Ethereum Classic World Computer Accounts & States Explained by cseberino

etc · @cseberino · Apr 3 '17 (edited)

$0.04

Ethereum Classic World Computer Accounts & States Explained

![computer](https://i.imgsafe.org/be9c74a342.jpg)

The Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain makes possible an unstoppable, reliable, auditable, trustless and secure world computer.  To understand this system, it is important to understand *accounts* and *states*.

# Accounts

![account](https://i.imgsafe.org/bf11b98df3.png)

An account is a data structure containing an address, balance, program, memory and a nonce.  They are used by entities external to the ETC system to interact with it.  These external entities may be humans, but, they can also be Internet devices.  Accounts are also used to specify smart contracts.  It simplifies the design of ETC to use accounts for both of these purposes.

### Addresses

![address](https://i.imgsafe.org/be7ac641c1.jpg)

Accounts have unique 20 byte identifiers referred to as *addresses*.  External entities generate new account addresses from public encryption keys.  Smart contracts generate new account addresses by other means since smart contract accounts do not have public encryption keys.

### Balances

![balance](https://i.imgsafe.org/be7de5aa92.png)

Accounts can have funds.  Account funds are specified by *balances*.  Balances are typically denoted in units of aETC (10<sup>-18</sup> ETC) or weis.

### Programs

![code](https://i.imgsafe.org/be7e476d63.jpg)

Smart contract accounts have world computer *programs*.  These are also referred to as smart contract *code*.  This element is unused by external entity accounts.  Partially for security reasons, smart contract programs in accounts cannot be modified.  All other account elements however *can* be modified.

### Memories

![storage](https://i.imgsafe.org/be7bef33e8.jpg)

Smart contract accounts have *memories*.  These are also referred to as *storage*.  All smart contract memory values, and their identifiers, are 32 bytes.

### Nonces

![nonce](https://i.imgsafe.org/be13f03b68.jpg)

Accounts have counters referred to as *nonces*.  Partially to protect against replay attacks, external account nonces increment every time they add a new transaction to the blockchain.  Partially to provide variability when calculating new addresses, smart contract account nonces increment every time they add a new smart contract to the blockchain.

# States

![state](https://i.imgsafe.org/c129534fb1.png)

A *complete* description of the world computer can be given solely by the accounts!  This complete description is referred to as the *state* of the world computer.  Because the world computer is always running, the state is always changing.

# Conclusion

![understanding](https://i.imgsafe.org/c193ccc60f.jpg)

There are external entity accounts and smart contract accounts.  They completely specify the state of the world computer at all times.  If you understand all that then you have taken a significant step in mastering ETC!

# Feedback

Feel free to leave any comments or questions below.  You can also contact me by clicking any of these icons:

[![twitter](https://i.imgsafe.org/fcbc8685c1.png)](https://twitter.com/chris_seberino) [![facebook](https://i.imgsafe.org/fcbc627df9.png)](https://www.facebook.com/cseberino) [![linkedin](https://i.imgsafe.org/fcbcf09c9e.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-seberino-776897110)

# Acknowledgements

I would like to thank IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong) for funding this effort.

# License

![license](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

👍 vcelier, steemrollin, asmolokalo, fyrstikken, arcange, fiveboringgames, naquoya, malaiandrueth, dzboston33, silvia, shaunmza, ogochukwu, bestofreddit, kurtbeil, proctologic, pairmike, cseberino, ambyr00, sqube, karenmckersie, barrydutton, seablue, dennis1, gomeravibz, jamesjarman, mindhunter, burnthamsterpub, giantbear, richardcrill, lasseehlers, riskdebonair, whatageek, amuse, meysam, shadowspub, juvyjabian, steemitguide, surpassinggoogle, forrestwillie, youngkim, timelapse, darthnava, rur, konelectric, daisyd, jacobts, smalltalk, momoy, cathynsons, steemitqa, patelincho, andrei, cheetah, cwatch, butan, driptorchpress, steembriefing, zentat, proglobyte-m1, proglobyte, steemint, tingaling, sassal, mycryptomark, and 5 others

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properties (23)vote details (69)

voter	rshares	pct
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proctologic	3,805,969,363	0.5%
steemrollin	283,745,672,460	100%
konelectric	416,073,788	0.5%
forrestwillie	498,784,314	0.5%
andrei	235,509,904	0.5%
proglobyte	82,132,197	1.2%
fyrstikken	53,078,596,035	0.5%
asmolokalo	96,508,877,675	25%
jamesjarman	1,709,129,120	0.5%
juvyjabian	625,033,401	0.5%
karenmckersie	2,344,440,359	0.5%
arcange	51,058,891,224	100%
fiveboringgames	50,654,516,094	50%
cheetah	207,137,868	1%
youngkim	471,573,020	0.5%
malaiandrueth	33,242,182,329	100%
dirty.hera	56,020,131	0.5%
gomeravibz	1,802,232,827	0.5%
proglobyte-m1	83,078,945	1.2%
tingaling	80,423,220	1.2%
timelapse	463,539,331	0.5%
kurtbeil	3,832,764,741	1.2%
steemitqa	292,020,524	0.5%
darthnava	436,594,170	0.5%
zentat	84,617,013	1.2%
lasseehlers	1,220,019,549	0.5%
naquoya	49,322,574,377	100%
shadowspub	626,683,906	0.5%
steembriefing	85,410,328	1.2%
barrydutton	2,308,626,602	0.5%
steemitguide	624,446,020	0.5%
richardcrill	1,260,877,004	0.5%
jacobts	354,663,176	0.5%
mindhunter	1,607,008,054	0.5%
patelincho	254,861,046	0.5%
bestofreddit	3,916,224,603	90%
surpassinggoogle	544,813,701	0.5%
steemint	80,845,512	1.2%
silvia	12,932,238,993	100%
giantbear	1,412,907,473	0.5%
cseberino	3,184,296,166	100%
daisyd	401,498,995	0.5%
sqube	2,985,898,781	1%
cathynsons	309,825,450	1%
whatageek	966,726,705	0.5%
butan	107,313,211	1%
seablue	2,106,414,806	0.5%
vcelier	608,499,223,130	100%
meysam	676,488,577	0.5%
dennis1	1,923,877,521	100%
driptorchpress	91,407,247	0.5%
riskdebonair	1,120,922,413	0.5%
ogochukwu	5,813,984,907	100%
smalltalk	352,456,285	10%
dzboston33	20,023,823,520	100%
javirid	0	100%
shaunmza	8,290,785,556	80%
amuse	777,614,576	100%
rur	425,704,344	100%
cwatch	152,745,195	0.5%
willsplace	64,886,274	0.5%
ambyr00	3,027,106,013	0.5%
bedroomshaman	59,927,029	100%
baobania	0	100%
mycryptomark	69,636,848	0.5%
burnthamsterpub	1,560,299,822	100%
sassal	72,770,771	100%
momoy	342,009,058	100%

voter	rshares	pct
silvia	12,008,507,636	100%
javirid	0	100%
burnthamsterpub	0	100%