Blockchain Technology: A Brief Introduction

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Blockchain Technology A Brief Introduction
You may have surely come across the mention of
Blockchain technology. Mostly with Bitcoin and
other cryptocurrencies it had been a major
element involved in their existence. Well, this
content would get through some considerable
concepts and details of a blockchain. So, run
down the page and grasp. Blockchain A Brief
Historical Insight
via inc
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• Blockchain had been a humble concept in computer
  science much before it was actually used in
  cryptocurrencies. It had been a part of
  particularly, data structures and cryptography.
• Hash tree, also known well as Merkle tree was
  known to be the most primitive form of
  Blockchain. In 1979, this use of blockchains was
  patented and named by Ralph Merkle by handling
  and verifying data between computer systems.
• In order to make sure that nothing is changed or
  altered while being transferred it was important
  to validate data in a peer-to-peer computer
  network. It helped in proving the integrity of
  shared data and also makes sure that no false
  data is transferred.
• In the year 1991, the same was used for creating
  a secured chain of blocks. This was known to
  be a series of data records, connected to the one
  preceding each other.
• Each new record consisted of the history of the
  previous ones and hence a blockchain was formed.
  Further, in the year 2008, the concept of
  distributed Blockchain was brought up by Satoshi
  Nakamoto.
• This consisted of a secured history of data
  exchange and exchanges could be managed and
  verified without centralization, autonomously.
• Working of a Blockchain
• Before actually traversing into its way and
  process of working, lets reconsider some of the
  Blockchain features
• All data exchanges are recorded Blockchain
  maintains a record of all the data exchanges
  that take place. In the cryptocurrency world,
  this record is referred to as ledger and every
  data exchange is known as a transaction. Also,
  verified transactions are entered into the ledger
  as blocks.
• The distributed system is utilized for
  verification of each transaction this is
• generally a peer-to-peer network of nodes.
• Any new blockchain transaction when once signed,
  verified and added to the blockchain, it cannot
  be altered.

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Now, stepping up towards its working, there are
various platforms that have got Blockchain
explained in the most perfect manner. To begin
with, it is first important to clear and explore
the concept of keys. A set of cryptographic
keys help in creating a unique identity.
Generally, Public and Private Key combine to
avail you with a digital signature. A public key
is the way other would identify you. And a
private key lets you sign digitally and authorize
various actions as per this digital identity. A
blockchain ledger consists of two types of
records blocks and individual transactions. The
first block is known to hold on to the header and
data pertaining to transactions that are set for
a considered time period. Hash, which is an
alphanumeric string, is created with the help of
the blockchains time period. Once the first
block is created the succeeding hashes use the
previous blocks hash to calculate their own.
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via halpernfinancial Validation or verification
of authenticity is important before a new block
is actually added to the chain. For this, the
majority of nodes in the blockchain should agree
that the hash for new block had been calculated
correctly. The consensus makes sure that all the
copies of the distributed ledger are sharing the
same state. Once a block has been added it can be
referenced to other blocks. However, neither of
them could be changed. If any attempts are made
in order to swap out the blocks, this will
disrupt the shared state of the ledger because
of the change in the hashes of previous and
subsequent blocks. When consensus is not
possible, other computers in the network get
aware of the occurrence of a problem and that no
new blocks would be added unless the problem is
solved.
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Basically, in this case, the block creating an
error would be removed and the consensus process
would be repeated. ALSO READ SOURCE CODE
REVIEW APPROACH, CHALLENGES AND BEST
METHODS Blockchain Platforms There can be both
permission and permission-less Blockchain
platforms. In permissionless, public Blockchains
like Bitcoin, each node that is a part of the
network can participate in the consensus process
and conduct a transaction. In a permissioned,
private chain, for instance, Multichain, every
node can conduct transactions. However, not all
of them can participate in the consensus process
only a limited number of approved nodes can do
so. Understand better with this
video Advantages and Disadvantages of Blockchain
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There are many cited benefits that arrive with
the use of Blockchain. One of those major
advantages of this technology is Security. It may
be almost impossible to corrupt any
blockchain. Information is shared and reconciled
continually by thousand and millions of
computers. It is hard to find even a single point
of failure in a Blockchain. Even if one node
tends to go down, there would be no problem
created as the other nodes hold the copy of the
ledger. When the positive face of a coin is
considered, there also exists the negative.
Therefore, several challenges, risks, and
drawbacks exist with Blockchain technology
too. In case of public blockchains, no party can
be trusted or be held responsible if a problem
arises. Private blockchains hold with them the
interrogation with respect to whether or not the
organizations would be willing to invest in its
infrastructure of IT chargeback. It is an
accounting strategy that applies to the cost of
the IT services which include database
transactions. ALSO READ SHAREPOINT INTRANET
LUCRATIVE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES Why
Decentralization? Many Blockchain enthusiasts had
been talking about the decentralized aspect it
follows. Well, the reason why decentralization is
one of the most important elements of it is that
it makes a blockchain impervious to tampering
corruption or censorship. Since blockchain uses
a peer-to-peer network and different copies of
ledger, it is important to ensure that every
single transaction is tracked and verified and
every node keeps well to the track in the most
trustworthy manner. Moreover, block-chaining
enables extensive practices in e-commerce and
proper detection of any fraudulent practices
that may have taken place. It would be one of
the best ways to maintain decentralized
economies. This basic guide for Blockchain
technology would surely help you well.
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