Web3 can seem intimidating at first. And a lot of that is to do with terminology.
But once you make the connection between what you already know from web and mobile dev, for example, everything becomes a little clearer.
Here are some common Web3 terms and concepts translated into their Web2 equivalents to help you make the move.
Web3 Fundamentals
Let's start with the basics.
Why is it called Web3?
The idea is that this is third phase of the web.
- Web 1 was the original, read-only world wide web of the 90s.
- Web 2 made things two-way, so the web became participatory.
- Web 3 uses blockchain technologies to make you the owner of your data, rather than the companies running websites and apps you use.
It can take a while to realize why that's important and what it means. Seeing it in action makes all the difference.
Web3 Core Pillars
To understand how this actually works, you only need to know three things:
The Blockchain: A public ledger (think of it like a very distributed database) that lives on thousands of computers at once. It’s "permissionless", meaning no one can block you from using it.
The Wallet: Your digital identity. Instead of an email and password, you use a private key stored in your wallet to prove you own your assets.
Smart Contracts: Pieces of code that live on the blockchain. They execute automatically when certain conditions are met.
But there are plenty more ideas and phrases that you'll need to get used to in order to feel fully comfortable in the Web3 world.
Making Sense of the Rest
Now that you understand the three core pieces — blockchain, wallet, and smart contracts — everything else in Web3 is really just combinations of those ideas.
The terminology can still feel unfamiliar, though. So let’s map the most common terms to things you already use as a developer.
Identity: Wallets Replace Accounts
You already know that in Web2:
- users sign up
- you store their credentials
- you authenticate requests
In Web3, your wallet replaces all of that.
| Web3 | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| Wallet | Your account (but you control it, not a platform) |
| Public Key | Your user ID or username |
| Private Key | Your cryptographic identity — used to prove ownership and sign actions |
| Signing | Logging in / proving who you are |
The key difference is simple but important:
Instead of logging in to a server, you prove who you are by signing requests with your private key.
Data: The Blockchain Is the Database
You already understand databases, APIs, and writes.
The blockchain is just a very different kind of database.
| Web3 | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| Blockchain | A shared, append-only database |
| Transaction | A write operation |
| Node | A server running the database |
| Gas / Fees | Paying for compute or writes, just like paying for API calls or cloud compute |
What changes here isn’t what you’re doing but, instead, the constraints:
- writes are public
- writes are permanent
- writes cost money
That can make you think much more carefully about what you store and when.
Logic: Smart Contracts Are Your Backend
You already write backend code that:
- processes requests
- enforces rules
- updates data
Smart contracts do the same thing.
| Web3 | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| Smart Contract | Backend logic |
| Program (on Solana) | A deployed service |
| Calling a contract | Making an API request |
The important shift:
You don’t control the runtime once it’s deployed.
Value: Ownership Is Built In
In Web2, ownership is just a database entry you or someone else controls.
In Web3, it’s enforced by the system itself.
| Web3 | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| Token | Money or API credits that aren’t tied to a single service (like Stripe balance, but portable and user-owned) |
| NFT | Like owning a domain name, it's a unique asset with verifiable ownership (and not just a picture of an ape) |
| Wallet balance | Your bank balance but without a bank controlling it |
The difference:
In Web2, ownership is just a row in someone's database. In Web3, it’s enforced by the network and you can’t change it manually.
Apps: Same Shape, Different Backend
At a high level, Web3 apps still look familiar.
| Web3 | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| dApp | A web app |
| RPC endpoint | Your backend API |
| Explorer | A read-only database viewer |
| Mainnet / Devnet | Production / staging |
The frontend is still yours.
The backend is now a public network.
What Actually Changes
If this all feels surprisingly familiar, that’s the point.
Much of Web3 isn't a completely new model, instead it's a new way of thinking about things you already know well. The core differences are:
- You control identity (wallets instead of accounts)
- You pay for writes (like calls to a paid API)
- You deploy immutable logic (contracts instead of editable app code)
- You rely on shared infrastructure (networks instead of owned backends)
That’s it.
The Only Way This Really Clicks
Reading helps. But it won’t fully land until you try it.
The moment you:
- generate a keypair
- send a transaction
- see it appear on-chain
…all of this terminology stops feeling abstract.
And we're here to help with that. 100 Days of Solana is a hands-on daily coding challenge that takes you from no Web3 experience to able to build with Solana. Join free!
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