Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Third Edition

By : Imran Bashir
Book Image

Mastering Blockchain - Third Edition

By: Imran Bashir

Overview of this book

Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, with applications in finance, government, media, and other industries. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, this new edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated to the latest blockchain research with four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Serenity (the update that will introduce Ethereum 2.0), tokenization, and enterprise blockchains. This book covers the basics, including blockchain’s technical underpinnings, cryptography and consensus protocols. It also provides you with expert knowledge on decentralization, decentralized application development on Ethereum, Bitcoin, alternative coins, smart contracts, alternative blockchains, and Hyperledger. Further, you will explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies such as the Internet of Things with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, tokenization using blockchain, and consider the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this book, you will have gained a thorough comprehension of the various facets of blockchain and understand their potential in diverse real-world scenarios.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
23
Index

Smart Contracts

This chapter introduces smart contracts. This concept is not new; however, with the advent of blockchain technology, interest in this idea has revived. Smart contracts are now an ongoing and intense area of research in the blockchain space. Many blockchains have emerged that support smart contracts.

Due to benefits such as the increased security, cost-saving, and transparency that smart contracts can bring to many industries (especially the finance industry), rigorous research is in progress at various commercial and academic institutions to make the implementation of smart contracts easier, more practical, business-friendly, and more secure as soon as possible.

In this chapter, we will explore the ideas that led to the development of smart contracts, including its relevant history and key definitions. We will also cover concepts like the deployment of smart contracts, notable security aspects of smart contracts, and, finally, oracles. First, we will look...