Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Fourth Edition

By : Imran Bashir
5 (3)
Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Fourth Edition

5 (3)
By: Imran Bashir

Overview of this book

Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, it has had a massive impact in many sectors, including finance, supply chains, healthcare, government, and media. It’s also being used for cutting edge technologies such as AI and IoT. This new edition is thoroughly revised to offer a practical approach to using Ethereum, Hyperledger, Fabric, and Corda with step-by-step tutorials and real-world use-cases to help you understand everything you need to know about blockchain development and implementation. With new chapters on Decentralized Finance and solving privacy, identity, and security issues, as well as bonus online content exploring alternative blockchains, this is an unmissable read for everyone who wants to gain a deep understanding of blockchain. The book doesn’t shy away from advanced topics and practical expertise, such as decentralized application (DApp) development using smart contracts and oracles, and emerging trends in the blockchain space. Throughout the book, you’ll explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies, such as the IoT with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, and tokenization, and gain insight into the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this blockchain book, you will have gained a thorough comprehension of the various facets of blockchain and understand the potential of this technology in diverse real-world scenarios.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
23
Index

Blocks and blockchain

Blocks are the main building structure of a blockchain. Ethereum blocks consist of various elements, which are described as follows:

  • The block header
  • The transactions list
  • The list of headers of ommers or uncles

An uncle block is a block that is the child of a parent but does not have any child block. Ommers or uncles are valid, but stale, blocks that are not part of the main chain but contribute to security of the chain. They also earn a reward for their participation but do not become part of the canonical truth.

The transaction list is simply a list of all transactions included in the block. Also, the list of headers of uncles is also included in the block.

Block header: Block headers are the most critical and detailed components of an Ethereum block. The header contains various elements, which are described in detail here:

  • Parent hash: This is the Keccak 256-bit hash of the parent (previous) block's header.
  • Ommers hash: This is the Keccak 256-bit hash...