Why You Should Build Your Next ÐApp on PL^G

“PL^G is a next-generation blockchain for building smart contracts or applications.”

You know what I thought when I first heard that?

Wait… another smart contract platform? Do we really need more? I mean, we already have Ethereum; what does PL^G bring to the table that Ethereum doesn’t?

Seeing as how I am now helping to build PL^G, you can imagine I must have found the answer pretty compelling!

But, before we dive into that, I want to take a minute to talk about what Ethereum does really, really well.

Ethereum provides sovereign-grade censorship resistance.

Being a globally-distributed computer with tens of thousands of nodes, it is virtually impossible for any actor — no matter how determined, well-funded, or well-connected — to interfere with its operation.

If you want to launch a programme or an autonomous business without risk of interference from governments or other large organisations, then Ethereum may be the best option for your use case.

However, such a high level of censorship resistance comes with a heavy price tag, which is reflected in Ethereum’s block times, transaction fees, and congestion problems. There are also significant restrictions on how Ethereum smart contracts can be written and deployed.

Your smart contract may very well need the degree of decentralisation afforded by Ethereum — so much so that you are willing to accept the costs and limitations that come along with it.

I suspect, however, that for most use cases the costs outweigh the benefits.

Building the Internet of Blockchains Using PL^G

So, if your smart contract doesn’t require such an extreme degree of decentralisation, what other options are there?

Let’s take a step back and consider a scenario that we’re probably already very familiar with: creating and launching a traditional cloud-based web application.

The first consideration to point out is that there is no “global network” where every application has to live (and have the same characteristics); instead, you get to design and deploy a custom network that best fits the needs of your application.

If your application requires tighter security controls, then you can configure your virtual infrastructure accordingly.

And, if you need interactivity with other applications, you can always connect to their API services.

This is the model that we want to bring to blockchain via PL^G:

• PL^G is optimised for building independent, application-specific blockchains. You aren’t locked into deploying to a “main net”; you can launch your own private (or public) ledger.
• PL^G blockchains can be configured according to the needs of your application. Want to use a particular consensus mechanism? How about a different cryptographic key algorithm? Need a specific hash function? Simply configure your PL^G nodes with the plugins that your app needs.
• PL^G blockchains can communicate with each other to share users, data and services. They can also connect with other blockchains (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum), or even traditional cloud applications.
• PL^G smart contracts, named PlugIns, are written in Python, one of the most popular and versatile programming languages on the market today. You won’t have to hire a team of specialists to use a platform-specific language.

In short, PL^G gives you the best of both worlds: the flexibility and ease of deployment that you are used to on cloud platforms, and the decentralisation and accountability that you expect from decentralised ledger technology.

Oh… and if you do happen to need a globally-decentralised platform with tens of thousands of nodes, you’ll love what we’re doing with PL^GNet 😉

Ready to get started? Find out more at plugblockchain.com