Is Blockchain a tea or Juice?

A quick and simple explanation of blockchain.

For the past few days, blockchain technologies are attracting me like magnets, so I tried to get my hands dirty.

Blockchain is an open, decentralized, shared database that allows anyone to store stuff publicly.

1. OPEN: Anyone can interact with it.
2. DECENTRALIZED: There is no central authority
3. DATABASE: People can store their data.
4. PUBLIC: Anyone can view our data.

Photo by Traxer on Unsplash

Why is it sounding scary tho? — Blockchain provides a “rulebook” that specifies or prevents some interaction with a specific set of datasets.

But How are we gonna do this? — SMART CONTRACT

Smart Contracts are programs, or “rulebooks” that developers make. Developers create them because it allows us to specify some functionality that users can interact with.

So, why do we use Smart Contracts?

1. Speed, efficiency, and accuracy: Smart Contracts are fast, and there is no middleman. There is also no paperwork. If I want to update the data on the Blockchain by using a Smart Contract that allows me to call some function, I can just do it.
2. Trust and transparency: The Blockchain, and thus Smart Contracts, are extremely secure if we make them that way. It is nearly impossible to hack or alter the state of the Blockchain, and while that’s due to other reasons, it is largely because of Smart Contracts. If a Smart Contract doesn’t let me do something, I simply can’t do it. There’s no way around it.

What are some downsides?

1. Hard to get right: While Smart Contracts are cool, they are NOT smart. They require sophisticated levels of expertise from the developer’s side to make sure they have no security problems, they are cheap, and they do what we want them to do.
2. Can be malicious if the developer is mean: If a developer wants to make a Smart Contract that steals your money, and then tricks you into calling a function that does that, your money will be stolen. In the world of the Blockchain, you must make sure you interact with Smart Contracts that you know are secure.
3. Cannot undo something: You can’t just undo something. Unless you have a function that allows you.

We also have another term Transaction and scripts.

Transaction(paid call)CHANGES the data on the Blockchain and usually is the ONLY way we can change the data on the Blockchain. Transactions can cost different amounts of money depending on which Blockchain you are on. On Ethereum, to store your favorite fruit on the Blockchain, it could cost dang near 100$. On Flow, it’s fractions of a cent.

On the other hand, a script is used to VIEW data on the Blockchain, they do not change it. Scripts do not cost any money.

Now after reading all this what do you think,

What is a Blockchain, a tea or juice?