This guide will only contain must have information regarding key elements in Blockchain & practical walkthrough as well. Blockchain technology has many flavors which are designed according to industry needs, here we will focus primarily on two flavors, called Ethereum & Hyperledger Fabric.
Basically a Blockchain consists of these elements:
- Genesis block (first block)
- Chain of blocks
- Each block have data, hash, previous block hash (If data changes -> hash will change)
- Proof of work (also called mining -> consume processing power)
- Consensus of Nodes (in Peer-to-Peer network)
It can be of two types depending on purpose of use.
- Public blockchain
- Private blockchain
A public blockchain network is completely open. Anyone can join and participate in the network. The network typically has an incentivizing mechanism to encourage more participants to join the network. Bitcoin is one of the largest public blockchain networks in production today while Ethereum comes second.
A private blockchain involves a separate, essentially closed network, of blockchain participants (also known as nodes). Each participant has their own copy of the blockchain, essentially a ledger, with a locked down history of all of the transactions that took place in the network. Hyperledger Fabric is an example of private blockchain.
For further insight and practical walkthrough, please visit our complete guide on Virtual Force Website