Technical Features
WebAssembly C++ Compilation
Telos uses C++ as the smart contract programming language. If you are a C++ developer, you do not need to learn a new programming language to understand Smart Contract APIs and how Telos supports smart contract development through C++ classes and structures. With your existing C++ programming capabilities, you can onboard Telos development faster and be able to program Telos smart contracts using specific Leap canonical C++ code constructs and Smart Contract APIs in no time.
On top of the Telos core layer, a WebAssembly (Wasm) virtual machine, EOS VM, executes smart contract code, and it is designed from the ground up for the high demands of blockchain applications which require far more from a WebAssembly engine than those designed for web browsers or standards development.
The design choice of using Wasm enables Telos to reuse optimized and battle-tested compilers and toolchains which are being maintained and improved by a broader community. In addition, adopting Wasm standard also makes it easier for compiler developers to port other programming languages onto the Telos platform.
High Throughput, Faster Confirmations and Lower Latency
Telos is designed with high transactions throughput in mind and each new version is achieving significant improvements.
The consensus mechanism of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) achieves high transaction throughputs because DPOS does not need to wait for all the nodes to complete a transaction to achieve finality. This behavior results in faster confirmations and lower latency.
The EOS-VM mentioned earlier, and all its blockchain-dedicated features and improvements add significant contribution to the overall performance of the Telos blockchain network and any Antelope-based blockchain.
Programmable Economics and Governance
The resource allocation and governance mechanism for the Telos blockchain network are programmable through smart contracts. You can modify the system smart contracts to customize the resource allocation model and governance rules for the Telos blockchain network The on-chain governance mechanism can be modified using system smart contracts, as the core layer code does not always have to be updated for the changes to take place.
Staking Mechanism
For the Telos blockchain network, access to the system resources is regulated by a process called the staking mechanism. The system resources that fall under the scope of the staking mechanism are CPU and NET. You can directly interact with the blockchain through the cleos CLI, the RPC APIs, or an application to access CPU and NET by staking system tokens.
RAM is a persistent system resource on Telos and does not fall in the scope of the staking mechanism.
When you stake tokens for CPU and NET, you gain access to system resources proportional to the total amount of tokens staked by all other users for the same resource at the same time. This means you can perform transactions at no cost but in the limitations of the staked tokens. The staked tokens guarantee the proportional amount of resources regardless of any variations in the free market.
You can also allocate the system resources to Telos accounts in a programmatic manner by customizing the resource allocation model in the system smart contract. This flexibility is provided by the programmable economics of the Antelope platform.
Business Model Flexibility
Applications built on Telos can adopt a freemium model in which application users do not need to pay for the cost of resources needed to execute transactions.
The execution of the costless transactions under the freemium model is facilitated by applications co-signing the transactions with the user. Alternatively, applications can also stake enough system tokens to guarantee the resources needed.
Comprehensive Permission Schema
The Telos platform has a comprehensive permission system for creating custom permission schemata for various use cases. For example, you can create a custom permission and use it to protect a specific feature of a smart contract. You can also split the authority required to modify a smart contract across multiple accounts with different levels of authority. This comprehensive permission system allows you to build a permissioned application on top of a flexible infrastructure.
Upgradability
Applications deployed on Telos are upgradeable. This means you can deploy code fix, add features, and change the application’s logic, as long as sufficient authority is provided. As a developer, you can iterate your application without the risk of being locked-in to a software bug permanently. It is also possible, however, to deploy smart contracts that cannot be modified on the Telos network. These decisions are at the discretion of developers rather than restricted by the protocol.
Efficient Energy Consumption
With DPOS as the consensus mechanism, Telos consumes much less energy to validate transactions and secure a blockchain compared to other consensus algorithms.
Read more about Telos ESG compliance here.