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lsmod
lsmod

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Introduction to ceramic.network for web3 developers

Introduction

Hi! This is my first post here :). I would like to share with you about this new framework & network that ceramic.network is.

As I'm developing a solution against scams related to cryptocurrency, I got the chance to work daily with this unexplored web3 framework.

What is ceramic network?

It's a P2P decentralized database where you authenticate yourself using your DID and only you can update your data (DID = decentralized digital identity).
DIDs are like cryptocurrency wallets, basically a private/public key combination. And if you show someone your DID identifier he/she can find and read what you wrote into ceramic’s network.

Looks like a smart contract that deployed where the user got write access, doesn't it? Yes indeed! But this is way better (see the below why).

How does ceramic network works ?

Under the hood, ceramic use IPFS to replicate data across nodes, DIDs to check who owns what and is allowed to update content.
It also uses json-schema to check that updates to documents are valid and to improve discoverability.
To finish commits are anchored to a blockchain.

Why not simply use IPFS to build a web3 app?

Well IPFS is nice but: every time you update a document you effectively create a new one! This is because the document hash changes therefore the file identifier too!
With ceramic, the DID (identifier) and the StreamId (document identifier) remain the same. So you know where to look for the information you want, while the document can be updated.
It's a bit more like web2: You enter a website address and go see the latest version of it. Here the address is the DID and you can read documents associated with it from the datastore.

Conclusion

I have high hopes for this framework and I keep on building swearby to help people find trustworthy crypto projects and dodge scams with it.

I believe it was a big missing piece in the web3 ecosystem:
Having a way to store user data in a decentralized manner such as:

  • Data are discoverable
  • Users own their data
  • Data are cryptographically signed
  • Users don't need tokens to update, read, or write data.

Thanks for reading! And Let me know in the comments if you are interested in a getting started developing with ceramic network tutorial!

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Top comments (1)

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Christina Ly

Hey @lsmod! Thanks for sharing your Ceramic knowledge and letting us be a topic for your first post :)

I just shared your blog in our Community Hub: threebox.notion.site/Community-Hub...

We'd love to see a tutorial if you're down to make it! I'd also love to offer you a contributor role if you're interested, please let me know the best way to contact you be it Discord or another way!

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