What Are DApps?|Decentralized Applications

The development of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DTL) such as the blockchain has allowed decentralized applications or DApps. DApps are applications that run on a distributed computing system. If you want to know about DApps, their use, and their advantages over traditional applications, continue reading this article.

Table of Contents

What are DApps?

DApps are applications that are run and managed by multiple users on a decentralized network. This means that they do not depend on a centralized system for their operation. As they are not centrally controlled, failures are reduced, and the probability of sending corrupted data is also greatly reduced. The decentralized system is in charge of validating the interactions of the application through a smart contract.

Blockchain is the technology that cryptocurrencies use.

It has been taken as a consensus that DApps must be open source, and their operation must be autonomous; this avoids any entity’s control over the application tokens. The generation of the application tokens must be done through cryptographic algorithms, which are used to access the application as a reward for user contributions and certify contributions’ value. The processed data must be stored on a public blockchain.

Users who participate in data processing and network maintenance are rewarded in different ways depending on the application. Another advantage of this type of application is the reduction in the use of electrical energy for data processing since the processing load is distributed among the nodes of the system.

Advantage

DApps have several advantages over traditional applications; here are some of them:

The drop-in services are substantially reduced because the processing is distributed in nodes in the network.
They have great security due to the use of cryptographic techniques to encrypt the information. The data of this type of application user is kept securely and is more protected against attacks and theft since it is not in a centralized database.
The information published in DApps cannot be used or tracked by any central entity to obtain data from its users.
There is no censorship or restriction of content by a central entity.

Disadvantages

You should know that DApps also has some drawbacks; the following are some:

Its development requires knowledge about blockchain and information encryption; this makes it difficult to develop new applications.
They need a wide and robust network for their correct operation.
They are vulnerable to the “51% attack”, this happens when an entity or group of users take control of more than half of the nodes that process transactions, allowing them to commit fraud on network operations.
Excessive growth of the node network can increase the cost of processing operations.
They have all the problems and limitations of blockchain technology.

Smart contracts

As we mentioned earlier, the validation of interactions with the application is done through smart contracts. A smart contract is a computer program that secures, enforces, and executes registered agreements. Its operation is simple: when a predefined condition of the contract is fulfilled, the contractual clause corresponding to that condition is executed. The blockchain has protocols that establish the rules so that the interaction through smart contracts is transparent and autonomous.

Ethereum is one of the decentralized platforms that allow the implementation of smart contracts. This allows developers to create decentralized applications with the implementation of smart contracts.

DApps examples

Ethereum is the most widely used platform for building decentralized applications. Its infrastructure allows the rapid and easy development of DApps, which has allowed the creation of thousands of applications of this type. NEO is another platform that offers the possibility of building decentralized applications using the tools they provide. Here are several examples of DApps:

InterPlanetary Search Engine (IPSE) is a decentralized search engine based on EOS.
Steemit is a social network that acts as a platform for bloggers.
Golem (GNT) is a global use decentralized supercomputer that any user can access. Its power is given by all the computers connected to the decentralized network.
Augur (REP) is a platform that provides predictions for investment in different markets using a decentralized algorithm. The signals are given based on the predictions of the network participants and trading indicators.
CryptoKitties is a game that allows you to buy kittens, raise them, and sell them for a profit.