Good day good people on steemit cryptoacademy, I feel happy and motivated to complete this task. Having going through the lecture and my basic experience on this blockchain, I have learnt and understood some things about decentralized applications, Dapps. I would give special appreciation to professor @wahyunahrul for explaining the topic in a way that it is understandable for everyone to read and understand. I would start the task by answering the questions in order.

A. WHAT ARE DAPPS?

Dapps simply means d-decentralized app-applications. It is an application that is decentralized. Decentralized applications are free from the control of any central body or government policies. Decentralization can simply be said to be a system in which the absolute governance and control of the affairs of that system is not done by any authority. Rather, individuals which made up the system is said to have full control and work in a peer-to-peer network form. This ensures a safe, smooth and highly secure transaction. It also has an open source and compensates it’s users with incentives.

Dapps operates on a blockchain network which can only be done through the connection to the internet. They make use of an open source system which allows them work effectively without the need of any third party. Rather, smart contracts whch automatically record and and safeguard transactions that are done on the blockchain are used.

Example is a web application like Uber which operates on a computer system owned and controlled by an organized body. This gives them the full operational power for whatever happens with the app and in the app. The large number of users on the platform have their operations and transactions controlled by the organization.

If Twitter was to be a decentralized application unlike it’s centralized nature, it would be placed on blockchain where messages posted cannot be deleted or manipulated by any external force.

B. EXPLAIN THE WORKING SYSTEM OF DAPPS?

Dapps operate on a p2p system which means that no third party is required to confirm the transactions. The transaction fees to be paid are done with the tokens which are based on the particular blockchain where the dapp is operated. Dapps operate with two certain mechanism.

We have the consensus mechanism. Dapps operate with two mechanism to attain consensus. This mechanisms are the proof of work(PoS) and proof of stake(PoS)

PROOF OF WORK(POW)

PoW is the acronym for proof of work. Proof of work can also be regarded as proof of work mechanism. This is an algorithm which securess many cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and etherium. Proof of work describes a system which requires a non-significant but feasible amount of energy and effort which is channeled into the mining of blocks. It is called a proof of work because miners actually needs to proof that they did the work.

PROOF OF STAKE

PoS is a system that rewards users who are also called validators in the consensus mechanism. Their work is not necessarily the computer works that are being carried out by the miner, their’s is based on their level of holding in the blockchain. In this type of consensus mechanisms, the larger the holding of a miner is the more he is likely to be opportuned to mine the next block. So the highest holder naturally gets the highest probability on being able to mine the next block.
We also have the token circulation mechanism. To issue and circulate indigenous tokens in the market, Dapps makes use of three main mechanism which are the mining, fundraising and development. Mining works on PoW principle where miners are rewarded for solving mathematical problems and puzzles by the use of computational power or some hash funtion before a block is successfully mined. Miners provides what is being required to keep the blockchain running especially the energy and computers needed.
For fundraising mechanism, this is basically the method of raising funds for the initial developemt of the app. The initial coin offering(ICO) proces aids in carrying this out. In this type of mechanism, tokens are ussually shared to those who makes contributions to the initial development of the application.
In the devolopment mechanism, tokens are generated using predefined mechanisms. This tokens are mainly made available for the development of the dApp. This is the working system of dapps.

C. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DAPPS AND OTHER APPLICATIONS?

The differences that exist between the decentralized applications and other conventional application includes:

Dapps	others
Dapps are build and also operates on the blockchain	they are neither built nor operated on the blockchain
Dapps reward it’s users with token.	There is ussually no reward for it’s users.
In dapps, the charges for development and maintenance are ussually very low	The charges used for maintenance and development are ussually very costly on other applications.
Dapps uses tokes	They don’t have any form of token for it’s users.
There are no centralized authorities and restriction on dapps	There are central authorities and restrictions.
It ensures a high level of security since there is no third party involved	The security level are very low because of the presence of the third parties.
Transactions are done by smart contractions which calls for the need for no third party	Since there are no smart contracts here, third parties are involves.
All decentralized applications performs similar functions	It’s functions and purpose differs.

Advantages	Disadvantages
In decentralized applications, there is no single control from any authority and it impossible for any individual, authority or even the government to have access or control to it	They are susceptible to hacking since they run on smart contracts and in an open source network.
Users uses a P2P network of computers which makes it not necessary to rely on one hosting server which may causes them to experiences restrictions	Because of the unfamiliarity and the complexities of their ecosystem, many decentralized applications are not easy to access and understand.
Transactions can easily be done directly between users preventing the need to use a third party services	It is difficult to fix the problems of dapps if any occurs because it would require an update of all the copies in the network which makes it really difficult.

E. HOW CAN DAPPS DEVELOPERS PROMOTE THEIR APPS?

Different people use different ways and methods to promote their projects and make it known. Dapps developers also promote their apps using some of the following ways;

RUNNING OF ADS

Through the act of placing or running an advertisement, Dapps developers can promote their apps using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Discord and a lot other social media platforms.

THROUGH AIRDROPS

Giving of airdrops and tokens have been know to be well used. Dapps develops can adopt the means of giving airdrops of the tokens of their dapps to promote the app because many people want airdrops which will help create awareness about such decentralized application.

USING JINGLES

Jingles can also be put to good use to promote newly developed dapps.

DAPPS LISTING

There are also dapp directories or promoters like dappclap, dappradar, dapp100, dappbang and so on. The dapps can be submitted to these directories. The directories or promoters assist the dapps developers by promoting and publishing their work.

F. WHAT SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN USING DAPPS?

There are some important things ones should take notice and pay attention to while using dapps. The essentials include;
Dapps can be dangerous and risky to use sometimes. Many of these decentralized applications are really not decentralized and have been known to scam people before. They somehow disguise and pose as dapps making so many fake promises to people. They make so many promise on high returns on investment to people and then when you fall into the trap, you lose your whole investment. This is why it is of very high importance that users should pay attention and make proper research before they indulge to using the dapp. Some of the record high risk dapps include Hex, forsage, etherchain. Et.c.

G. HOW DO WE FIND THE INFORMATION OF A DAPP THAT WE WANT TO KNOW? PROVIDE THE STEPS (SCREENSHOT REQUIRED).

Making use of dapps directories like www.dappradar.com helps you find out about any decentralized application you want to use. See steps below.

1.

Step 1 login to the official website by loading www.dappradar.com on your browser. The home interface appears or overview.

wwwdappradar.com

2.

Step 2 here, you see the list of thetop rated dapps, with steemit ranked at 52.

wwwdappradar.com

3.

Step 3 To search for some desired dapps you seek to know about and which is not listed in the top ranked list, you can click the three parallel line at the top right corner.

wwwdappradar.com

4.

Step 4 To explore a dapp, I have typed steemit as my desired dapp. See result below.

wwwdappradar.com
Following this steps accordingly, one can easily get the information of any DApp the person is searching for.

Thank you @wahyunahrul for the lecture.
Thank you @shemul21 for your hardwork