Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed ledger that records data in an ordered sequence of cryptographically linked, tamper-evident blocks.
The Joy of JavaScript
A blockchain is a distributed append-only ledger composed of chronologically ordered blocks linked by cryptographic hashes.
- How it is used
- Uses a small transaction ledger to connect hash-linked storage with practical JavaScript domain modeling.
- How deep it goes
- Defines block linkage and sketches storage, hashing, mining, generation, and streaming, while stopping short of a production-ready protocol.
- Examples
- Illustrates a wallet payment, JavaScript Block and Blockchain classes, a nonce-search loop, and a chain reaching height 21.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch as a small JavaScript ledger model and experiment with mining or observing newly pushed blocks.
Real-World Cryptography
A block chain is an ordered sequence of linked blocks extending one another across protocol rounds.
- How it is used
- Organizes transactions into a shared, ordered ledger whose participants resolve competing histories.
- How deep it goes
- Explains block links, proof of work, forks, reorganizations, and storage growth, while deferring implementation details.
- Examples
- Uses Bitcoin transactions, a toy blockchain, a wine-payment double spend, and Mina’s fixed-size history proof.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate transaction history, recognize tampering and forks, and judge why confirmations and storage strategies matter.
Related concepts
- cryptocurrencyused by · A cryptocurrency is a digital asset whose ownership and transfers are secured and recorded using cryptographic mechanisms, typically through a distributed ledger.
- digital signatureuses · A digital signature is cryptographic data generated with a private key and verified with corresponding public information to authenticate data or its signer and detect alteration.
- private keyused by · A private key is the secret component of an asymmetric cryptographic key pair used by its holder for operations such as authentication, decryption, or digital signing.
- bilinear pairinguses · A bilinear pairing is a map from two groups into a third group that preserves the group operation in each argument separately.
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