Ethereum from scratch – Part 1: Ping

Post by sandralisa88 » Fri, Jul 21, 2017, 6:53 AM UTC

Jabanga wrote: post #73

xj9 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the problem is that the tools don't facilitate writing correct contracts i don't know how to do this myself, mind your. to be broadly applicable the tech has to be accessible to people who would be writing contracts. a fucking professional using the state of the art for this shit has very little tooling support for checking that the contract actually operates in a particular fashion. something like an SQL query plann…

That's a different subject. I was only addressing the notion that Ethereum the application is at risk from the code that users run on it. I completely agree that the tools and processes for writing and testing smart contracts need to improve.

Post by zdkl » Fri, Jul 21, 2017, 7:26 AM UTC

mbrock wrote: post #78

canada_dry wrote: post #12

Though I meet the criteria as stated (knowledge level wise - I'm a retired IT Exec/long time geek), yet this still is a bit too esoteric for me. As one of the 'killer apps' for ethereum is smart contracts, I'd like to see this explained in a 'for dummies' high level way, then decomposed into the finer technical chunks needed to make it happen.

Imagine you and your friends are for some reason dissatisfied with the way you are able to deal with money among yourselves. For example, maybe you like to quickly reimburse each other for dinner, but you won't or can't use Facebook Messenger payments, perhaps because some of you aren't on Facebook, or you're not in the US. So you want to make your own little payments system. You might start with just setting up a si…

Post by zdkl » Fri, Jul 21, 2017, 7:29 AM UTC

jpamata wrote: post #67

xj9 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

professional etherem devs haven't even gotten to the point where they can write correct contracts themselves. but the concept is pretty simple. a "smart contract" is a script that runs on a blockchain to execute terms and manage funds. the problem is that the tools that you use to make these are basically garbage. you don't write fin-tech in what amounts to javascript y'know?

> ethereum dev. how would you even get started for this kind of job? all of the ads popping up seem to be looking for somebody who already has significant experience

Post by binofbread » Fri, Jul 21, 2017, 7:35 AM UTC

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #42

drexlspivey wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does the code have access to other than the blockchain? Can it access the internet? The node's computer?

This is a good question, and it's one I've wondered about. There's nothing stopping you from designing and deploying a blockchain similar to Ethereum that does allow access to those things. The problem is trust. It's helpful to remember that all the participants in an Ethereum network are adversarial. It doesn't matter how many bad actors there are as long as >50% of participants agree on the outcome. (This is a simp…

Post by TeMPOraL » Fri, Jul 21, 2017, 7:44 AM UTC

zdkl wrote: post #83

mbrock wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine you and your friends are for some reason dissatisfied with the way you are able to deal with money among yourselves. For example, maybe you like to quickly reimburse each other for dinner, but you won't or can't use Facebook Messenger payments, perhaps because some of you aren't on Facebook, or you're not in the US. So you want to make your own little payments system. You might start with just setting up a si…

That's a lot of effort to spare yourself a conversation about convention within your friends and a small money pot. Smart contracts fit really well for generally managing securities, developping auto hedging portfolios.