![](https://themerkle.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Ethereum-Logo.png)

      Ethereum is a very popular cryptocurrency that was one of the first to use **smart contracts**. Smart contracts allow programmers to code “contracts” on the blockchain. These contracts run on the blockchain and are fully decentralized. Some simple ones might be an escrow or a multisignature wallet, but there are more complicated applications too, as in a voting app or a blockchain game like [cryptokitties](http://cryptokitties.co). These transactions on the network have the ability to be financial or not.

# Smart Contracts
![](http://cryptocoindaddy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Solidity-0.4.13-released.jpg)
      Most Ethereum smart contracts are written in Solidity code, though there are other languages for writing those smart contracts. Solidity is very easy for programmers to learn because it is similar to popular programming languages such as Java, C#, and JavaScript. This makes it easy for developers to start developing and so they don’t have to go through so much trouble when learning Solidity.

# Web3
![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/400/1*uFuRJ8osF_ma0FF7Un1cag.png)
      The next big bonus, and arguably the best, is Web3. Web3 is a JavaScript API that allows developers to access the blockchain using JavaScript. This basically means that developers can create a website and have it interact with the blockchain. Why is this useful? Well, most of the time, smart contracts are just pieces of code people can execute, and that doesn’t make them super user-friendly. Also, in things like CryptoKitties, cats are just a dna code, a number. This means that if users were to interact with the blockchain normally, it wouldn’t feel like they have cats, but just a bunch of really big numbers. But with websites, developers can create user interfaces with the blockchain that make these smart contracts easier to use, and also display the data in a user-friendly way (e.g. show kitties instead of just big numbers). As far as I know, no other smart contract cryptocurrency has something like this.

# Metamask
![](http://truffleframework.com/docs/img/metamask.png)
      Metamask is the last key to development with Ethereum, though this one isn’t as necessary as the others. Metamask is an Ethereum wallet that connects with Chrome and Firefox. If you visit a website using Chrome or Firefox that wants to connect with the Ethereum blockchain using Web3, Metamask will give it that Web3 that it needs. If the website wants you to complete an operation using the smart contract on your behalf, Metamask will ask you to sign and confirm the transaction. Note that your private key never goes to the website you are browsing, it only asks for Metamask to sign it. This allows for easy and safe DApp web browsing, and makes it even easier for developers to build Ethereum DApps.

      All in all, Ethereum has amazing support for developers and is much easier to work with than all other cryptocurrencies based on smart contracts. 


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###### Disclaimer: I do not have any relation with the Ethereum developers and do not currently hold any Ether.