Difference between revisions of "FAQ"
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From the point of view of a user of a dapp, the IC is "fast" enough that app consumers would have no idea that it runs with a blockchain under the hood (or Azure or IBM or AWS). It would be comparable to centralized compute providers. This means that while it would be extremely tricky to "build an Airbnb web app on (traditional) smart contracts" because of the slow user experience, developers can create "Airbnb web app on the Internet Computer". | From the point of view of a user of a dapp, the IC is "fast" enough that app consumers would have no idea that it runs with a blockchain under the hood (or Azure or IBM or AWS). It would be comparable to centralized compute providers. This means that while it would be extremely tricky to "build an Airbnb web app on (traditional) smart contracts" because of the slow user experience, developers can create "Airbnb web app on the Internet Computer". | ||
| − | That is how apps like | + | That is how apps like [https://v2.oc.app/ OpenChat], LinkedUp, Distrikt can provide a good user experience. |
===From the point of view of a dapp developer (e.g. "latency of calls") === | ===From the point of view of a dapp developer (e.g. "latency of calls") === | ||
Revision as of 21:37, 18 January 2022
What is the Internet Computer vision?
How fast is the Internet Computer?
For a deeper dive, see Internet Computer Performance.
Below is a high-level overview:
The most helpful way to way to answer this question is by choosing a vantage point.
From the point of view of a dapp user (e.g. "dapps the speed makes possible")
From the point of view of a user of a dapp, the IC is "fast" enough that app consumers would have no idea that it runs with a blockchain under the hood (or Azure or IBM or AWS). It would be comparable to centralized compute providers. This means that while it would be extremely tricky to "build an Airbnb web app on (traditional) smart contracts" because of the slow user experience, developers can create "Airbnb web app on the Internet Computer".
That is how apps like OpenChat, LinkedUp, Distrikt can provide a good user experience.
From the point of view of a dapp developer (e.g. "latency of calls")
There will be two relevant factors:
a. How fast a dapp can READ data from a backend on the IC - Apps can make query calls to canisters (which hold state) so it can read data in less than a second (targeting under 200 milliseconds and regularly hit under 250 milliseconds).
b. How fast a dapp can WRITE data to a backend on the IC - Apps can make UPDATE calls. These go through consensus so they take more time. Target is 2 seconds currently (with constant work to decrease that further). Compared to BTC or ETH, this is orders of magnitude faster. Compared to centralized compute, this MAY seem slow at first, but actually, if you take into account the amount of replication across servers in most stacks, it is par for the course.
More details here: https://wiki.internetcomputer.org/index.php?title=Query_and_update_call_latency
From the POV of blockchain measurements (e.g "blocks per second & transactions per second")
The IC is "unbounded" which means that, unlike most other protocols, it can improve latency and throughput by adding more machines. To double the calls per second... we would just add more subnets. This is a key point in the phrase "the IC is unbounded." As of January 18, 2021, the Internet Computer is processing 31.7 blocks per second: https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/
How big is the Internet Computer?
Size of the Internet Computer
The Internet Computer's size (read: topology)[1] can be measured in a few ways:
- Number of smart contracts
- Number of subnets
- Number of nodes
- Number of data centers
Smart Contracts
As of January 7, 2022, there are 16,728[2] smart contracts created since May 10, 2021. The goal is for this to be billions in 10 years.
Subnets
As of January 7, 2022, there are 30 subnets[3] in the Internet Computer. The goal is for this to be hundreds of thousands in 10 years.
Nodes
As of January 7, 2022, there are 412 nodes[4] in the Internet Computer. The goal is for this to be millions in 10 years.
Data Centers
As of January 7, 2022, there are 21 nodes[5] in the Internet Computer. The goal is for this to be thousands in 10 years.
What is the function of the ICP utility token?
The ICP token is used in a variety ways.
Computation and Storage
The first use ICP is used to pay for computation in the form of cycles. 1 SDR of ICP can be converted to a trillion cycles. SDR is a stable basket of currencies tracked by the IMF. Its price sits around $1.42 USD at the time of writing. Cycles are burned to pay for computation, storage, and serving of web pages. As more dapps are hosted on the Internet Computer blockchain, more ICP tokens are converted and burned.
Governance of the Internet Computer
The second use of ICP is in the NNS. If you want to vote and earn voting rewards in the NNS, you have to stake your ICP tokens in a neuron. When you vote, you receive voting rewards in the form of newly minted ICP tokens.
Rewards to node owners
Lastly, ICP tokens are also minted as rewards to node owners. On the one hand, the total supply of ICP is deflationary because the tokens are converted into cycles and burned. On the other hand, it is inflationary because rewards are minted for node owners and neurons.
What kind of dapps are possible on the Internet Computer?
What is the history of the Internet Computer?
Why can the Internet Computer do these things other blockchains cannot?
The technical reasons go beyond the scop of the FAQ, but a high-level answer is:
Unique to the Internet Computer
Chain key cryptography[6] is the engine that drives the Internet Computer and makes its operation possible. It allows for:
- Adding new nodes to form new subnets to scale the network infinitely
- Replacing faulty or crashed nodes with new ones without ever stopping
- Reviving subnets even if too many nodes within have failed
- Upgrading the Internet Computer Protocol seamlessly, allowing the network to fix bugs and add new features
Modern technologies leveraged by the Internet Computer
The use of WebAssembly as the execution layer[7] of the Internet Computer gives canister smart contracts an execution environment that allows for very powerful smart contracts
What is the consensus algorithm of the Internet Computer?
How does the ICP Ecosystem look like?
Where can I see a list of some dapps on the Internet Computer?
Example dapps
Lists of dapps
https://dfinity.org/showcase/ https://dfinityapps.co/ https://n7ib3-4qaaa-aaaai-qagnq-cai.raw.ic0.app/ https://github.com/dfinity/awesome-dfinity
How is the Internet Computer governed?
How fast is the Internet computer gaining adoption?
Crypto & Blockchain Questions
How does the Internet Computer compare with Bitcoin?
How does the Internet Computer compare with Ethereum?
How decentralized is the Internet computer?
How do I build on the Internet Computer?
How much does it cost to run a dapp on the Internet Computer?
How is the Internet Computer governed?
What are the tokenomics of the Internet Computer?
How do I stake on the Internet Computer?
What do smart contracts on the Internet computer look like?
How does the Internet Computer scale?
Where can I see the code of the Internet Computer?
Node Provider questions
How does one become a node provider to the Internet Computer?
- ↑ https://medium.com/dfinity/a-technical-overview-of-the-internet-computer-f57c62abc20f
- ↑ https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/
- ↑ https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/
- ↑ https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/
- ↑ https://www.dfinityexplorer.org/#/datacenters/
- ↑ https://medium.com/dfinity/chain-key-technology-one-public-key-for-the-internet-computer-6a3644901e28
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/dfinity/comments/nrmvim/ama_we_are_akhi_alexandra_islam_and_dimitris_from/