The web is getting more and more decentralized, with every passing day. Web3 has been around for almost a decade, and it’s already had a major influence on the way we access the Internet. The new web is based on many of the same principles as its predecessor, but the power of HTML5 and JavaScript makes it something much more than just another HTTP-based website platform.
The web3 stack is essentially a collection of technologies that make up the basis of decentralized applications on the blockchain. It serves as a foundation for dApps built on top of Ethereum or another blockchain, but it also serves as its own separate ecosystem. Let’s explore what it all means:
What is the web3 stack?
The web3 stack is a collection of technologies that help make decentralized applications on the blockchain possible. It’s not a separate blockchain implementation, but rather a set of concepts, applications, libraries, and tools that are central to building decentralized applications.
The most important of these is probably the Decentralized Applications (DApps) protocol, which is what allows you to build decentralized apps on top of the blockchain. The other important aspect of the web3 stack is probably Ethereum’s own programming language, JavaScript.
A lot of developers choose to build decentralized apps in JavaScript, which is why it’s a part of the web3 stack. You can even add other programming languages to the stack if you want to build a hybridized web app.
Build a decentralized application (dApp) with the web3 stack
Decentralized apps (DApps) are applications that run autonomously on a blockchain. While the blockchain itself acts as a decentralized application platform, the applications run on different computers that are part of the decentralized app network.
The distributed nature of the network allows for real-time update and interactivity, which is one of the key advantages of decentralized applications. You can think of a DApp as being like an online shopping cart, with the blockchain as the checkout process and the applications as the products.
In this case, you don’t host the shopping cart on your own server — you rent it to others. The distributed nature of the network allows you to add new features and make updates to existing ones as needed.
The web3 ecosystem
The web3 ecosystem is the core technology on which the web3 stack is based. It consists of HTML5 and the associated JavaScript, along with various libraries, tools, and applications that make developing decentralized applications (DApps) simple and efficient.
The ecosystem also includes the Blockchain interface blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS), a hosting service for decentralized apps (DApps), and a buyer’s platform for DApps.
The Ethereum blockchain
The Ethereum blockchain is the basis for decentralized applications. It’s what allows you to build decentralized apps on top of, and it’s what enables the full ecosystem of decentralized applications. The blockchain itself acts as a decentralized application platform, but the applications run on different computers that are part of the decentralized app network.
The distributed nature of the network allows for real-time update and interactivity, which is one of the key advantages of decentralized applications. You can think of a DApp as being like an online shopping cart, with the blockchain as the checkout process and the applications as the products.
In this case, you don’t host the shopping cart on your own server — you rent it to others. The distributed nature of the network allows you to add new features and make updates to existing ones as needed.
Different blockchain platforms
There are a number of different types of blockchain platforms that you can use with the web3 stack. Most notably, you can use the Ethereum blockchain, which is the standard that decentralized applications are built on. There are, however, a few other platforms that are worth considering.
Ethereum is the most common, and it has served the community well. It has the largest network, the most developers, and the most tested code. It also happens to be based on the most widely used programming language, JavaScript. Litecoin is another popular blockchain platform and is also based on JavaScript.
Conclusion
The web3 stack enables developers to build decentralized applications (DApps) on top of the blockchain. It’s a collection of technologies that help make decentralized applications possible, and it includes HTML5, JavaScript, the Decentralized Applications (DApps) protocol, various libraries, and tools.
Decentralized applications — or DApps — are applications that run autonomously on a blockchain. You can think of a DApp as being like an online shopping cart, with the blockchain as the checkout process and the applications as the products. In this case, you don’t host the shopping cart on your own server — you rent it to others.
The distributed nature of the network allows for real-time update and interactivity, which is one of the key advantages of decentralized applications.