2018-07-11 15:45:10 -04:00
|
|
|
# Light Client Protocol
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Light clients are an important part of the complete blockchain system
|
|
|
|
|
for most applications. Tendermint provides unique speed and security
|
|
|
|
|
properties for light client applications.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See our [lite
|
|
|
|
|
package](https://godoc.org/github.com/tendermint/tendermint/lite).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Overview
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The objective of the light client protocol is to get a
|
|
|
|
|
[commit](./validators.md#committing-a-block) for a recent [block
|
|
|
|
|
hash](../spec/consensus/consensus.md.md#block-hash) where the commit includes a
|
|
|
|
|
majority of signatures from the last known validator set. From there,
|
|
|
|
|
all the application state is verifiable with [merkle
|
|
|
|
|
proofs](./merkle.md#iavl-tree).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Properties
|
|
|
|
|
|
2018-08-27 15:33:46 +08:00
|
|
|
- You get the full collateralized security benefits of Tendermint; No
|
|
|
|
|
need to wait for confirmations.
|
|
|
|
|
- You get the full speed benefits of Tendermint; transactions
|
|
|
|
|
commit instantly.
|
|
|
|
|
- You can get the most recent version of the application state
|
|
|
|
|
non-interactively (without committing anything to the blockchain).
|
|
|
|
|
For example, this means that you can get the most recent value of a
|
|
|
|
|
name from the name-registry without worrying about fork censorship
|
|
|
|
|
attacks, without posting a commit and waiting for confirmations.
|
|
|
|
|
It's fast, secure, and free!
|
