  This paper is a primer on cryptographic accumulators and how to apply them
practically. A cryptographic accumulator is a space- and time-efficient data
structure used for set-membership tests. Since it is possible to represent any
computational problem where the answer is yes or no as a set-membership
problem, cryptographic accumulators are invaluable data structures in computer
science and engineering. But, to the best of our knowledge, there is neither a
concise survey comparing and contrasting various types of accumulators nor a
guide for how to apply the most appropriate one for a given application.
Therefore, we address that gap by describing cryptographic accumulators while
presenting their fundamental and so-called optional properties. We discuss the
effects of each property on the given accumulator's performance in terms of
space and time complexity, as well as communication overhead.
