HBC Blockchain 101 – Part12 : What smart contracts aren’t good for

Using Solidity for Graphics:

Ethereum’s blockchain and Solidity programming language are not designed for graphics creation. For visual representations, developers typically create a web front-end. The blockchain is more similar to a database, which is also not suitable for graphics creation.

Data Storage and Rendering:

Data can be stored on the blockchain and used to generate graphics on a web browser or computer screen.

This is also possible with Ethereum, but the cost of storing data on the blockchain is high, and it is not the purpose for which the system was designed.

Ethereum’s Primary Purpose:

  • Identity and Access Management (IAM): Managing Ethereum wallets and accounts.
  • Token Transfers: Facilitating the secure movement of tokens.

Trigonometric Calculations with Solidity:

Solidity is a cut-down programming language that focuses, as mentioned in the previous answer, on moving tokens and ensuring that ownership of tokens is known. It does not have built-in floating-point arithmetic. It uses integers because tokens, generally speaking, are integers.

Token Representation:

  • Tokens are often represented by integers.
  • Tokens with decimals use fixed-point arithmetic, not true decimals.

Mathematical Libraries:

Libraries exist to implement trigonometric functions in Solidity.

The system is not optimized for these types of mathematical operations, so it is somewhat cumbersome if you try to use it.

Use Cases:

  • Calculating the distance between tokens that contain location information.
  • In this case, it is better to store the location information (e.g., using an NFT) in the metadata, which is off-chain.
  • This way, you can use the trigonometric functions of Javascript in the web browser when positioning tokens on a map and measuring distances between them.

Artificial Intelligence on the Blockchain:

While AI is a complex field, Ethereum is not the ideal platform for AI development.

AI Development:

  • Python is the go-to language for convolutional neural networks and similar tasks, with libraries like TensorFlow.
  • Specialized languages and libraries are optimized for AI tasks.

Ethereum’s Limitations:

  • Solidity does not have the specific functionalities for AI.
  • The Ethereum machine running is not a high-performance computer with many graphical processing units.

Ethereum’s Primary Purpose:

  • Verifying token ownership.
  • Facilitating secure and reliable token transfers.

Conclusion:

Smart contracts excel at their core functions, but developers should be aware of their limitations and choose the appropriate tools for different tasks.

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