Description
As cryptocurrencies and their underlying data structure, blockchains, become further intertwined in our daily lives, a full understanding of them is essential to anyone who wants to keep up and remain informed of the future of finance. There is no better learning method than a hands-on one, and Learn Blockchain by Building One offers just that. Develop your own blockchain using Python with step-by-step instructions from author Daniel van Flymen, an expert in the field. You will come away with a confident working knowledge of popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and which foundations make them work. Through helpful exercises and real-world examples, you will understand the core concepts of peer-to-peer networking, proof of work, hashing, encryption, and digital signatures. Learn Blockchain by Building One gives you timely, real-world lessons in blockchain and cryptocurrencies that you will need as our modern society becomes increasingly digitally sophisticated. The lasting implications of such technology, including the security of personal transactions and the role of government regulation, are not to be underestimated. Stay ahead of the curve and become a confident blockchain builder now! What You Will Learn Develop a fully-fledged blockchain in Python Obtain a ground-up understanding of of Proof of Work Grasp core cryptographic concepts, such as hashing, encryption, and digital signatures Understand how gossip protocols and peer-to-peer networking works by implementing a TCP client-server Realize the differences and trade-offs between popular blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at intermediate programmers in any area from finance to academia. Readers should be comfortable reading and writing basic Python. Daniel van Flymen currently works as an Engineering Manager at Blink Health. He was previously Head of Software at Hero Health NYC. He is a regular contributor to popular open source projects, like adding environment variable support to Python’s pipenv. He is a frequent guest on on the Software Engineering Daily Podcast, having been on popular episodes like Understanding Bitcoin Transactions and Blockchain Engineering. Chapter 0: Python Primer Primary Goal: Familiarize the reader with Python. Show how to install and import packages. Run programs. Chapter 1: A unique way to identify everything Primary Goal: The reader must have a working knowledge of hashing and hashing functions, and why they are important. Secondary Goal: How email spam led to the formation of Cryptocurrencies (Adam Back’s Hashcash Algorithm) Chapter 2: Peaking under the hood Primary Goal: Explain what’s in a Block, and why. The reader leaves with an understanding of why chains of hashes create immutability. Chapter 3: The Proof is in the Pudding Primary Goal: Proof of Work. The reader leaves with a working understanding of Proof of Work-a consensus protocol. Secondary Goal: The reader learns about alternative consensus protocols, such as Proof of Stake, Proof of Burn, Hybrids, and Proof of Luck. Tertiary Goal: Explain the rules for Block acceptable, and how there are always multiple valid chains at any given time. Chapter 4: Networking Primary Goal: This is a practical, technical chapter on Socket Programming. The user will learn how to send and receive packets of information over the internet. Chapter 5: If in doubt decentralize Primary Goal: Explain how P2P network work. Secondary Goal: Explain how routing mechanisms work: these are what give resilience to decentralized networks. Chapter 6: Cryptography 101 Primary Goal: Explain how digital signatures work. Explain how public-private key cryptography work. Practical examples. Chapter 7: Transactions Primary Goal: Explain how Transactions work, and implement them. Secondary Goal: Explain how UTXOs work (Bitcoin), and account-based Transactions work (Ethereum). Chapter 8: Flavors of Crypto Primary Goal: Explain how the different Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains differ. Have the reader compare them to their own implementation.
