Concepts Overview
The Casper blockchain is a Turing-complete smart-contracting platform using a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm and WebAssembly (Wasm). The Casper Mainnet is permissionless, decentralized, and public. Network administrators can also create private or hybrid Casper networks as described here.
Concepts
This section of the documentation covers the core concepts underpinning the Casper blockchain. Working with Casper requires an understanding of blockchain technology, as well as some Casper-specific features. We recommend starting with the topics below if you are new to Casper.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Introduction to the Casper Blockchain | High-level details about the Casper blockchain |
| Introduction to dApps | Developing distributed applications on the Casper blockchain |
| Addressable Entities | Learn about addressable entities and how they relate to accounts and smart contracts. |
| Accounts and Cryptographic Keys | The Casper programming model is account-based. Learn how Casper accounts work and how they are secured |
| Key Types | Hashes/Keys are used throughout the Casper ecosystem for addresses, packaging data, and more |
| Global State | Learn about the storage layer for the Casper blockchain. All accounts, contracts, and data are stored in global state |
| Call Stacks | Learn how Casper manages the calling of a contract |
| Transactions and the Transaction Lifecycle | Transactions are a concept fundamental to the Casper blockchain. Learn about transactions, what they are for, how to create and send them |
| Smart Contracts | Learn how to develop smart contracts on Casper |
| Dictionaries | Learn about dictionaries, which are a primary construct for storing and retrieving data on the Casper platform |
| Serialization | Learn about serializing data types and the Casper Serialization Standard |
| Design | The high-level design of a Casper network |
| Economics | Learn about the Casper on-chain economics |
| Glossary | A compendium of all the terms used in Casper, in alphabetical order |
Next Steps
After learning the basic concepts underpinning the Casper protocol, you may wish to look into the following categories.
Developers
The Developers area caters to those interested in building dApps and writing smart contracts, including information about specific features or Casper APIs.
Operators
The Operators section caters to those who want to run and administrate a Casper node or network.
Users
The Users section contains tutorials for those interested in interacting with the Casper blockchain using a block explorer or a Ledger device.
Resources
Navigate to Resources to try various tutorials. If you are just getting started and looking to build your first Casper-based dApp, start with the beginner tutorials. Afterward, continue with more advanced tutorials to explore the multi-signature feature, runtime return values, and other essential features.