What Is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)?
Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are documents that propose new features, and changes to the network.
EIPs can be submitted by any member of the Ethereum community and the author is responsible for building consensus and adapting the proposal based on community opinions and feedback.[1]EIP-1: EIP Purpose and Guidelines – What Is An EIP? There are heavy requirements needed to submit EIPs, so naturally a majority are derived from developers. The proposals aim to aid in the continual improvement of Ethereum.
Types Of EIPs
A Standards Track EIP describes changes that affect a majority of Ethereum implementations, like protocol changes and standards. The following four EIPs are a part of the standards track.[2]EIP-1: EIP Purpose and Guidelines – EIP Types
Core improvements are those which require a consensus fork, or are related to core development.
Networking proposals improve upon the protocol specifications of the network.
Interface proposals define improvements to client standards and specifications, such as API/RPC.
ERC refers to application level standards/conventions, such as contracts, tokens, and name registries.
Meta EIPs process changes similar to the standard track, although these are outside of the Ethereum protocol.
Informational proposals provide a guideline, or outline design issues to the Ethereum community without proposing a new feature. These can be ignored by, or taken up by the community with no need to follow the advice issued.
EIP Process
The draft is the first tracked stage within the EIP repository after its formatting. It is then requested for peer review by the author. The last call is the final review window before moving to the final stage, the last call forks out all necessary changes needed. The final represents the final stage of an EIP, where the only changes made are correcting errors and clarifications.
Stagnant defines EIPs from drafts to the last call which has been inactive for more than 6 months, living represents EIPs that never reach a stage of finality due to constant updates, and withdrawn defines EIPs withdrawn by the author/s.
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