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.

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Current Title:

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Learn Blockchain Programming with JavaScript
Eric Traub
Nov, 2018 | 252 pages
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Table of Contents (10 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
Setting up the Project
Setting up the Project
What is a blockchain?
What you will learn...
Environment setup
Summary
2
Building a Blockchain
Building a Blockchain
Before we get building...
Blockchain constructor function
Building the createNewBlock method
Building the getLastBlock method
Creating the createNewTransaction method
Hashing the data
What is a Proof of Work?
Creating a genesis block
Summary
3
Accessing the Blockchain through an API
Accessing the Blockchain through an API
Setting up Express.js
Building the API foundation
Installing Postman and body-parser
Building the /blockchain endpoint
Building the /transaction endpoint
Building the /mine endpoint
Testing the endpoints
Summary
4
Creating a Decentralized Blockchain Network
Creating a Decentralized Blockchain Network
Creating multiple nodes
Adding the currentNodeUrl
New endpoints outline
Building the /register-and-broadcast-node endpoint
Building the /register-node endpoint
Building the /register-nodes-bulk endpoint
Testing all of the network endpoints
Summary
5
Synchronizing the Network
Synchronizing the Network
Understanding the need to synchronize the network
Refactoring the createNewTransaction method and the /transaction endpoint
Building the /transaction/broadcast endpoint
Refactoring the /transaction endpoint
Testing the transaction endpoints
Updating the mining information
Building the /receive-new-block endpoint
Testing the new and updated /mine endpoints
Summary
6
Consensus Algorithms
Consensus Algorithms
What is the consensus algorithm ?
Building the chainIsValid method
Building the /consensus endpoint
Summary
7
Block Explorer
Block Explorer
What is a block explorer?
Defining the block explorer endpoints
Building the getBlock method
Building the /block/:blockHash endpoint
Defining the getTransaction method
Building the /transaction/:transactionId endpoint
Building the getAddressData method
Developing the /address/:address endpoint
Adding the block explorer file
Block explorer file explanation
Testing our block explorer
Summary
8
In conclusion...
In conclusion...
A quick review
Areas of improvement
9
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Accessing the Blockchain through an API

Building a BlockchainIn the previous chapter, we built the beginnings of our blockchain data structure. In this chapter, we're going to be building an API that will allow us to interact with our blockchain. To build the API, we will be creating a server using the Express.js library, and then we will be building three different endpoints that will allow us to interact with our blockchain.

Let's get started and build our API from scratch. In this chapter, we are going to cover the following topics:

  • Setting up Express.js
  • Building the API foundation
  • Installing Postman and body-parser
  • Building the /blockchain endpoint
  • Building the /transaction endpoint
  • Building the /mine endpoint
  • Testing the endpoints
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