Blockchain has made crypto-currencies stand out, and has provided a base for cryptocurrencies to operate on. The blockchain is a decentralized open digital ledger that keeps track of the transactions taking place. More definitions of blockchain was coined in page 1 and 2 under this topic of this series. Make sure to check them out on this account.
This article will explain briefly the structure of the blockchain, the components and its operation.
The blockchain makes use of peer to peer system of operations. Every data or information created on the blockchain are in the form of blocks. Every node connected to the network has a cryptography representation of the previous block, meaning the blocks in the network are similar. The blockchain is open, so many people can house the storage system . To hack into the blockchain you will have hack every single network connected to the blockchain, which is almost impossible if not impossible at all.
Block: A block is simply data, it holds data of valid transactions in the blockchain and is linked to other blocks. Every block has an hash of the previous block. It holds information of the previous block time stamp and transaction history. Information can't be lost or deleted in the blockchain, because every block keeps an information storage of other blocks
A hard fork is a rule change such that the software validating according to the old rules will see the blocks produced according to the new rules as invalid. In case of a hard fork, all nodes meant to work in accordance with the new rules need to upgrade their software.
The block time is the average time it takes for the network to generate one extra block in the blockchain.[32] Some blockchains create a new block as frequently as every five seconds.[33] By the time of block completion, the included data becomes verifiable. In cryptocurrency, this is practically when the transaction takes place, so a shorter block time means faster transactions. The block time for Ethereum is set to between 14 and 15 seconds, while for bitcoin it is 10 minutes
There are other components like
Decentralisation, permission less, openness and lots more which have being discussed on this topic.
If you're reading this for the first time
take your time to go through the previous post on this topic to fully understand crypto-currency and blockchain.
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