[Decentralized Applications (dApps)] - Steemit Crypto Academy Season 4 - Homework Post for Task 8 by @swaylee
Introduction
Good day fam, I want to welcome the readers to my task 8 where I will be talking about Decentralized Apps, how they work, their advantages and disadvantages and I will be simplifying it in such a way as to carry my readers along. The questions I would be answering are down below. Let's take a look shall we.
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).
What are dApps?
For those who use twitter, instagram, facebook and so on, you would notice that the owners or rather the management of these apps have power over our actions on the apps. You could post something they are against and they would delete the post and even block account if they feel like. On these apps, the records of users details and posts are recorded/stored these are known as centralized apps. But in this context we would be looking at Decentralized Apps.
Decentralized Apps are digital programs that run on a blockchain (e.g ethereum blockchain) and are free from control of a central body. From the name decentralized you would know from a glance that they are not controlled by one body. They make use of smart contracts or ledgers where transactions carried out by its users are recorded. The data recorded on the dApp cannot be manipulated by anyone as they made open to everyone and not under a single user's control. Decentralized Applications ensure fast, safe and secure transactions.
Explain the working system of dApps.
All dApps operate on blockchain mainly the ethereum blockchain. When ever a transaction is carried out on the dApp, ledger records of such transactions are created digitally and automatically meaning they are recorded on the software without human help. These ledger records are then made open to everyone without censorship through an open source system. Let's not forget that they operate on a peer-to-peer system which means there are no third parties involved or required to control and confirm transactions made on the dApp and that gives the users the power to make decisions for themselves. When making use of dApps to transfer cryptocurrencies they often charge some small amount of fees usually called gas fees for the transactions to be carried out. The gas fees depends on the blockchain or token involved.
What are the differences between dApps and other applications?
| Decentralized Applications | Other Applications |
|---|---|
| 1. First of all, dApps are decentralized meaning they are free from third party intervention | They are centralized and therefore subject to third party control. |
| 2. They are far more secure compared to other apps. | They can be somewhat secure but not as secure as dApps. |
| 3. They make use of blockchain technology | They do not make use of blockchain technology |
| 4. They are slow compared to other apps | They are faster than dApps. |
| 5. They have high resistance to bugs | They are not resistant to bugs |
| 6. Transaction fees are needed | They don't make use of transaction fees. |
| 7. There functions are not far apart. That is, every dApps has similar functions with each other. | They have a wide variety of different functions. |
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of dApps?
Some advantages of dApps include
They are Secure: People who make use of decentralized applications enjoy high level of security because they operate on blockchain technology.
Freedom from data manipulation: Since data is recorded in multiple networks of computers, it won't be an easy task for anyone to manipulate the data which has been recorded.
They are open sourced and free from censorship: The transaction data is open to everyone. No external body for example the government has the power to hide any part of the data.
No downtime or server error: Alot of other apps have downtime due to various issues with the host server but in the case of decentralized applications, if one system goes down the other systems in the network would still be working and therefore ensuring that there is no downtime.
Some disadvantages of dApps include
Most dApps do not have a user friendly interface: Newbies in the crypto world would not be able to understand how most dApps work as they have complicated and professional ways of doing things.
Difficulty in effecting changes: Whenever there is an update or bug fix, every single computer in the network has to be changed in order to effect such changes and this can be a tedious for the programmer.
No central authority: In as much as this is an advantage, it also has its disadvantages being that if a wrong transaction is/was carried out there won't be anyone who could reverse it or anyone who we would complain to and changes would be effected.
They are slow: As I said earlier, compared to other apps, dApps are rather slow in carrying out transactions.
How can dApps developers promote their apps?
A decentralized application developer can promote their apps by doing the following;
Making the app in such a way that it would carry out it's purpose effectively. A lot of applications don't go far due to the fact that their developers rush it or do it haphazardly. Once someone uses an effective app, he would recommend others to use it and as time goes on, the app would be well promoted without much effort.
It won't hurt to advertise especially online advertisements. A developer can make use of online ads and even paying a frequently visited site to advertise the app for him. It might not seem like a huge deal but an attractive ad can make even the most uninterested person to want to try the app. Most of the apps and dApps on my smartphone were Introduced to me by various ads.
What should we pay attention to when using dApps?
First of all we should pay attention to detail when performing transactions as if there is a huge/minor mistake there is no one to help you out of it and if money was involved, it would all be lost. We should always be careful in making transactions and following them step by step to avoid mistakes.
Another major thing to pay attention to is to scam related dApps. We are in a fast developing world where everything has been made better by technology but let us keep in mind that even thieves and scammers are up to trend. Before making use of a dApp, make due and thorough research on the app because there are alot of people who just jump in because of various promises and get-rich-quick schemes and get their money taken away from them.
How do we find the information of a DApp that we want to know? Provide the steps (Screenshot required).
Below are the steps on how to find the information about a dApp you want to know.
- Step 1: Click this link to take you straight to the site.
Now here is how the site is supposed to look like. It has 3 sections here.. a section for Games,a section for Gambling and the third for Exchange.
- Step 2: First off, you click on the lines at the top right corner of the homepage then a pop up menu will appear. Then type the dApp you want to know about and click on the search. Here I used Steemit.
- Step 3: Once you have completed the previous steps, you would see the details of the dApp you search. From the photo below, Steemit is the Number one dApp when it comes to steem, rated 2nd in social dApps and rated 39 out of all the other dApps.
Conclusion
I have fully completed and answered all the questions in my own words and I must say I didn't know there were this much decentralized applications. I only knew a few and that was it. I'm glad I did this assignment and I would graciously await the professor to tell me what she thinks about my work. All images used in the last question were screenshots taken by the author