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It "blockchain" later became a buzzword that represented anything related to BitCoin, alt-coins ex: LiteCoin, Ethereum, etc , cryptocurrencies, etc. And now that the word "blockchain" is on the verge of becoming a household name , it seems like it is starting to include what some others used to call "P2P" , and are now calling "distributed computing".
In some usages of the label "blockchain" , neither blocks or hash lists seemed to be necessary for that thing to be called a "blockchain". This seems to somewhat mirror how previously the usage of the word "P2P" seemed to broaden and also include what others are calling "distributed computing".
Although this time around, cryptography and various concepts of "money" seems to have prominence. But also includes some topics that the author of this document feels that, while not strictly about blockchains, will help provide readers with a deep er technical background that can be useful when working with or creating blockchain based technologies. This document is targeted at technical people, who are looking to gain a deep understand of the concepts behind blockchain based technologies.
Please, not another bias! An evolutionary take on behavioural economics , by Jason Collins. Hierarchy in the Forest , by Christopher Boehm. How the Bitcoin protocol actually works , by Michael Nielsen. But how does bitcoin actually work? Ever wonder how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies actually work?
Mastering Bitcoin , by Andreas M. Hidden surprises in the Bitcoin blockchain and how they are stored: Nelson Mandela, Wikileaks, photos, and Python software , by Ken Shirriff. Colored Coins - Bitcoin Wiki.
Colored Coins - Wikipedia. Coloring Scheme. Magnet URI scheme Wikipedia ,. HTTP Digest. Everything you need to know about cryptography in 1 hour , by Colin Percival.
Introduction to Distributed System Design. The Log: What every software engineer should know about real-time data's unifying abstraction , by Jay Kreps. Immutability Changes Everything video , by Pat Helland.
Immutability Changes Everything paper , by Pat Helland. Frans Kaashoek, Hari Balakrishnan. So, you want to trace your distributed system? Key design insights from years of practical experience by Raja R. See also: Consensus , Peer-to-Peer Networks. Blind signatures for untraceable payments , by David Chaum. An introduction to ecash. Ethereum in 25 Minutes , by Vitalik Buterin. Mastering Ethereum , by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood. A Cypherpunk's Manifesto , by Eric Hughes. Cyphernomicon , by Timothy C.
Crypto , by Steven Levy.
Homesteading the Noosphere , by Eric Steven Raymond. The Wikipedia Revolution , by Andrew Lih. Getting Started with OAuth 2. Digital Identity , by Phillip J. MasterCoin Complete Specification Version 1. Beginner Sep 11, Cryptocurrencies are known to be completely transparent and that all transactions are verifiable. However, not everyone might know exactly how this works.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are very unique when comparing them to traditional money.
They make use of a technology called blockchain. This is, in short, a distributed ledger of all transactions. What this means is that all the transactions ever made for each cryptocurrency are recorded on a single blockchain, holding its entire history. Remember how you would keep your receipts and check your bank account each month, just to make sure that all transactions on it were correct? Or perhaps you just trusted your bank instead. Nearly all cryptocurrencies use public blockchains, where every detail of each transaction ever made can be seen.
What does this mean for you? So how can you check the entire history of a blockchain? Block explorers are your entry point into seeing all transactions that have ever existed on a blockchain. From here, you can check the balance of each address, see the details of each transaction and more. There are a lot of different block explorers out there, which makes sense: there are also a lot of different cryptocurrencies out there.
Most often, a block explorer only caters to a single crypto asset. Some common block explorers include: — Bitcoin: blockchain.
What these block explorers allow you to do is look up the balance of individual addresses that you enter, or transaction details of any Transaction ID that you fill in. For addresses, this includes every incoming and outgoing transaction that the specific address has ever seen. For Transactions, it shows you who sent the transaction, how much has been sent, its destination and the fees that were paid for it. In short, a block explorer is kind of like an encyclopedia for blockchain transactions and addresses — its entire history can be looked up.
For those unfamiliar with cryptocurrency transactions, this might seem quite confusing. A mishmash of numbers and letters. The transaction hash, also known as the Transaction ID, is the identifier of this specific transaction. This section shows which address is sending cryptocurrencies associated to it, as well as how much it is sending.
You can also click on the address to see its incoming and outgoing transaction history. When you make a Bitcoin transaction, you will automatically send the full amount from your address with the rest sent to your change address. In this example, your address has a balance of 1 BTC. You want to send 0. When you create a transaction, you will send the entire balance of your address. They receive the 0.