Book Image

Learn Blockchain Programming with JavaScript

By : Eric Traub
Book Image

Learn Blockchain Programming with JavaScript

By: Eric Traub

Overview of this book

Learn Blockchain Programming with JavaScript begins by giving you a clear understanding of what blockchain technology is. You’ll then set up an environment to build your very own blockchain and you’ll add various functionalities to it. By adding functionalities to your blockchain such as the ability to mine new blocks, create transactions, and secure your blockchain through a proof-of-work you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of how blockchain technology functions. As you make your way through the chapters, you’ll learn how to build an API server to interact with your blockchain and how to host your blockchain on a decentralized network. You’ll also build a consensus algorithm and use it to verify data and keep the entire blockchain network synchronized. In the concluding chapters, you’ll finish building your blockchain prototype and gain a thorough understanding of why blockchain technology is so secure and valuable. By the end of this book, you'll understand how decentralized blockchain networks function and why decentralization is such an important feature for securing a blockchain.
Table of Contents (10 chapters)

What is a Proof of Work?

The next method that we are going to add to our blockchain data structure is the proofOfWork method. This method is very important and essential to the blockchain technology. It is because of this method that Bitcoin and many other blockchains are so secure.

Now, you must be getting curious about what a Proof of Work (PoW) actually is. Well, if we take a look at our blockchain, every blockchain is pretty much a list of blocks. Every single block has to be created and added to the chain. However, we don't just want any block to be created and added to the chain. We want to make sure that every block that is added to the chain is legitimate, has the correct transactions, and has the correct data inside of it. This is because if it doesn't have the correct transactions or the correct data, then people could fake how much Bitcoin they have and essentially...