welcome
Thank you for purchasing the MEAP edition of the Blockchain in Action. Blockchain is the hot topic today as the enabler for peer-to-peer transfer of cryptocurrencies without intermediaries such as banks. Blockchain is ushering in a new era in distributed systems, where software will enable decentralization and disintermediation. There is significant demand for designers and developers knowledgeable about this emerging area. The overarching goal of this book to prepare blockchain programmers and designers.
I heard about blockchain technology in 2016 and wanted to explore more. I found out at that time there are not many resources available for learning about it except for some YouTube videos, white papers, and blog posts. In 2017, I self-taught myself by experimenting with a blockchain called Monax and taught blockchain in an emerging technology course in India using this platform. In 2017, I signed up with Coursera to produce a four-course MOOC (massive open online course) specialization on blockchain that resulted in its launch in June 2018. I researched quite extensively to produce 64 video lessons with hands-on code that provides comprehensive coverage--from blockchain’s origin in Bitcoin all the way to latest decentralized applications. Ethereum blockchain was used for hands-on code explorations.