Difference between revisions of "The Internet Computer for Computer Scientists"

Revision as of 13:52, 5 October 2021

To a first approximation, the IC (Internet Computer) is a network of replicated state machines.

Each replicated state machine comprises a subnet of replicas. Subnets may communicate with one another, but otherwise they operate (for the most part) independently of each other.

As in any replicated state machine, a series of transactions is processed. A transaction may come from either an external client or from another state machine in the IC. The replicas in a subnet must run a consensus protocol to order the incoming transactions, so that each replica processes the transactions in the same order.

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-To a first approximation, the IC (Internet Computer) is a network of interacting
+To a first approximation, the IC (Internet Computer) is a network of
 [[wikipedia:state machine replication|replicated state machines]].
-And now, some math <math>x=y+z</math>.
+Each replicated state machine comprises a <b>subnet</b> of <b>replicas</b>.
+Subnets may communicate with one another,
+but otherwise they operate (for the most part) independently of each other.
+As in any replicated state machine, a series of <b>transactions</b> is processed.
+A transaction may come from either an external client
+or from another state machine in the IC.
+The replicas in a subnet must run a [[wikipedia:Consensus_(computer_science)|consensus protocol]] to order the
+incoming transactions, so that each replica processes the transactions in the same order.