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Kordan Ou edited this page Dec 3, 2017 · 2 revisions

Blockchain = Block + Chain

A blockchain is a distributed database with a list (that is, chain) of records (that is, blocks) linked and secured by digital fingerprints (that is, cryptho hashes).

b0 = Block.first(
        { from: "Dutchgrown", to: "Vincent", what: "Tulip Bloemendaal Sunset", qty: 10 },
        { from: "Keukenhof",  to: "Anne",    what: "Tulip Semper Augustus",    qty: 7  } )

b1 = Block.next( b0,
        { from: "Flowers",    to: "Ruben",   what: "Tulip Admiral van Eijck",  qty: 5  },
        { from: "Vicent",     to: "Anne",    what: "Tulip Bloemendaal Sunset", qty: 3  },
        { from: "Anne",       to: "Julia",   what: "Tulip Semper Augustus",    qty: 1  },
        { from: "Julia",      to: "Luuk",    what: "Tulip Semper Augustus",    qty: 1  } )
...

(Source: blockchain_with_transactions.rb)

Awesome Blockchains

A collection about awesome blockchains - open distributed databases w/ crypto hashes incl. git ;-). Blockchains are the new tulips 🌷🌷🌷.

Contents:

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s) & Answers

Q: What's a Merkle Tree?

A: A Merkle tree is a hash tree named after Ralph Merkle who patented the concept in 1979 (the patent expired in 2002). A hash tree is a generalization of hash lists or hash chains where every leaf node (in the tree) is labelled with a data block and every non-leaf node (in the tree) is labelled with the crypto(graphic) hash of the labels of its child nodes. For more see the Merkle tree Wikipedia Article.

Note: By adding crypto(graphic) hash functions you can "merkelize" any data structure.

Q: What's a Merkelized DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)?

A: It's a blockchain secured by crypto(graphic) hashes that uses a directed acyclic graph data structure (instead of linear "classic" linked list).

Note: Git uses merkelized dag (directed acyclic graph)s for its blockchains.

Q: Is the Git Repo a Blockchain?

A: Yes, every branch in the git repo is a blockchain. The "classic" Satoshi-blockchain is like a git repo with a single master branch (only).

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) - Build Your Own Blockchain

Articles

Let's Build the Tiniest Blockchain in Python Series by Gerald Nash

Build Your Own Blockchain: A Python Tutorial by Eric Munsing, March 2017, (Source)

Writing a Tiny Blockchain in JavaScript by Xavier Decuyper, July 2017

Building Blockchain in Go Series by Ivan Kuznetsov, (Source)

Build Your Own Blockchain (in Python 3) Series by Jack Schultz, (Source)

Learn Blockchains by Building One (in Python) by Daniel van Flymen, September 2017, (Source) -- The fastest way to learn how Blockchains work is to build one

How Does Bitcoin Force Consensus Among Byzantine Generals? by Fabio Akita, November 2017

Blockchain Articles

Reflections on the Blockchain by Rufus Pollock (Open Knowledge Foundation), July 2016 -- The DAO: Code is not Law – and It’s Dangerous to Think So ++ The Internet changed the world - surely the Blockchain will too? ++ Gold-rush or Internet-rush? ++ Governance Matters in Bitcoin ++ The Myth of a Costless, Ownerless Network ++ Lessons from History

On the Dangers of a Blockchain Monoculture by Tony Arcieri, January 2016 -- The Bitcoin blockchain: the world's worst database ++ Next-generation protocols ++ Decentralized ledger protocols ++ Bitcoin-NG ++ Blockchain! Blockchain! Blockchain! ++ The great decentralized database in the sky

I Don’t Believe in Blockchain by Tim Bray, May 2017

Minimum Viable Blockchain by Ilya Grigorik, May 2014 -- Securing transactions with triple-entry bookkeeping ++ Securing transactions with PKI ++ Balance = Σ(receipts) ++ Multi-party transfers & verification ++ Double-spending and distributed consensus - Requirements for a distributed consensus network; Protecting the network from Sybil attacks; Proof-of-work as a participation requirement ++ Building the minimum viable blockchain - Adding "blocks" & transaction fee incentives; Racing to claim the transaction fees; Resolving chain conflicts; Blocks are never final ++ Properties of the (minimum viable) blockchain

Blockchains by analogies and applications: How blockchain compares to Git, Raft, and other technologies. by Kieren James-Lubin, January 2016 -- Blockchains are databases ++ Understanding transactions ++ Persistent, replicated databases (related technology: Git) ++ Peer-to-peer networks (related technology: BitTorrent) ++ Distributed consensus (related technology: distributed databases, Raft) ++ Minting new coins (mining) ++ Embedded identities (related technology: TLS) ++ Smart contracts: Like SQL expressions & triggers ++ What can we really do with blockchains?

Blockchain Books

Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts by David Gerard, London, 2017 -- What is a bitcoin? ++ The Bitcoin ideology ++ The incredible promises of Bitcoin! ++ Early Bitcoin: the rise to the first bubble ++ How Bitcoin mining centralised ++ Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? ++ Spending bitcoins in 2017 ++ Trading bitcoins in 2017: the second crypto bubble ++ Altcoins ++ Smart contracts, stupid humans ++ Business bafflegab, but on the Blockchain ++ Case study: Why you can’t put the music industry on a blockchain

Mastering Bitcoin - Programming the Open Blockchain 2nd Edition, by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, 2017 - FREE (Online Source Version) -- What Is Bitcoin? ++ How Bitcoin Works ++ Bitcoin Core: The Reference Implementation ++ Keys, Addresses ++ Wallets ++ Transactions ++ Advanced Transactions and Scripting ++ The Bitcoin Network ++ The Blockchain ++ Mining and Consensus ++ Bitcoin Security ++ Blockchain Applications

Blockchain for Dummies, IBM Limited Edition by Manav Gupta, 2017 - FREE (Digital Download w/ Email) -- Grasping Blockchain Fundamentals ++ Taking a Look at How Blockchain Works ++ Propelling Business with Blockchains ++ Blockchain in Action: Use Cases ++ Hyperledger, a Linux Foundation Project ++ Ten Steps to Your First Blockchain application

Blockchain (Lite) Crypto Hash Libraries

RubyJavaScript

Ruby

blockchain.lite (github: openblockchains/blockchain.lite.rb, gem: blockchain-lite) - build your own blockchain with crypto hashes - revolutionize the world with blockchains, blockchains, blockchains one block at a time

require 'blockchain-lite'

b0 = Block.first( "Genesis" )
b1 = Block.next( b0, "Transaction Data..." )
b2 = Block.next( b1, "Transaction Data......" )
b3 = Block.next( b2, "More Transaction Data..." )

blockchain = [b0, b1, b2, b3]

pp blockchain   

will pretty print (pp) something like:

[#<Block:0x1eed2a0
  @index         = 0,
  @timestamp     = 1637-09-15 20:52:38,
  @data          = "Genesis",
  @previous_hash = "0",
  @hash          = "edbd4e11e69bc399a9ccd8faaea44fb27410fe8e3023bb9462450a0a9c4caa1b">,
 #<Block:0x1eec9a0
  @index         = 1,
  @timestamp     = 1637-09-15 21:02:38,
  @data          = "Transaction Data...",
  @hash          = "eb8ecbf6d5870763ae246e37539d82e37052cb32f88bb8c59971f9978e437743",
  @previous_hash = "edbd4e11e69bc399a9ccd8faaea44fb27410fe8e3023bb9462450a0a9c4caa1b">,
  ...

JavaScript

blockchain.lite (github: openblockchains/blockchain.lite.js, npm: blockchain-lite) - build your own blockchain with crypto hashes - revolutionize the world with blockchains, blockchains, blockchains one block at a time

const Blocks = require( "blockchain-lite" )

// use basic block
let Block = Blocks.basic

let b0 = Block.first( 'Genesis' )
let b1 = Block.next( b0, 'Transaction Data...' )
let b2 = Block.next( b1, 'Transaction Data......' )
let b3 = Block.next( b2, 'More Transaction Data...' )

let blockchain = [b0, b1, b2, b3]

console.log( blockchain )

will log something like:

[ Block {
    index: 0,
    timestamp: 2017-09-25 17:03:38,
    data: 'Genesis',
    previousHash: '0',
    hash: '08f4fa71628c5bc6b430228738bc8c41afaf508ece0b1cf9c9cac53d02e11829' },
  Block {
    index: 1,
    timestamp: 2017-09-25 17:13:38,
    data: 'Transaction Data...',
    previousHash: '08f4fa71628c5bc6b430228738bc8c41afaf508ece0b1cf9c9cac53d02e11829',
    hash: '740a4aeb3441484c96d1e7f63d31b716220ccee3b6fe94547cae2afbb6010626' },
  Block {
    index: 2,
    timestamp: 2017-09-25 17:23:38,
    data: 'Transaction Data......',
    previousHash: '740a4aeb3441484c96d1e7f63d31b716220ccee3b6fe94547cae2afbb6010626',
    hash: '28b6892a069e2ff7f1c3128ab495d7cd9b9b1636a51a7f69db93a14b1ee6b1a7' },
  Block {
    index: 3,
    timestamp: 2017-09-25 17:33:38,
    data: 'More Transaction Data...',
    previousHash: '28b6892a069e2ff7f1c3128ab495d7cd9b9b1636a51a7f69db93a14b1ee6b1a7',
    hash: '4cc0329b2c0cb32e0451fa3179bd944d4cd0fcf410939172f979e9fd2aa9f5f3' } ]

Git, Git, Git - The Stupid Content Tracker with Crypto Hashes

Everything is local. Distributed is the new centralized.

Quotes - Blockchains and Git

Yep, that's the joke. Nobody has been able to explain to me how the "blockchain" buzzword is significantly different to "git repo". -- Yaakov

But if you said "let's build a currency where all transactions are stored in a git repo" you wouldn't be taken seriously for even 24 hrs. -- Yaakov

Soon explaining git like "a git repo is like a blockchain with commits instead of blocks". -- Nicolás Berger

"A local branch is like a state channel. It can be pushed and merged into the master blockchain at any moment." -- Nicolás Berger

The #Blockchain has changed the world. Here I make the argument that the #Blockchain is just like #git. -- Jackson Kelley

Books

Learn Enough Git to Be Dangerous by Michael Hartl - FREE (Online Version) -- Getting started ++ Backing up and sharing ++ Intermediate workflow ++ Collaborating ++ Conclusion ++ Advanced setup

Pro Git by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub, 2nd Edition, 2014 - FREE (Online Version) -- Getting Started ++ Git Basics ++ Git Branching ++ Git on the Server ++ Distributed Git ++ GitHub ++ Git Tools ++ Customizing Git ++ Git and Other Systems ++ Git Internals ++ A1: Git in Other Environments ++ A2: Embedding Git in your Applications ++ A3: Git Commands

Git gets easier once you get the basic idea that branches are homeomorphic endofunctors mapping submanifolds of a Hilbert space. -- Anonymous

Open Distributed Databases on Git

football.db - open public domain football datasets (incl. clubs, national teams, leagues, match schedules, etc.)

world.db - open public domain world (country) datasets

beer.db - open public domain beer & brewery datasets

Add a beer transaction to the #blockchain on #git and win a free Wiener Lager beer! Cheers. Prost. -- Gerald Bauer @ Vienna.html

Open Distributed (Hyper) Ledger Books on Git

Schilling - Schilling on the Blockchain! - Rock-Solid Alpine Dollar from Austria

Tulips - Tulips on the Blockchain! - Learn by Example from the Real World (Anno 1637) - Buy! Sell! Hold! Enjoy the Beauty of Admiral of Admirals, Semper Augustus, and More

Classic Tulip Mania

A period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637.

Quotes - Blockchains are the next Internets / Tulips

People who compare digital tokens to tulips are essentially saying digital tokens are a bubble backed by nothing but pure hype and speculation.

What they fail to understand is that tulips come from dirt, not a blockchain.

And as we all know, blockchain is possibly the best technological innovation since the internet. It will have a tremendous impact on global business and society in general. -- TulipToken

Books

Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash, 2001 -- A Mania for Tulips ++ The Valley of Tien Shan ++ Within the Abode of Bliss ++ Stranger from the East ++ Clusius ++ Leiden ++ An Adornment to the Cleavage ++ The Tulip in the Mirror ++ Florists ++ Boom ++ At the Sign of the Golden Grape ++ The Orphans of Wouter Winkel ++ Bust ++ Goddess of Whores ++ At the Court of the Tulip King ++ Late Flowering

Events, Meetups, Orgs

Revolutionize the world one country at a time. Blockchainers of the world, unite!

Awesome Awesomeness

A curated list of awesome lists.

  • Awesome Blockchain by Igor Barinov et al -- a curated list of the bitcoin blockchain services
  • Awesome Blockchain by Tim Reznich et al -- a curated list of blockchain services and exchanges
  • Awesome Blockchain by istinspring et al -- a curated list of awesome projects and services based on blockchain technology
  • Awesome Coins by Kenneth Reitz et al -- a guide to cryto-currencies and their algos
  • Awesome Git by Dick Tang et al -- a curated list of amazingly awesome Git tools, resources and shiny things
  • Awesome by Sindre Sorhus et al -- a curated list of awesome lists

Meta

License

The awesome list is dedicated to the public domain. Use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever.