on.

While on that point, it is important for developers of apps to open websites for these apps. These websites should have rich information about what the app is about, how to use it and what problem it solves. The last bit is very important because as human beings, we usually don't use something unless it is providing a solution to a problem that we are facing. Therefore, developers of apps should keep that in mind.

• Giving provision for app reviews. It is important to give your users a platform where they can air out feedback to you the developer. This feedback might be positive or negative but regardless, a developer of an app ought to interact with his users through the feedback they give him.

One important fact to note here is that as a developer, you must have the ability to appreciate criticism and use it to better your application. Conclusively, user interaction goes a long way. Why? Because it is these satisfied users that will help a developer to further promote his app through "word of mouth". Thus it is like hitting two birds with one stone.

WHAT SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN USING DAPPS?

As users, we have to pay attention to high-risk dapps. These are applications whose bearings have a scam or Ponzi scheme. The likely signs to look out for include fabricated volumes and fast-rises that cannot be explained logically. In looking out for these, a user will be able to protect himself from scams.

HOW DO YOU FIND INFORMATION OF A DAPP THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW?

•Step 1
Firstly, we can access this information by using any brower for example chrome; visit https://DappRadar.com
The home page will then be displayed for you as shown below.

•Step 2
Visit the menu which is located at the top of the page and click on RANKINGS.

•Step 3
Rankings will enable you to see all the available dapps. From this list, you can choose any DAPP whose information you would like to check. For instance, I chose Uniswap. So I tapped on the Uniswap DAPP and a new page was displayed as shown below.

In order for me to access the information about Uniswap, I tapped on the "OPEN DAPP" tab.

Once I opened the DAPP, I was able to see the information about it. As you can see in the image below, the details about the volume, users, transaction number and balance of Uniswap were displayed.

If you scroll further down, you will also be able to see the historical activities of the DAPP that are presented in a graphical form.

NOTE:
ALL THE IMAGES THAT I HAVE USED FOR THE LAST QUESTION ARE ALL SCREENSHOTS FROM https://DappRadar.com

CC:
Professors;
@sapwood
@dilchamo