As smart contracts become bigger and better thanks to Ethereum, developers need a controlled environment to test their applications and ensure proper operation before pushing it to the mainnet. Today, we'll go over the different testnets at developer's disposal.
The Ropsten network, provides the best representation of real mainnet environments. It uses proof-of-work and the Ethash mining algorithm. To acquire ETH, it must be mined.
The Kovan network, was started by Parity Technologies for OpenEthereum clients. It's a proof-of-authority network, meaning a small number of actors get to validate transactions and interactions, including Attores, Etherscan, Gridgularity, Parity and several others, making it essentially immune to spam attacks.
Kovan ether can be acquired via many different faucet services and doesn't have mining. One faucet is the Gitter channel, which can be found here (requires login).
Proposal: https://kovan-testnet.github.io/website/proposal/
Testnet Explorer (Etherscan): https://kovan.etherscan.io/
Finally, the Görli network, was started by the Görli Initiative. It's goal is to be widely usable across several clients, including Geth, Pantheon, Nethermind, and OpenEthereum.
The cross-client nature of the Görli network is it's strength, enabling it to be used by several clients supporting the PoA engine EIP-255, unlike Kovan's sole support of OpenEthereum. Görli ether also be accessed using a faucet.
Proposal: https://dev.to/5chdn/the-grli-testnet-proposal---a-call-for-participation-58pf
Testnet Explorer (Etherscan): https://goerli.etherscan.io/
Testnets are an important part of blockchain development and our journey towards widespread use, allowing us to test and ensure applications are of their best selves on the main network. Understanding the differences of the testnets is important, allowing you to conclude the best one for each use case.
