With the widespread popularity of blockchain-based decentralized applications, Web 3.0 has become the most trendy statement in the software development space. The first generation of the Internet is termed Web1.0 which was primarily about fetching and reading information. Hence, Web1.0 can also be called the “read-only Web”. The second generation, and certainly the most popular one at the moment, is termed Web 2.0. This generation can be best described as the “participative social web” and enables reading, writing, creating, and interacting with the end user. The latest generation of the Web, Web 3.0, is the third generation of the World Wide Web and is based on the vision of a decentralized web that moves the users away from centralized platform giants like Google, Facebook, etc. Web3.0 is all about reading, writing, and owning and is also called the “read, write, execute Web”.
In this article, we cover how Web2.0 developers can transition easily into Web3.0 and build out-of-the-box decentralized applications leveraging the power of blockchain with no hassle. We further cover how BNB Chain empowers and encourages Web2.0 developers to transition into Web3.0 by providing them with a wide range of solutions, SDKs, and products to help them in jumpstarting their development journey.
Introduced almost three decades ago, the web has been always been evolving with the introduction of new technology stacks. Starting as a means of information sharing, the first version of the web, also known as Web1.0, predominantly constituted of static text and images. This was followed by Web2.0, which is the current version and also referred to as the modern internet. Web2.0 is also referred to as the participative social web, as it allowed users to add their content to the web, unlike Web1.0 where content primarily belonged to tech companies. Even though users are allowed to share their content and participate in the network, nevertheless, Web2.0 is controlled by centralized platforms. With the advent and mass popularity of decentralized technologies, the third generation of the web also called Web3.0, is at its beginning stage. Web3.0 envisions data being seamlessly transferred across decentralized platforms where ownership and control are distributed. Leveraging the power of decentralization, Web3.0 aims at empowering peer-to-peer interactions eliminating the need for intermediaries of any kind and centralized platforms. The technology stack used by Web3.0 is primarily based on decentralized blockchains, where cryptocurrencies and tokens power the economies and business models of Web3.0. It is essentially aimed at using cutting-edge technology like machine learning, natural language processing, cloud computing, virtual reality, edge/quantum computing, etc. The applications build on the Web3.0 technology stack especially blockchain is referred to as decentralized applications (dApps) or Web3.0 apps. These applications primarily harness the power of decentralization and empower the users by making them the owner and true controllers of their data, as well as, incentivizing them in return for their engagement over the network.
Contrary to Web2.0, where centralized platform providers control all the data, services, and benefits the most. The main inspiration behind Web3.0 is the construction of a decentralized internet that benefits both the developers as well as the users. Considered as the next version of the Internet, Web3.0 promises the elimination of any controlling authority and further promises the distribution of rewards to all the participants. Leveraging decentralization, it aims to make the internet accessible to everyone, ensuring complete transparency. Web3.0 aims at transforming content, data, and social interactions into a user-controlled and monetized approach. Based on this last idea, concepts such as incentivization, token economy, gamification, gratification, or rewards become quite important for creators, users, and of course, product managers.
Key differences between Web2.0 and Web3.0 A brief overview of the web’s evolution can be stated as follows Web1.0: is read-only; the content creators belonged essentially to the IT sector, and the users were passive readers with zero interaction. Web2.0: users and organizations can create, share, and interact with content. Web3.0: It allows users to increase the value of information exchanged, like, for example: sharing content. Some of the key differences between web2.0 and web3.0 are listed below. Web2 Web3 Mainly centralized. Requires a central/trusted third-party authority for data censorship and participation. Decentralized. As the control is decentralized content is uncensorable and can propagate throughout the network. Allowing anyone to be part of the network. Payment services require the personal data of users and have the right to permit payments for work of their choice. Web3 payment services do not require personal data and can’t prevent any payments. A web3 wallet is the only requirement for performing transactions. Requires cloud or physical servers, which are prone to being out of service. It is highly difficult for Web3 servers to go down as they use protocols like ETH and BNB Chain to build dapps and peer networks as their backend.
Architectural differences Web3.0 applications, also known as decentralized applications (dApps) are entirely different with respect to the architecture as compared to that of Web 2.0 applications.
Architecture of a Web2.0 Application To better understand the architecture of a Web2 application, let’s take an example of a simple blogging website like Medium which allows users to publish their own content as well as interact with content published by others. On the upper surface, this Web2.0 application may sound pretty simple. However, on the architectural level, the landscape is quite complex and requires coordination of a lot of tech stack to make everything work smoothly.
Architecture of a Web2.0 Application
Storage Level: storage plays a key role in a blogging website as it is essential to store the application’s data like users, posts, comments, likes, etc. One important task here is the database used for storage purposes should always be kept up-to-date. Backend Code: to get the business logic in action programming languages are used like Node.js, Python, Java, etc. Business logic means the complete functionality of the application. Frontend Code: for easier usability and good user experience a polished user interface aka frontend is always required. The frontend logic for a web2.0 application is usually written in languages like HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc. The Final Web2.0 Application: combining the power of the above 3 tiers, it is possible to use a blogging website like Medium. For instance, to summarize the workings of a Web2.0 application, to post a blog on a website like Medium, a user would interact with the front, which would interact with the backend logic for the user, and the backend logic would then be responsible for communication with the database (storage). This entire code for the application is hosted on centralized servers and users have to suer internet browsers to access it.
Layer Tech Stack Web 2.0 Web 3.0 Server/Network Server Web Server ● EVM/Non-EVM ● L1/L2 blockchains (PoS/Rollup) ● Blockchain Interoperability Storage DBMS/NoSQL ● IPFS ● ARweave ● FIlecoin Managed Infra Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure) ● Blockchain Platform ● Blockchain PaaS Middleware Indexing and Query Tabular, Datawind, Snowflake ● TheGraph ● BitQuery API Google API (Rest Service, Dev API, etc) ● Infura ● NodeReal Frontend Tech Identity/Authentication Layer Single Sign On (e.g., Facebook, Google Auth, ● Private key management (Multi-sig) ● Decentralized Identity Frameworks/Toolkits/Library .Net SDK, React Library, Angular Framework ● NFT/Game SDK ● Mobile/Browsers SDK Frontend Technologies (Access Points)
● Decentralized Web
Differences in Tech Stack of Web2.0 and Web3.0
With the mass adoption and popularity of the blockchain technology, the working of web applications is going to change drastically. Let’s look into how Web3.0 applications with the use of blockchain technology operate on the architectural level.
Architecture of a Web3.0 Application One of the major architectural differences between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 applications is the elimination of trusted third parties or central authorities. Web3.0 eliminates the use of a centralized database for the storage of application state, as well as the centralized web server for the storage of an application’s backend logic. To achieve decentralization, Web3.0 applications leverage blockchain technology for building applications on a decentralized state machine which is maintained by anonymous nodes on the Internet. Here, “state machine” refers to a machine that can maintain some given program state and allows future states. Blockchains are also a type of state machine that is started with some genesis state and have very strict consensus mechanisms that act as rules for state transitions. One of the most important aspects of this state machine is that it is decentralized in nature and not controlled by a single entity rather it is collectively maintained by all the nodes that are part of the network. Further, anyone can join and contribute to a blockchain network at any given time. As compared to Web2.0, the backend or the business logic of Web3.0 applications is encoded within an autonomous piece of code called the “smart contracts”. These smart contracts are then deployed on the decentralized state machines, i.e., blockchain. The front end however is pretty much the same for Web3.0 applications.
Architecture of a Web3.0 Application
Advantages of Web3.0 over Web2.0 Some of the notable advantages of Web3.0 over Web2.0 are as follows Web3.0 vouches for a decentralized ecosystem that allows transactions and services to be conducted in a peer-to-peer setup. The ownership of data is controlled by the users directly. Complete transparency is offered by Web3 platforms as they eliminate the need of any central authority. With the use of blockchains, Web3.0 offers data immutability, ensuring that the data cannot be altered or deleted without appropriate rights. As Web3.0 shifts control of data into the hands of the users, the chances of data leak or being stolen without the consent of the user is unlikely to happen. Therefore, ensuring data to be secure and tamperproof. Web3.0 ensures privacy to users with respect to their data by eliminating any kind of third-party intervention. To boost technology agility, Web3 projects are open-source. Web3.0 boosts the creator economy by facilitating the development of creative and innovative projects like the Metaverse.
Migrating from Web2.0 to Web3.0 Some of the key points to consider when migrating a Web2.0 application to Web3.0 are as follows: Data Storage Mechanism In the Web3.0 technology stack, databases are replaced by peer-to-peer solutions. One major difference with the use of blockchain technology is that data is replicated across multiple nodes that form part of a more reliable decentralized network. Another major difference is that, blockchains do not store entire data, instead it is mostly stored in the form of transaction metadata. In terms of data architectures, Web3.0 applications differ from Web2.0 as the data storage model is more user-centric rather than application-centric. Contrary to Web2.0 applications that use centralized storages for application data, Web3.0 data model stores the application data on a distributed network and allows all users to access it at any point of time and from any where in the world. Applications can also query and write to the data client side.
Building Web3.0 data applications because of the use of decentralized storage comparatively requires few basic primitives: Network for fast data availability and mutability via a decentralized network Protocol for model-based, identity-centric data storage/retrieval Client to perform CRUD operations in users’ stores at runtime.
Therefore, for data migration from Web2.0 to Web3.0 following points should be considered. Require to migrate from simple data storage mechanism to decentralized data storage methods that typically use blockchains. Ownership of storage data is placed into the hands of the users in Web3.0, contrary to centralized data storages. Data alteration and deletion is not possible on Web3.0 applciaitons due to the use of blockchains, which increase the security and immutability of data. Blockchains are queried for data using smart contracts, instead of API/network calls for sending/receiving data.
Wallet/Payment migration While migrating from Web2.0 to Web3.0, one of the key aspects is the use of crypto wallets also known as the web3 wallets instead of the traditional simple payment gateways. This is because Web3.0 makes use of the decentralized crypto currencies/assets that are accessible using crypto wallets that provide gateway to blockchain-based crypto apps, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), gaming and nonfungible tokens. These applications can be accessed through any desktop browser. For instance, Metamask is one of the most popular web3 wallets. As per their requirements, users can also use third-party wallet libraries or APIs. Remember that, because of the elimination of any central authority or trusted third-party intermediaries, the buy and sell flow of cryptocurrencies in the application is different than that in web2.0. Furthermore, Web3.0 offers full transparency by allowing users to fetch transaction history from the blockchain to view details.
Changes in user flow in web2 to web3 migration In the Web3.0 ecosystem, users digitally own content/tokens that they share, mint, or purchase on decentralized Web3.0 platforms. Therefore, shifting total control of their content/tokens into the hands of the owners, i.e., users. Therefore, whenever there is a need to buy, sell, transfer and purchase with tokens, users have to interact with Web3 with the help of a smart contracts. Henceforth, it is assumed that the user interaction will be much more higher in Web3.0 as that compared to that of Web2.0.
Tools and SDKs by BNB Chain for Building Web3.0 Applications BNB Chain provides several tools and SDKs for helping Web2.0 developers to make their shift into the Web3.0 ecosystem easier. From providing Web3 libraries to interface development with different popular development languages like C#, Java, Python, Java, etc., it also provides scaffolds for jumpstarting dapp development on the BNB Chain ecosystem and make sures no hurdle can stop your Web3 development journey. Below is a list of some of the important and popular tools and SDKs by BNB Chain for web2.0 developers to start developing Web3 applications Web3 Libraries for interfacing different languages Web3j: is a highly modular, lightweight, reactive, type-safe Java and Android library that works with smart contracts and integrates with clients (nodes) on the BNB Chain network. Web3py: is a Python library for interacting with the BNB Chain network. Web3js: is a collection of libraries that allow you to interact with a local or remote BNB Chain node using HTTP, IPC or WebSocket. Web3.php: A php interface for interacting with the Ethereum blockchain and ecosystem. Native ABI parsing and smart contract interactions. Ruby Web3: library for interfacing the Ruby language with BNB Chain network. Nethereum: is the .Net integration library for BNB Chain, simplifying smart contract management and interaction with BNB Chain nodes Scaffolds for Dapp Development Truffle BSC Starter Box Moralis BNB Chain Boilerplate Wallet SDKs BSC Connector Venly Web3Auth Data Orcles Binance Oracle: is a decentralized Web3 Oracle, a data feed network that connects real-world data to blockchain smart contracts. Binance Oracle will enable smart contracts to run on real-world inputs and outputs, starting with the BNB Chain ecosystem Band Protocol: Band Protocol is a cross-chain data oracle platform that aggregates and connects real-world data and APIs to smart contracts Chainlink: Securely connect smart contracts with off-chain data and services Chainlink decentralized oracle networks provide tamper-proof inputs, outputs, and computations to support advanced smart contracts on any blockchain NFT Tools Venly Blockvision NFTScan Payment Gateways Binance Connect: Fiat onramp crypto purchase with credit card and NFT checkout GameFi GameSpace: GameFi as a service
Conclusion Web3.0 promises a better decentralized, transparent and much more secure model for internet. Blockchain technology is the backbone of the Web3.0 architecture to facilitate characteristics like data immutability, decentralized storage, and data encryption. The perspective that Web3.0 is only good for crypto trading has been rejected, rather the benefits Web3.0 offers are now being realized by multiples domains like finance, gaming, tokenization of real-world assets, metaverse, etc. Web3.0 is considered as the ultimate solution for truely decentralized, secure and user-centric model of internet. For mass adoption of Web3.0, it is important for Web2.0 developers to migrate their existing dapps onto Web3.0 or start developing Web3 applciations. However, this migration will also result in the redesigning and rebuilding of Web2.0 use cases to match that of Web3.0 ecosystem. From the users perspective, Web3.0 promises several benefits which includes better availability, compatibility, interoperability, scalability and improved user experience. Furthermore, web3.0 applications are designed to be user-centric, i.e., users are the actual controllers of their data. Further, in the Web3.0 ecosystem, users are rewarded for their engagemetn in the network. Being world’s largest layer-1 blockchain network, BNB Chain aims to onboard the next million users into the Web3 ecosystem. Inorder to achieve this goal, it provides several tools and SDKs for helping Web2.0 developers to make their shift into the Web3.0 ecosystem easier.