Book Image

Blockchain Quick Reference

By : Mariko Amekodommo, Brenn Hill, Samanyu Chopra, Paul Valencourt
Book Image

Blockchain Quick Reference

By: Mariko Amekodommo, Brenn Hill, Samanyu Chopra, Paul Valencourt

Overview of this book

Blockchain Quick Reference takes you through the electrifying world of blockchain technology and is designed for those who want to polish their existing knowledge regarding the various pillars of the blockchain ecosystem. This book is your go-to guide, teaching you how to apply principles and ideas for making your life and business better. You will cover the architecture, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), tokens, smart contracts, and terminologies of the blockchain technology, before studying how they work. All you need is a curious mind to get started with blockchain technology. Once you have grasped the basics, you will explore components of Ethereum, such as ether tokens, transactions, and smart contracts, in order to build simple Dapps. You will then move on to learning why Solidity is used specifically for Ethereum-based projects, followed by exploring different types of blockchain with easy-to-follow examples. All this will help you tackle challenges and problems. By the end of this book, you will not only have solved current and future problems relating to blockchain technology but will also be able to build efficient decentralized applications.

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Table of Contents (24 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
Processing a financial transaction
Ledger
Concept of a trustless system
Introducing blockchain
Summary
2
Components and Structure of Blockchain
Components and Structure of Blockchain
Blocks
The chain between blocks
Hashing and signatures
Digital signatures
Example block data
Blockchain miners
Blockchain validators
Smart contracts
Blockchain speed
Summary
3
Decentralization Versus Distributed Systems
Decentralization Versus Distributed Systems
Distributed systems
Consensus and coordination
Backups
Summary
4
Cryptography and Mechanics Behind Blockchain
Cryptography and Mechanics Behind Blockchain
Principles of security
Historical perspective – classical cryptography
Types of cryptography
Summary
5
Bitcoin
Bitcoin
The history of Bitcoin
Why Bitcoin is volatile
Keys and addresses
Transactions
Blocks
Bitcoin network
Wallets
Summary
6
Altcoins
Altcoins
Introducing Altcoins
Alternative currency
Acquiring cryptocurrency
Summary
7
Achieving Consensus
Achieving Consensus
Practical Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm
Proof of Work
Proof of Stake
Proof of Authority
Proof of Elapsed time
Summary
References
8
Advanced Blockchain Concepts
Advanced Blockchain Concepts
Blockchain and banks
Summary
9
Cryptocurrency Wallets
Cryptocurrency Wallets
Introduction to cryptocurrency wallets
Summary
10
Alternate Blockchains
Alternate Blockchains
Various uses of blockchain
Ripple
Stellar
Tendermint
Monax
Summary
11
Hyperledger and Enterprise Blockchains
Hyperledger and Enterprise Blockchains
History of Hyperledger
Hyperledger projects
Tools in Hyperledger
Summary
12
Ethereum 101
Ethereum 101
Introducing Ethereum
Components of Ethereum
Ether
Summary
13
Solidity 101
Solidity 101
Basics of Solidity
Programming in Solidity
Summary
14
Smart Contracts
Smart Contracts
Why smart contracts?
Smart contract approaches
Limitations of smart contracts
Summary
15
Ethereum Development
Ethereum Development
Introduction
Preparing for smart contract development
Working on a smart contract
Summary
16
Ethereum Accounts and Ether Tokens
Ethereum Accounts and Ether Tokens
Introducing Ethereum accounts
Ethereum block validation
Disadvantages of Ethereum-based tokens
Summary
17
Decentralized Applications
Decentralized Applications
What makes an application decentralized
Major decentralized blockchain applications
Summary
18
Mining
Mining
Cryptocurrency mining
Algorithms
Mining hardware
Miner types
Mining pools
Mining software
Summary
19
ICO 101
ICO 101
The current state of the ICO market
Typical aspects of an ICO campaign
Issues with ICOs and blockchain projects
20
Creating Your Own Currency
Creating Your Own Currency
Understanding types of cryptocurrency
Creating one's own cryptocurrency
Summary
21
Scalability and Other Challenges
Scalability and Other Challenges
Scalability and decentralization
Blockchains in business
Usability
51% attacks
Network forks
Catastrophic bugs
Lack of interoperability
Low availability of blockchain skills
Privacy
Energy consumption
Summary
References
22
Future of Blockchain
Future of Blockchain
Ongoing fragmentation and specialization
Legal and regulatory evolution
Technological stabilization
Intersecting with AI and IoT
Summary
23
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Blockchain validators

Blockchain validators are used by PoS systems. A PoS system works by requiring computers that wish to participate in the network to have stake—a large number of tokens—to assist in the blockchain. Unlike PoW algorithms, computers cannot join the network and expect to have any say in consensus. Rather, they must buy in through token ownership. Depending on the network, the naming convention for validators might be different. Tendermint has validators, Steemit and Bitshares have witnesses, Cardano has stakeholders, and so on. A validator is a computer with a positive stake (number of tokens) that is allowed to participate in the network and does so. Each chain has its own rules for how this works, and these will be covered more in-depth in Chapter 7, Achieving Consensus.

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