Here’s an update on the current activities taking place at Ethereum DEV.
Our main focus is on building a dependable, progressive environment. We are constructing an almost Turing-complete blockchain, otherwise referred to as the Ethereum network. Furthermore, it fulfills a variety of other essential conditions. This is due to the fact that we are creating a novel blockchain technology from the ground up.
- Rapid – a block is generated every 12 seconds
- User-friendly for thin clients through the use of Merkle roots in headers for compact inclusion/statement and DHT integration. This allows light clients to store and share small fractions of the entire chain.
- Appropriate for thin clients with the aid of multi-level Bloom filters and transaction receipts. Merkle tries are used to facilitate lightweight log indexing and verification.
- Compatible with finite blockchains – We have designed the core protocol so that it can be upgraded to this technology, further reducing the thin client’s footprint and helping to ensure scalability in the medium-term.
- Anti-ASIC – Through the (yet unconfirmed) choice of PoW algorithm and the likelihood that we will switch to PoS in the not too distant future.
It is secure because:
- it is explicitly and formally defined, allowing for simple parsing, saturation testing, and formal auditing of implementations;
- it has an extensive and ultimately comprehensive set of tests that provide a high degree of certainty that a particular implementation will conform;
- the most up-to-date software development practices are followed such as a CI system, internal unit testing, strict peer review, a strict no warnings policy, and automated code analyzers;
- its mesh/p2p (otherwise known as libp2p) backend is built on a well-established secure foundation (technology from the Kademlia project);
- official deployments are subjected to a full industry-standard security audit;
- a full-scale stress test network will be established to profile and test against potential adverse conditions and attacks before the official launch.
Secondary (and thus given a lesser priority), we are creating tools and materials to make using this groundbreaking technology possible. This includes:
- developing a single, custom-designed CO (contract-oriented) language;
- developing a secure natural language agreement description framework and format;
- formal documentation to help codify agreements;
- tutorials to assist coders in creating contracts;
- support for web-based projects to attract people to development;
- building a blockchain integrated development environment.
Thirdly, to boost adoption of this technology, gain testers, and encourage more development, we are constructing, collaborating with, and sponsoring a number of force multiplication technologies that leverage existing technology, such as:
- a graphical client “browser” (leveraging
