Homework on Ethereum Intro

Ethereum 101
#1

Homework on Ethereum Intro - Questions. (Questions were updated on Dec 3 2019 )

  1. What was Web 1.0?
  2. What is a smart contract?
  3. How is transparency achieved with ethereum code?
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#2

I may do a start for this course, future students may append or improve on this post.

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum use proof of work consensus mechanism, however the underlying mining algorithmus is different. Eth uses Ethhash, whereas in BTC consensus is found via SHA256. Average block size and block time can be found on etherscan.io and are about 20 kB and 15 sec at the time of writing this post. Whereas in BTC blocksize is about 1 MB and block time is 10 min.

Smart contracts are executed within the ethereum network. This means each full node - i.e. a computer saving a copy of the blockchain needs to fully synchronize with the latest state of each contract in the whole network. So once a full node receives the command to execute a contract from state a to state b, the information has to spread in the whole network (globally).

Executing code on a distributed and decentralized network provides the benefits of having no central point of failure and censorship resistance. I.e. once code is deployed and executed there are no measures in place to stop execution.

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#3

  1. Ethereum uses GPU friendly mining algo and is switching to POS.

  2. Smart contracts run on EVM

  3. The security and integrity of the code is higher due to all parties being able to verify it ran correctly.

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#4

Does it seem like these questions are on material covered later in the course? I’m pulling from the original fundamentals course and plagiarizing other student’s answers at this point, not from materials presented so far. It seems like the REAL intro video is missing.

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#5

@marsrvr Yes. I guess some technical error while they posted. @ivan @filip kindly have a look. Intro video is missing

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#6

We are looking in to it!

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#7

1. From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?
Ethereum’s proof of work is different as transfers do not look at UTXOs, but rather update the accounts’ balances directly. There is no traceability of ETH other than the sending/receiving addresses. Also, block sizes and average block times differ. Lastly, GAS is used to create proportions for different actions in a smart contract (adding, dividing, etc.), which differs from Bitcoin which does not care about anything other than transaction fees. ETH intends on moving towards a PoS model in the future.

2. How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer?
Smart contracts are executed using the EVM (ethereum virtual machine), which ensures that the smart contract isn’t trying to perform any malicious activity on the node’s computer. The node keeps track of the smart contract and the current state of said contract.

3. What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server?
No central point of attack, making the network more secure. It also provides the gateway to immutability as any changes to records already agreed upon by the nodes (balances & smart contract states) would be identified by the other nodes supporting the network.

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#8
  1. From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?

Ethereum makes smart contracts possible, Every node has EVM, to read smart contracts, to have the results.

  1. How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer?

In Ethereum smart contracts are read by EVM, then EVM tell the CPU to execute the smart contracts.

A normal Computer is CPU directly to read and execute the program.

  1. What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server?

More security. The whole network can keep the same states. Consensus also build on this.

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#9
  1. From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?

Bitcoin uses UTXO’s and ETH uses balances. ETH was the first to implement Smart contracts. Bitcoin and Ethereum both have POW, Bitcoin is SHA-256, Ethereum uses ethash. ETH wil move to POS (maybe also progpow inbetween).

  1. How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer?

Smart contracts are run in EVM’s (Ethereum virtual machine’s) in a sandbox like environment. These Evm’s are decentralised to the miners who execute the smart contracts.

  1. What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server?

It has an uptime of 24/7/365 & more secure

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#10

Where’s the Ethereum intro video? The only one I seen was a 2 minute video with none of the questions discussed.

#11

Sorry about that, the order was wrong. Here is the video https://ivanontech.teachable.com/courses/ethereum-101/lectures/10444416

#12

No problem. Thank you and I’m really enjoying the courses so far

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#13

Watch the second video in the Ethereum Introduction “EVM, Solidity, and Smart Contracts” in order to answer these questions fully.

  1. Bitcoin primarily acts as a decentralized value transfer system (money) or decentralized store of value (gold, 401K), whereas Ethereum is a decentralized protocol that supports Turing complete programs on its own decentralized blockchain. Despite this difference, they both reach consensus through Proof of Work. Ethereum intends to switch to Proof of Stake in the future, however, as of today, they both use the same consensus mechanism.

  2. Smart contracts are executed by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) hosted on each node within the Ethereum network. When a computer executes a program, the CPU is often instructed by the program’s code to initiate requested actions. However, when a smart contract is executed on Ethereum, the EVM first reads the code within the smart contract, tests that all variables are true within the smart contract, and translates the Solidity code to byte code for the CPU to process. This is done by all nodes on the network, and once they all return the same result on the network, the smart contract fulfills its instructions.

  3. Benefits of executing code on many nodes includes additional security, trustlessness, censorship resistance, and a permissionless environment to write and share code. The primary focus in our lesson was the trustlessness in the Ethereum blockchain, which is a result of a smart contract’s ability to replace the third party, or intermediary, (lawyers, middlemen, bureaus, organizations, etc) participant in any given exchange. Instead, a smart contract will be able to initiate and fulfill the terms of an agreement between two parties by confirming all aspects of the agreement have been upheld or completed and carrying out a specified action upon said completion. By having this smart contract on many nodes, both parties know that the agreement cannot be tampered or altered because it is distributed among all these nodes. As a result, there is no need to trust the other party because the smart contract will carry out its instructions regardless of malicious or benevolent intent from either party.

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#14

  • From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?
    They both use consensus by POW.

  • How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer?
    the smart contract need EVM

  • What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server?
    in single computer/server there is always a risk of information silos.

1 Like
#15

Homework on Ethereum Intro - Questions.

  1. From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?

Ethereum enables to deploy apps into the network.

  1. How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer?

Ethereum uses EVM to execute code written in Solidity or Vyper to prevent CPU from malicious apps deployed to the network. Normal computer uses CPU directly.

  1. What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server?

More secured, transaprent, trustless apps.

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#16
  1. Both uses Proof of work but Ethereum uses Ethhash and Bitcoin uses SHA-256.
  2. The EVN executes the smart program the instructs the CPU of your computer, where the CPU normally executes the programs directly.
  3. No single point of failure(decentralized), trustlessness nature of transactions and tamper-proof,
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#17
  1. They use different algorithms. Bitcoin is only a currency while Ethereum also contains smart contracts.And Ethereum is going to switch to POS.
  2. Smart contracts on Ethereum are executed on the moment they get in the blockchain and will be activated the moment that the preset conditions are met. When they are in the blockchain you can not stop or altered it anymore.On a normal computer you can always stop or change it since you can physical reach it.
  3. More security, not a single point of failure.
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#18

1- It has introduced the concept of smart contracts
2- Its programmed to perform certain action after a certain confidion and cannot be modified
3- Remove the dependency on single node

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#19
  1. From a consensus perspective, how is Ethereum different from bitcoin?
    Bitcoin usesa Proof of Work (PoW) system based on SHA256 mining nodes whereas Ethereum has a POW using ethash and in addition it has the EVM interface that reads and reaches a consensus on the status of the smart contract. Ethereum is now moving towards a Proof of Stack consensus system
  2. How are smart contracts executed in Ethereum compared to in a normal computer? Etheruem smart contracts are executed on the network through a unique interface called an EVM, that is hosted on each node, rather than the individual node’s cpu executing code.
  3. What are the benefits of executing the code on many nodes instead of just single computer/server? Security, multiple dispersed nodes mean that the same code is dispersed across many nodes and so more secure against a denial o service attack or hack.

The answers to the above questions are based on previous answers as there is no direct reference to the topics . in the videos relating to these questions.

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#20
  1. The main difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin is purpose. Both Ethereum and Bitcoin use the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism but Ethereum team is persuing a switch towards the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism (PoS)
  2. Smart contracts are self-executing and runs on a decentralised network like blockchain.
  3. Increase transparency, reliability and calculation speed.
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