What Is A Decentralized Application (dapp)?

By Author: Aliasgar Abbasbhai
Total Articles: 6
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Blockchain was introduced to the world in 2008, and after some gaps, controversy, and government compliance requirements, it has since become mainstream.

Today, this distributed ledger technology is being widely adopted and is used by organizations and individuals alike. Consequently, spending on blockchain solutions is expected to reach US $19 billion by 2024.

Blockchain has found its use in a myriad of things, and now, there are other technologies and applications being built on top of it. One such application that is gaining immense popularity and runs on the blockchain is decentralized blockchain applications.

But what is a decentralized blockchain application? Let’s find out!
Decentralized Blockchain Applications: What Are They?
Decentralized applications, dApps, or dapps, are digital programs or applications built to serve various purposes and are created on the blockchain. The most interesting thing about these applications is that they are not under the control of a single authority since dApps run on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network of computers.

Let’s understand dApps better ...
... with the help of an example.

For instance, you like consuming content on social media. You like how everyone has the freedom of voice and how micro voices are given a platform too. But maybe you don’t like the censorship that comes with it. Maybe you’d like to post content without fear that a moderator might remove it for violating the policies of the platform (or ban your account).

So what you can do is build (or get a developer involved) a similar social media platform, but the difference is that you’re building it on the blockchain network of computers, giving all users of the platform, unabashed freedom. Here, all users can post their content without the fear that someone will delete their posts. Nobody has that authority, not even the individuals who built the application or developed the program.

Now that we’re clear on what dApps mean, how about we check out its types and features?

Types of dApps
All decentralized blockchain applications function in a similar manner, but they can be categorized into three buckets based on their protocol layer (stacks or tiers of protocol) and use case.

● Type 1: Type 1 dApps are equipped with their blockchain network.
● Type 2: Type 2 dApps utilize Type 1 dApps and add a utility token to serve a particular purpose.
● Type 3: Type 3 dApps leverage the protocol of Type 2 dApps to function.
Features of dApps
Some common features of dApps include:

● They are built and run on the blockchain.
● They are decentralized, i.e., free from the control of a single individual or entity.
● They are open-source and operate on their own.
● The data records are public.
● Security is a key feature of dApps, and they often rely on cryptographic tokens to keep the network secure.

But how can dApps be put to use?
What are Some of the Applications of dApps?
Decentralized blockchain applications can be used across industries for a multitude of purposes. Let’s look at some of the uses of dApps:

● Finance industry: Money makes the world go round. But it’s also subject to a lot of scams and frauds. dApps can promote and make the transfer of financial assets or currencies seamless and hassle-free.

● Real estate industry: Ever wondered about your realtor’s cut while purchasing or selling a property? dApps can be used to eliminate the middlemen and facilitate the purchase and sale of real estate properties directly between the buyer and the seller. Such applications can also help track all property-related documents and deeds.

● Education industry: Imagine a world where everyone, irrespective of their background and social status, has access to the same educational resources, materials, and mentors. Well, dApps can make it a reality by helping students and teachers clearly communicate with each other without the need for any central authority. Decentralized learning platforms would ensure that individuals around the world have access to a world-class education.

● Healthcare industry: What if healthcare professionals from different walks of life help each other out without having to go through all bureaucracy and red tape? dApps can make it easier and simpler for health professionals to communicate with each other, share their findings, and collaborate on multiple projects. These applications can also be used to store and monitor healthcare records.

● Technology industry: Tech is an ever-evolving space. This dynamic industry is changing every day, but it’s difficult to keep up with all the changes happening each day. dApps can make it more straightforward for users to keep everyone in their network updated and share information with them.

● Supply chain management: Supply chain management (SCM) is an integral part of logistics and has economic importance. But it's plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability. dApps can help make the entire SCM process more transparent and make it easier to track the transit status.

● Social media: Today, social media has become an integral part of everyone’s lives on a global scale. But the presence of a central authority calling the shots might not be the favorite part of a lot of users. With dApps, individuals can create a new social media platform that’s free from a central authority’s control and make it simpler for users to communicate, share, and collaborate.

● Prevent identity fraud: The internet has made it easier to gain access to the personal records of individuals. Fraudsters can easily use your information or create a new one combining certain parts of your personal information with fake information to commit fraud. Identity fraud is growing in intensity and frequency, and is difficult to detect too. dApps can be put to good use to store and verify personal information.

● Gaming: dApps can also be used to build and create unique multi-user games.

● Cryptocurrency wallets: dApps cryptocurrency wallets are necessary to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies.

The listed use cases are just some of the applications of dApps. They can also function as web browser plugins. It has also been utilized to pull off scams and dupe innocent individuals.

Although dApp is a distinctive concept that is turning heads and is being applied across industries, it’s far from perfect. But we’ll let you be the judge of that.
Pros and Cons of dApps
Listed below are the pros and cons of decentralized blockchain applications to make the world of dApps clearer for you.
Advantages of dApps
● Freedom of voice: This is perhaps the biggest selling point of dApps. dApps do away with any and all forms of censorship to provide more freedom to its users. Everyone is equal, and no one has to worry about being under any powerful person or government’s thumb.
● User privacy: dApps protect its users’ privacy. Wondering how? Well, users don’t have to share their personal information to use a dApp. Even while transacting, individuals don’t have to share their personal data since dApps use smart contracts.
● No suspension of activities: dApps rely on a P2P network of blockchain computers, ensuring that dApps continue to be functional even if an individual or parts of the network are out of commission.
● Open-source: Since dApps are open-source, it helps developers build innovative digital applications with better functionality or added advantages.
● The integrity of data is maintained: Any data that is stored on the blockchain is immutable and tamper resistant. Since dApps basically run on the blockchain, the records stored or maintained here are resistant to change and forgery as well.
Drawbacks of dApps
● Network congestion: dApps is currently in its early phase or more popularly known as the experimental phase. If a dApp needs a huge amount of computational power, it might overload a network, leading to network congestion.
● Scalability: dApps are harder to scale than centralized applications and programs.
● User-friendly interface: It’s harder to build a user-friendly interface on a decentralized network than on a centralized network, given the usage of both public and private keys.
● A low number of users: dApps suffer from a low number of users. Established centralized applications are easy to use and often offer personalized interfaces to their users, making it painless for users to use or interact with an application or program. The low number of users is another reason why dApps don’t have very user-friendly interfaces.
● Challenging code modifications: Once some data or code is published on the blockchain, it becomes hard to modify or alter it. After deployment, it is quite difficult to update a dApp, fix its security issues, or take care of bugs.
dApps Leverage the Blockchain Technology to Develop Applications
dApps are an essential usage of blockchain technology. Besides providing the required infrastructure to developers, it also offers them a safe place to experiment and introduce unique applications and programs to the world.

dApps can be used to streamline and decentralize processes in a multitude of businesses across industries and helps improve their operational metrics. But if you’re not ready to take the plunge yet, how about you leverage. ProofEasy’s blockchain and QR code-based document verification tool to give your data the security of blockchain.