📃Glossary
This page acts as a glossary for terms we use throughout these docs.
Blockchain
A Blockchain is an immutable decentralized ledger system. It records transactions in a series of blocks. The blocks are linked together in a chronological order, forming a chain, hence the name "blockchain."
Wallet
A wallet is how a user interacts with the blockchain network: enabling users to send, receive, and monitor their transactions. Although cryptocurrencies and tokens are not physically stored in a wallet, they exist as digital records on the blockchain.
Wallets provide users with a pair of cryptographic keys: a public key (the wallet's address) and a private key. The public key is used to receive funds, while the private key acts as a secret password that grants access to the funds and authorizes transactions. Generally, wallets abstract the private key into a "secret phrase". A user should never share their private key with anyone, including those claiming to represent your wallet service.
Address
A wallet's address or a smart contract's address is the unique identifier of a wallet or smart contract on the blockchain. They generally look something like this:
Smart Contract
A smart contract can be thought of as a applet that lives on the blockchain which has methods which can be called by wallets or other contracts, and can listen for events on the blockchain. Methods on a contract can either be read methods (which are free to call) or write methods (which requires gas to call). Smart contracts can have an internal state (for example, this is how a ERC721 stores who owns each token) and can also call another contracts methods.
It is worth noting that while there are standards for smart contracts that specify interfaces for interacting with the smart contract, they don't enforce how the smart contract works internally when the methods from the interface is called. For example, a transfer method on one ERC721 might work completely differently to a different ERC721.
Read Method
A "read method" is how we refer to methods that return data from a smart contract in Emergence. In Solidity, these methods are type "View" or "Pure". These don't cost gas to call, and can be called in Emergence without having a wallet connected.
Write Method
A "write method" is how we refer to methods that change the state of the blockchain in Emergence. In Solidity, these methods do not have the type "View" or "Pure". These cost gas to call, and can not be called in Emergence without having a wallet connected.
Gas
Gas refers to the amount of currency paid by the sender of a transaction to pay for the processing of the transaction.
Block
A block is a fundamental component that stores a collection of verified transactions. It serves as a unit of data, containing information about the transactions, a timestamp, and a unique identifier called a hash. Each block is linked to the previous block through its hash, forming a chain of blocks, hence the term "blockchain."
Transaction
A transaction represents the transfer of digital assets or currency between participants on the blockchain. A transaction includes details such as the sender's and receiver's addresses, the method being called on a smart contract, and any additional data required for the transaction.
Once a transaction is created and submitted to the network, it undergoes verification and validation by the network's nodes before being added to a block on the blockchain. Transactions are transparent, traceable, and recorded permanently on the blockchain, ensuring security, immutability, and integrity.
Marketplaces
Websites where tokens such as ERC20, ERC721 or ERC1155s can be bought and sold by users. These are often tied to images or 3D assets.
Keystores
A file that contains a private key, used to allow programmatic access to a wallet on the blockchain.
RPC-URL
A URL that can be used to read and write data from the blockchain.
Metadata
Used to refer to extra data that is linked to by smart contracts that gives tokens names, descriptions, images and other content.
Emergence Avatar System
A system created for linking extra 3D model data to existing NFTs that don't have it. Read the docs here.
Solidity
The programming language that the majority of smart contracts are written in.
ABI
An ABI (Application Binary Interface) is a specification that defines how to interact with a smart contract on a blockchain. It tells external applications the methods, parameters, and data types supported by the contract.
Secret Phrase
A secret phrase, often referred to as a mnemonic phrase or seed phrase, is a string of words that serves as a human-readable representation of a cryptographic private key. It is typically used as a backup or recovery mechanism for wallets or accounts on the blockchain. By securely storing and remembering the secret phrase, users can regain access to their funds or assets in case their original private key is lost or compromised.
ERC20
A smart contract standard for representing a currency.
ERC721
A smart contract standard for representing a collection of unique tokens. An example of an NFT. These are programmatically like unstackable items in games, each one is unique.
ERC1155
A smart contract standard for representing a collection of types of tokens, where users can have multiple of each type of token. Technically not an NFT as they are fungible. These act more like stackable items in games, which you can have multiple of each token.
ERC5484
Extends ERC721 to allow for soulbound tokens.
Soulbound Tokens
A soulbound token is a token which can't be transferred to another user.
Last updated