Internet Computer

<h2 id="a-different-kind-of-smart-contract">A different kind of smart contract</h2>
On most blockchains, the application a user clicks sits on a conventional web server. Only the transaction layer touches the chain. <a href="https://x.com/dfinity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@dfinity</a>'s Internet Computer takes a different approach: the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that make up a front end are stored inside a canister, the network's term for a smart contract. <cite>Because canister smart contracts can serve HTTP requests, users can access the blockchain directly through a standard web browser, allowing decentralized apps to be 100% on-chain.</cite>
<cite>On the Internet Computer Protocol, smart contracts are called canisters. Canisters are digital containers that hold both the code and the data needed to run a program.</cite><cite>This lets computers connect and share information without needing a central server, such as those provided by AWS or Google Cloud.</cite>
<h2 id="how-a-browser-request-actually-reaches-the-chain">How a browser request actually reaches the chain</h2>
The routing layer between a user's browser and a canister involves two distinct components. <cite>HTTP gateways translate standard HTTP requests from browsers and other clients into IC API calls and translate responses back into HTTP.</cite><cite>Users access canisters via boundary nodes that translate requests from users and applications into canister calls handled by either the API node or the HTTP gateway.</cite>
<cite>An API boundary node receives the IC API call and forwards it to a replica on the subnet that hosts the target canister. The canister then executes the request, constructs an HTTP response including status, headers, and body, and returns it.</cite>
Critically, the routing infrastructure cannot alter what a canister stores. <cite>Generating a subnet certificate requires agreement from at least two thirds of the subnet's nodes using chain-key cryptography, so a certified response represents network-level consensus, not a single node's assertion.</cite><cite>When the HTTP gateway receives a canister response that includes a certificate, it verifies the certificate before passing the response to the client.</cite> This means a single rogue node cannot quietly substitute a different page.
Sites can also be served over a raw domain that skips the signature check. The official ICP developer documentation warns that on that route, a single bad node can alter what the browser receives, making the standard certified domain the safer choice for most applications.
<cite>What sets the Internet Computer apart is its end-to-end decentralization combined with TCP/IP connectivity, allowing it to host software directly on the internet without intermediaries.</cite>
Sources: <a href="https://docs.internetcomputer.org/concepts/edge-infrastructure/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ICP Developer Docs: Edge Infrastructure</a> <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/what-is-dfinity-icp" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinMarketCap Academy: What Is Internet Computer (ICP)?</a> <a href="https://messari.io/project/internet-computer/profile" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Messari: Internet Computer Profile</a>

Internet Computer smart contracts serve the web page, not just the data behind it

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