Chapter 1. A first look at decentralized applications
Chapter 1 from Exploring Ethereum Dapps by Roberto Infante
This chapter covers
- What a decentralized application is
- What a Dapp looks like and how it works
- Dapp terminology
- Suitable and less suitable Dapps
How many times have you found yourself in the following situation? You were browsing around to buy the latest gadget and were comparing prices online, when you came across SmallWebRetailer.com that was offering it 30% cheaper than WellKnown.com. You quickly put the item in the basket, fearing the price would rise at any moment, and entered your postal address and credit card details, but suddenly...you got cold feet. You started to wonder: Is the price too good to be true? What if this unknown SmallWebRetailer.com is a scam? Will they run off with my money? After a few minutes of hesitating on the Buy button, you opened a new browser tab and went straight to WellKnown.com. You submitted the order, aware you might have overpaid 30% for your gadget.
Why did you panic? Perhaps you didn’t trust SmallWebRetailer.com. Perhaps you didn’t want to waste your time contacting the credit card company and possibly waiting for a refund if the transaction turned sour.