The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the heart of the Ethereum platform. She is responsible for executing smart contracts and dApps on the Ethereum platform. But it extends far beyond the Ethereum ecosystem. Applications such as Avalanche, Polygon and Fantom also rely on the blockchain infrastructure.
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How does the Ethereum Virtual Machine work?
The EVM is the embodiment of decentralization: It consists of numerous computers and thus forms a network that spans the entire globe. Each of these computers uses software to enable the processing of smart contracts. This means that the Ethereum Virtual Machine differs significantly from conventional computers. It uses special software and a decentralized network to process smart contracts.
Op codes and gas charges
The programming language that programmers commonly use for smart contracts on Ethereum is called Solidity. To understand this language, it must be translated into “bytecode”, a combination of zeros and ones. There is another language between Bytecode and Solidity: the “Opcode”.
This can represent operational code or instructions that the EVM needs to execute smart contracts. Each of these opcodes costs a certain amount of ETH to execute. If you add up all the opcodes and multiply them by the respective price, you get the total amount of gas required to execute a smart contract. This means: the more complex a smart contract is, the more expensive it is to execute it.
The highlight: interoperability
The big advantage that the EVM brings with it: all blockchains that use it can interact with each other. For example, smart contracts that run on Ethereum can also run on Polygon.
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