Book Image

Mastering Blockchain

Book Image

Mastering Blockchain

Overview of this book

Blockchain is a distributed database that enables permanent, transparent, and secure storage of data. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrency – in fact, it’s the shared public ledger upon which the entire Bitcoin network relies – and it’s gaining popularity with people who work in finance, government, and the arts. Blockhchain technology uses cryptography to keep data secure. This book gives a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world. This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain, teaching you the fundamentals of cryptography and how it keeps data secure. You will learn about the mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and how to develop applications using Ethereum, a decentralized virtual machine. You will explore different blockchain solutions and get an exclusive preview into Hyperledger, an upcoming blockchain solution from IBM and the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain beyond currencies, scability with blockchain, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Mastering Blockchain
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

The Ethereum network


The Ethereum network is a peer-to-peer network where nodes participate in order to maintain the blockchain and contribute to the consensus mechanism. Networks can be divided into three types, based on requirements and usage.

MainNet

MainNet is the current live network of ethereum. The current version of MainNet is homestead.

TestNet

TestNet is also called Ropsten and is the test network for the Ethereum blockchain. This blockchain is used to test smart contracts and DApps before being deployed to the production live blockchain. Moreover, being a test network, it allows experimentation and research.

Private net(s)

As the name suggests, this is the private network that can be created by generating a new genesis block. This is usually the case in distributed ledger networks, where a private group of entities start their own blockchain and use it as a permissioned blockchain.

More discussion on how to connect to test net and how to set up private nets will be discussed in the next...