The idea of smart contracts goes way back to 1994. Term coined by cryptogrpher Nick Szabo, a widely credited with laying the groundwork for bitcoin.
At core, these automated contracts work like any other computer program's if-then statements. They just happen to be doing it in a way that interacts with real-world assets. When a pre-programmed condition is triggered, the smart contract executes the corresponding contractual clause. (from FastCoLabs 
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# See Also
Examples of Smart Contracts written in Solidity:
A distributed contract is a method to form agreements with people via the block chain.
A distributed contract is a method to form agreements with people via the block chain.