After my day 3, i felt like taking a break off from web3 related topics as it seems to be something i see often and feel really bad that i don't really understand much about it yet. But i got back again after spending time with few friends on twitter space discussing tech related stuffs and future of tech. I was really amazed on how i was able to communicate with them immediately web security came up and how authorities handle user data in web2, that was when i finally realized that what i have been reading is working and i'm also glad to put it out here just so i can come back to it when i finally get to be a senior 😀. So i am continuing my journey regardless how tough it gets.
Last time i spoke about the key components of blockchain architecture, and also listed them. I will like to explain those components here.
- Blocks: This chain is a set of blocks in a linear fashion where the latest block is attached to the previous block, each of those blocks are filled with datas. The structure of the data stored inside each block is determined by the blockchain type and how it manages the data. It is also important to note that the first block in any blockchain is known as the Genesis block .
The genesis block doesn't have any preceeding block unlike the rest of the blocks that comes after. Also, in a block, there's an important information known as the Harsh(to be discussed later)
Transaction: This consists of information, including the sender, receiver, and value. It is similar to a transaction done on modern credit card platforms, the only difference is that the transaction here is done without a centralized system or authority. This takes place within the network when one peer sends information to another peer. It is an important element of any blockchain, and without it there would be no purpose of transaction. A simple example would be a user sending bitcoin to another user. The transaction initiates an agreed-contract blockchain which changes its state. As the whole blockchain is a decentralized network, it needs to be updated by all the nodes. Each node contains an exact copy of the ledger, and thus, a state of blockchain is created. Any single transaction can initiate a state change. There is a limit on how much transactions a block can contain. It depends on the block, transaction size and any imposing limit on how much transactions can stay in a block. The verification of the transaction is done by independent nodes based on the consensus method used.
Consensus: This is a method through which a transaction is validated. For each chains, there is a different consensus method that is being attached to it, just like bitcoin utilizes Proof-of-Work (PoW), and Ethereum uses the Proof-of-Stake (PoS). Here are the popular list of consensus methods:
Proof-of-Work (PoW)
- Proof-of-Stake (PoS)
- Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS)
- Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT).
The details can be found here. That's a wrap for day 4.