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

Mathematics

As the subject of cryptography is based on mathematics, this section will introduce some basic concepts that will help you understand the concepts presented later.

Modular arithmetic

Also known as clock arithmetic, numbers in modular arithmetic wrap around when they reach a certain fixed number. This fixed number is a positive number called modulus (sometimes abbreviated to mod), and all operations are performed concerning this fixed number.

Modular arithmetic is analogous to a 12-hour clock; there are numbers from 1 to 12. When 12 is reached, the numbers start from 1 again. Imagine that the time is 9:00 now; 4 hours from now, it will be 1:00 because the numbers wrap around at 12 and start from 1 again. In normal addition, this would be 9 + 4 = 13, but that is not the case on a 12-hour clock; it is 1:00.

In other words, this type of arithmetic deals with the remainders after the division operation. For example, 50 mod 11 is 6 because 50 / 11 leaves a remainder...