Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Second Edition

By : Imran Bashir
Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Second Edition

By: Imran Bashir

Overview of this book

Publisher's Note: This edition from 2018 is outdated and does not cover the latest insights on consensus algorithms, Ethereum 2.0, tokenization, and enterprise blockchains. A new and updated edition of this book that includes all the newest developments and improvements in Blockchain including the above topics is now available. A blockchain is a distributed ledger that is replicated across multiple nodes and enables immutable, transparent and cryptographically secure record-keeping of transactions. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, and it has applications in finance, government, media and almost all other industries. Mastering Blockchain, Second Edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to provide a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world. This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain technology, teaching you the fundamentals of distributed systems, 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 also explore different other blockchain solutions and get an introduction to business blockchain frameworks under Hyperledger, a collaborative effort for the advancement of blockchain technologies hosted by the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain solutions beyond currencies, Internet of Things with blockchain, blockchain scalability, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology.

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Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Blockchain 101
Blockchain 101
The growth of blockchain technology
Distributed systems
The history of blockchain and Bitcoin
Types of blockchain
Consensus
CAP theorem and blockchain
Summary
2
Decentralization
Decentralization
Decentralization using blockchain
Methods of decentralization
Routes to decentralization
Blockchain and full ecosystem decentralization
Smart contracts
Decentralized Organizations
Platforms for decentralization
Summary
3
Symmetric Cryptography
Symmetric Cryptography
Working with the OpenSSL command line
Introduction
Cryptographic primitives
Summary
4
Public Key Cryptography
Public Key Cryptography
Asymmetric cryptography
Public and private keys
Financial markets and trading
Summary
5
Introducing Bitcoin
Introducing Bitcoin
Bitcoin
Digital keys and addresses
Transactions
Blockchain
Mining
Summary
6
Bitcoin Network and Payments
Bitcoin Network and Payments
The Bitcoin network
Wallets
Bitcoin payments
Innovation in Bitcoin
Summary
7
Bitcoin Clients and APIs
Bitcoin Clients and APIs
Bitcoin installation
Summary
8
Alternative Coins
Alternative Coins
Theoretical foundations
Bitcoin limitations
Namecoin
Litecoin
Primecoin
Zcash
Summary
9
Smart Contracts
Smart Contracts
History
Definition
Ricardian contracts
Summary
10
Ethereum 101
Ethereum 101
Introduction
Ethereum – bird's eye view
The Ethereum network
Components of the Ethereum ecosystem
Summary
11
Further Ethereum
Further Ethereum
Programming languages
Summary
12
Ethereum Development Environment
Ethereum Development Environment
Test networks
Setting up a private net
Starting up the private network
Summary
13
Development Tools and Frameworks
Development Tools and Frameworks
Languages
Solidity language
Summary
14
Introducing Web3
Introducing Web3
Web3
Summary
15
Hyperledger
Hyperledger
Projects under Hyperledger
Hyperledger as a protocol
The reference architecture
Fabric
Summary
16
Alternative Blockchains
Alternative Blockchains
Blockchains
Platforms and frameworks
Summary
17
Blockchain – Outside of Currencies
Blockchain – Outside of Currencies
Internet of Things
Summary
18
Scalability and Other Challenges
Scalability and Other Challenges
Scalability
Privacy
Summary
19
Current Landscape and What's Next
Current Landscape and What's Next
Emerging trends
Other challenges
Blockchain research
Notable projects
Miscellaneous tools
Convergence with other industries
Future
Summary
20
Another Book You May Enjoy
Another Book You May Enjoy
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Web3

Web3 is a JavaScript library that can be used to communicate with an Ethereum node via RPC communication. Web3 works by exposing methods that have been enabled over RPC. This allows the development of user interfaces that make use of the Web3 library in order to interact with the contracts deployed over the blockchain.

In order to expose the methods via geth, the following command can be used:

$ geth --datadir .ethereum/privatenet/ --networkid 786 --rpc --rpcapi 'web3,net,eth,debug' --rpcport 8001 --rpccorsdomain 'http://localhost:7777'
The --rpcapi flag allows the web3, eth, net, and debug methods.

This is a powerful library and can be explored further by attaching a geth instance. Later in this section, you will be introduced to the concepts and techniques of making use of Web3 via JavaScript/HTML frontends.

The geth instance can be attached using the...

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