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Glossary

Kyle Peacock edited this page Oct 28, 2021 · 1 revision

Glossary

This page breaks down terms you'll see in the Internet Computer ecosystem.

Internet Computer

The Internet Computer blockchain (IC) is a layer-1 blockchain that uses a novel chain-key consensus model to run performant smart contracts in Web Assembly. Developing dapps on the Internet Computer is different from Ethereum development in a few important ways.

  • Data and assets can be natively stored on-chain
  • Canister smart contracts can hold private data that is not necessarily available on a public blockchain
  • The network scales horizontally - blockchain technology is used to maintain and expand the network through a governance system, but individual canisters can run arbitrary code.
    • It is more appropriate to treat the state of a canister with skepticism, like a server. If the canister does not have public source code, and is still controlled by a private Principal, it can alter and represent its state however it likes.

Canister

Canisters are the IC's smart contract system.

Agent

TODO

Principal

TODO

Identity

TODO

Candid

TODO

Motoko

TODO

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