In previous articles, we learned that DApps are just “Apps” that allow people to use blockchain Smart Contracts through a friendly user interface. We looked at the range of examples of DApps, from Gaming to DeFi, and more. Broadly, these definitions and examples apply to DApps as they exist on any blockchain network that supports Smart Contracts, including Ethereum, Algorand, Cardano, and numerous others. However, when you look under the hood, there are interesting differences in how different protocols handle Smart Contracts. As you might expect, Cardano has a novel and unique approach.

Other networks that support Smart Contract run the entire contract right on the blockchain. On Cardano, they are instead run in two parts. One part is run…