GlossaryΒΆ

51% attack
attacks against blockchain systems that are possible if attackers control over half of the mining resources
account
data structure associated with Ethereum Classic users and smart contracts
address
unique numbers that identify blockchain accounts and are derived from the associated private keys
ASIC
application specific integrated circuit, devices optimized for specific tasks such as blockchain mining
block
sets of blockchain transactions and related logistical information
block explorer
website presenting information about a blockchain
block header
all the fields of Ethereum Classic blocks except the transaction and uncle header lists
block propagation
distribution of copies of blocks throughout blockchain networks
blockchain
linear arrays of blocks each of which met the requirements of the blockchain system
bootstrap nodes
Ethereum Classic network computers that are always available and accepting of new connections from other network computers
classic ether
the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum Classic, also referred to as ether
coinbase
blockchain account that receives mining rewards
compiler
programs that translate programs from one programming language to others
consensus
agreements among blockchain miners regarding the selection of the official chain
cryptocurrency
money systems implemented on blockchain systems
daemon
autonomous software agents
DAG
directed acyclic graph, used in the Ethereum Classic proof of work calculations
dapp
applications that run on blockchain systems, also referred to as decentralized applications
decentralization
the elimination of centralized control entities from software and network designs
decentralized application
applications that run on blockchain systems, also referred to as dapps
decentralized autonomous enterprise
sophisticated smart contracts that perform many of the functions of organizations
difficulty
difficulty of a proof of work calculation in a blockchain system
digital signature
strings associated with other strings that prove the creators has access to a private key
digital signature
authentication mechanism in which text snippets appended to data establishing that the creator had access to the associated private key and did a calculation on the data with it,
elliptic curve cryptography
type of cryptography typically used in blockchain public and private key systems
encryption
a cryptographic process used to protect the privacy of information
ether
the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum Classic, also referred to as classic ether
event
requests in smart contracts to log some information
EVM
Ethereum Virtual Machine
exchange
place to buy and sell cryptocurrencies
external account
one of the two types of Ethereum Classic accounts, used by external clients
fast syncing
updating blockchain copies and downloading instead of calculating state information
gas
units used to measure resource usage in the Ethereum Classic system
gas limit
limits on the maximum possible of gas units, blocks for example have limit on the amount of gas all their transactions can require
gas price
prices of gas units in classic ether
genesis block
first blocks of blockchains
GHOST
Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree blockchain protocol
hash
fixed length string calculated from another possibly much longer string with many uses such as confirming data integrity and naming objects
hashrate
total mining capacity of a blockchain as measured by how fast hashes can be calculated
hexadecimal
compact method of representing numbers involving numbers and letters, is especially used for big numbers
IPC
interprocess communication, used to communicate between processes on a computer
keyfile
file containing a private and public key pair, typically encrypted
light client
blockchain client that submit that can utilize a blockchain but does not maintain a complete copy of the blochchain
Merkle Patricia trie
data structures which represents key value pairs
message
smart contract account requests to other smart contract accounts, may transfer funds as well as invoke or create smart contracts
mining
process of creating, verifying and distributing blocks in a blockchain
mining pool
group of miners working together
mining reward
new cryptocurrency tokens given to miners for performing mining
node
computers in a network such as a blockchain network
node discovery
process of finding other nodes in a network such as blockchain network
nonce
numbers used once (Number ONCE) for various purposes in blockchain systems such as proof of work calculations and preventing replay attacks
peer to peer network
decentralized network without a centralized control entity
private key
secret numbers of blockchain accounts used to authorize transactions from it
proof of work
results of difficult calculations in some blockchain systems used to increase security
protocol
set of rules to accomplish something like a process in a blockchain system
public key
pairs of numbers derived from the private keys of blockchain accounts used to identify blockchain accounts and determine account addresses
receipt
transaction logs
RPC
remote procedure call, used to invoke code on the same or different computers
serialization
process of converting a data structure into a linear array of bits
Serpent
high level smart contract language which is similar to Python
sharding
mechanism to increase the scalability of blockchain systems by dividing blockchains into subsets (shards) managed by different parts of the network
sidechain
blockchain that is associated with but still separate from another blockchain
smart contract
autonomous software agents such as software running on blockchains
Solidity
high level smart contract language which is similar to Javascript
state
in Ethereum Classic, all account information for all accounts at some point in time
syncing
updating blockchain copies
transaction
external account requests to the Ethereum Classic system, may transfer funds as well as invoke or create smart contracts
transaction fee
gas costs to execute transactions
trustless
property of public blockchain system whereby no entity has special permissions
uncle
losing blocks in mining contests that are used to increase the security of blockchain systems
virtual machine
computing resource implemented in software
Vyper
high level smart contract language which is similar to Python
wallet
set of public and private keys, may also refer to other associated information and software
web 3
name that refers to the vision of a more secure, trustless blockchain based World Wide Web replacement