A Public Representative (P-Rep) is a block validator on the ICON Network that participates in consensus and governance. P-Reps consists of the top 22 main P-Reps and 78 Sub P-Reps, and are elected by ICONists(ICX Token holders). One ICX token is worth one vote. These P-Reps will earn rewards and have the following responsibilities within the ICON ecosystem :

•  Manage the ICON network – produce and validate blocks.
•  Govern the ICON network – vote on monetary policy, network upgrades, governance changes etc.
•  Protect the ICON network – keep the ICON network secure through maintaining high cyber security standards for your node.
•  Grow the ICON network – spread the impact of the ICON network through on-chain and off-chain activities.

Reference : https://m.icon.foundation/download/Introduction_for_Public_Representative_of_ICON_Network_EN_V1.0.pdf

Citizen Node is a component of ICON Republic. Anyone can participate as Citizen Node by DAPPs created on loopchain. However, Citizen Node does not have voting rights for the governance of ICON Republic but has only the right to generate a transaction.Reference: ICON white  paper http://docs.icon.foundation/ICON-Whitepaper-EN-Draft.pdf

It is the responsibility of ICONists to take part in decentralizing the network and elect the P-Reps who can uplift the entire ICON community. You can also receive rewards for voting the P-Reps. You can receive rewards varying from 2% to 12% for voting to P-Reps, DApps, and EEPs which results in 6% to 36% annual rewards for staking/voting if participating in all three categories.Reference: https://medium.com/ubikcapital/overview-of-staking-on-icon-network-1a1377977946

ICON blockchain is currently at its initial stage. It has more than 7 million blocks in its blockchain and about 70 million transactions in its mainnet as of August 2019.Reference: https://tracker.icon.foundation/

You can read about P-Reps and what they want to do for the network fromRefrence: https://icon.community/iconsensus/candidates

From a development point of view only, We believe EOS is ahead and more mature than ICON, naturally as it is older.We are personally biaised as we prefer C++ than Python, but we also believe chosing C++ for smart contract coding may not be the best idea, considering C++ is arguably one of the most complex programming language in the world, whereas Python is one of the easiest.

The  native ICX Wallet of ICON is called ‘ICONex’. Reference: https://icon.foundation/contents/products/iconex?lang=en

Yes, you can stake for multiple P-Reps. Reference: https://medium.com/@ubikcapital/icx-staking-faqs-frequently-asked-questions-a993db9be162

There are various risks while you are staking :

•  You might not get your rewards if your chosen candidate is down due to maintenance or other factors.
•  Although delegation enables you to earn rewards based on your ICX, you are still subject to price fluctuations in ICX/Fiat currencies, and may end up losing money when measured in some fiat currencies.
•  You remain responsible for the security of your own funds, we recommend using cold storage solutions such as Ledger for added security. Make sure to backup your keys properly as well, or you may not recover your account. Reference: https://medium.com/@ubikcapital/icx-staking-faqs-frequently-asked-questions-a993db9be162

The number of C-Reps can be modified through the consensus between C-Reps.

Loopchain was developed by Theloop, but theloop was rebranded as iconloop, theloop was running commercially (loopchain) for about 2 years before ICON. Refrence: https://theicon.ist/2019/01/10/iconloop-or-icon/

ICON provides SDK for different languages like Java,Python,Javascript. So its required to learn any languages among these. Which language is obviously your choice.

A tutorial is provided at https://icon.community/iconsensus/prevoting/. You need to use ICONex wallet. So send your ICX from exchanges to ICON official wallet.Reference: https://icon.foundation/contents/products/iconex?lang=en

The P-Reps are the ones that represent the whole community and the C-reps represent each individual private chain. The P-Reps also handle the nodes that process each transaction.

To make sure vote is not centralized over big teams, and network gets decentralized, minimize the risk (if a P-Rep recieves a low productivity penalty or disqualification penalty, 6% of its delegation will be burned). It is wise to divide delegations to several representatives to reduce the risks.

According to the simulation conducted by ICON, it is between 6% to 8%. It depends what P Reps are requesting and how many people participate in vote.

Staking is a mechanism by which a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) cryptocurrency holder locks their cryptocurrency for a period of time to validate transactions. Users can delegate their cryptocurrency to teams that operate validating nodes (P-Reps). These validation nodes then use the cryptocurrency that is delegated to them to vote and validate transactions. In return, those who choose to stake are typically rewarded with cryptocurrency rewards at a specified percentage rate.

Voters will receive annual rewards of 6% to 36%, depending on the total amount of ICX that is staked in the network. The less icon staked to the network, the greater the rate of reward, and vice versa. Staking rewards are paid in I-Score, which can be immediately converted from the Public Treasury to ICX.(NOTE: EEP and DApp delegation processes are still in work and expected to go live in late 2019 or early 2020. Once these delegation processes are completed, ICONists will need to delegate to P-Reps, EEPs, and DApps in parallel to receive the full 6% to 36% rewards, as each category will provide 2% to 12% in annual rewards).

You can find the P-reps candidates list here: https://icon.community/iconsensus/candidatesGet in touch with P-Reps candidates to ask them questions and learn more about their teams here: https://forum.icon.community/

If the node you have chosen is down then you will not receive rewards during that time as that P-Rep will not be active and 6% of the delegation towards that node will be burned if the downtime drops below 85% (over the total lifetime of the P-Rep node).

ICON was designed to reward all voters equally, regardless of who they vote for.

It is based on how much you stake/vote and how much of the total network percentage is staked/voted.

You can vote for up to 10 candidates and you can always change your vote.

We can prevent this by selecting P-Reps from different geographical area and different background with different interests.

Remove a certain amount of vote power from your preferred P-rep. It will be then automatically be available for un-staking in the adjust button. It will take a couple of days to unlock your ICX tokens.

Sure, you can do it anytime. There is no restriction.