Stellar token vs contract - is it the same?

Question

I've just learnt that Ethereum tokens are also smart contracts (and the opposite is not necessarily true):

https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/74240/token-vs-contract-are-they-the-same

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3412140/whats-a-smart-contract-and-how-does-it-work.html

I'm not a dev, so until now I was understanding tokens as assets that can be exchanged, while smart contracts as executable mini-programs that could trigger the exchange of these assets (based on some rules defined in the mini-program itself). So this discovery is leaving me with a lot of questions...

First, is that also the case for Stellar tokens? Tokens are also contracts?

And what does it mean that in other blockchains, tokens are contracts? Was my understanding of 'token=asset' wrong?

Answer 1

I posted this also on reddit and got this first answer:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellar/comments/po0czu/stellar_tokens_vs_contracts_are_they_the_same/hcwexoj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

The short answer is no. Stellar tokens are not smart contracts. On stellar tokens are created by accounts and identified by the issuing account. On eth accounts create smart contracts that create tokens

Then I got a much longer answer from a SDF member: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellar/comments/po0czu/stellar_tokens_vs_contracts_are_they_the_same/hczjrmg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Tokens are directly issued on the Stellar network from an account whereas the Ethereum network requires a smart contract to create a token. So it's easier and simpler to created a token on Stellar.

and also learnt the following:

Another key difference between SSCs and Ethereum smart contracts is that the conditions and logic of the smart contract are created separately from Stellar then submitted to the network as a transaction when the end conditions are met. As a participant in a Stellar smart contract you are not directly interacting with code on chain