Mastering Blockchain : a technical reference guide to what's under the hood of Blockchain, from cryptography to DeFi and NFTs / Imran Bashir.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bashir, Imran, author.

Series:

Expert insight.

Expert insight

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Electronic funds transfers.

Blockchains (Databases).

Bitcoin.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (819 pages)

Edition:

4th ed.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham, England : Packt Publishing, Limited, [2023]

Biography/History:

Bashir Imran: Imran Bashir has an M. Sc. in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has a background in software development, solution architecture, infrastructure management, and IT service management. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS). Imran has extensive experience in both the public and financial sectors, having worked on large-scale IT projects in the public sector before moving to the financial services industry. Since then, he has worked in various technical roles for different financial companies in Europe's financial capital, London.

Summary:

Demystify one of the most disruptive modern technologies and gain an understanding of distributed ledger technology, consensus protocols, smart contracts, DApps, blockchain scalability, privacy, security, and more. Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, with applications in finance, government, media, and more. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, this new edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated according to the latest blockchain research. With new chapters on decentralized finance, decentralized identity, blockchain privacy, scalability, security, and bonus online content exploring alternative blockchains, this is an unmissable read for everyone who wants to gain a deep understanding of blockchain. Although this book covers the basics, including blockchain's technical underpinnings, cryptography, and consensus protocols, it doesn't shy away from advanced topics and practical expertise, such as decentralized application (DApp) development using smart contracts. Throughout the book, you'll explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, and tokenization, and gain insight into the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology. By the end of this blockchain book, you will have gained a thorough understanding of the various facets of blockchain and understand the potential of this technology in diverse real-world scenarios.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 : Blockchain 101

The growth of blockchain technology

Progress towards maturity

Rising interest

Distributed systems

CAP theorem

PACELC theorem

The history of blockchain

Bitcoin

Electronic cash

Introducing blockchain

Blockchain architecture

Blockchain by layers

Blockchain in business

Generic elements of a blockchain

Blockchain functionality

Benefits and features of blockchain

Limitations of blockchain technology

Types of blockchain

Distributed ledgers

Shared ledger

Public blockchains

Private blockchains

Semi-private blockchains

Permissioned ledger

Fully private and proprietary blockchains

Tokenized blockchains

Tokenless blockchains

Layer 1 blockchains

Monolithic and polylithic blockchains

Layer 2 blockchains

Sidechains

Summary

Chapter 2 : Decentralization

Introducing decentralization

Methods of decentralization

Disintermediation

Contest-driven decentralization

Quantifying decentralization

Benefits of decentralization

Evaluating requirements

Full-ecosystem decentralization

Storage

Communication

Computing power

Decentralization in practice

Smart contracts

Autonomous agents

Decentralized organizations

Decentralized autonomous organizations

Decentralized autonomous corporations

Decentralized autonomous societies

Decentralized applications

Criteria for a DApp

Operations of a DApp

Design of a DApp

Innovative trends

Decentralized web

Web 1

Web 2

Web 3

Chapter 3 : Symmetric Cryptography

Introducing cryptography

Services provided by cryptography

Cryptographic primitives

Keyless primitives

Random numbers

Hash functions

Symmetric key primitives

Message authentication codes.

Secret key ciphers

Advanced Encryption Standard

Data Encryption Standard

How AES works

Encrypting and decrypting using AES

Chapter 4 : Asymmetric Cryptography

Foundational mathematics

Asymmetric cryptography

Public and private keys

Asymmetric cryptography algorithms

Integer factorization

Discrete logarithm

Elliptic curves

Integrated encryption scheme

Introducing RSA

Encrypting and decrypting with RSA

Introducing ECC

Mathematics behind ECC

Point addition

Point doubling

Point multiplication

The discrete logarithm problem

Generating keys with ECC

Digital signatures

RSA digital signature algorithms

Generating RSA digital signatures

The elliptic curve digital signature algorithm

Generating ECDSA digital signatures

Different types of digital signatures

Blind signatures

Multisignatures

Threshold signatures

Aggregate signatures

Ring signatures

Cryptographic constructs and blockchain technology

Homomorphic encryption

Secret sharing

Commitment schemes

Zero-knowledge proofs

zk-SNARKs

zk-STARKs

Zero-knowledge range proofs

Encoding schemes

Base64

base58

Verifiable random functions

Chapter 5 : Consensus Algorithms

Introducing consensus

Fault tolerance

FLP impossibility

Analysis and design

Model

Processes

Timing assumptions

Classification

Algorithms

CFT algorithms

Paxos

Raft

BFT algorithms

Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance

Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance

Tendermint

Nakamoto consensus

Variants of PoW

HotStuff

Choosing an algorithm

Finality

Speed, performance, and scalability

Chapter 6 : Bitcoin Architecture

Introducing Bitcoin

Cryptographic keys

Private keys in Bitcoin

Public keys in Bitcoin

Addresses.

Typical Bitcoin addresses

Advanced Bitcoin addresses

Transactions

Coinbase transactions

The transaction lifecycle

Transaction validation

Transaction fees

The transaction data structure

Metadata

Inputs

Outputs

Verification

The Script language

Opcodes

Standard transaction scripts

Contracts

Transaction bugs

Blockchain

Structure

The genesis block

Stale and orphan blocks

Forks

Properties

Miners

Proof of Work (PoW)

Mining systems

CPU

GPU

FPGAs

ASICs

Mining pools

Network

Types of messages

Client software

Bloom filters

Wallets

Chapter 7 : Bitcoin in Practice

Bitcoin in the real world

Bitcoin payments

Innovation in Bitcoin

Bitcoin improvement proposals

Advanced protocols

Segregated Witness

Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Unlimited

Bitcoin Gold

Taproot

Extended protocols on top of Bitcoin

Colored coins

Counterparty

Altcoins from Bitcoin

Bitcoin client installation

Types of clients and tools

Setting up a Bitcoin node

Setting up the source code

Setting up bitcoin.conf

Starting up a node in the testnet

Starting up a node in regtest

Experimenting further with bitcoin-cli

Using the Bitcoin command-line tool

Using the JSON-RPC interface

Using the HTTP REST interface

Bitcoin programming

Chapter 8 : Smart Contracts

Introducing smart contracts

Definitions

Real-world application

Ricardian contracts

Smart contract templates

Oracles

Software-and network-assisted proofs

TLSNotary

TLS-N-based mechanism

Hardware device-assisted proofs

Android proof

Ledger proof

Trusted hardware-assisted proofs

Types of blockchain oracles

Inbound oracles

Outbound oracles

Cryptoeconomic oracles

Blockchain oracle services.

Deploying smart contracts

The DAO

Advances in smart contract technology

Solana Sealevel

Digital Asset Modeling Language

Chapter 9 : Ethereum Architecture

Introducing Ethereum

Cryptocurrency

Keys and addresses

Accounts

Transactions and messages

MPTs

Transaction components

Recursive Length Prefix

Gas

Transaction types

Simple transactions

Contract creation transactions

Message call transactions

Messages

Transaction validation and execution

State and storage in the Ethereum blockchain

The world state

The account state

Transaction receipts

Ethereum virtual machine

Execution environment

The machine state

Blocks and blockchain

Block validation, finalization, and processing

Block difficulty mechanism

Nodes and miners

The consensus mechanism

Forks in the blockchain

The Ethereum network

Main net

Test nets

Private nets

Precompiled smart contracts

Programming languages

Solidity

Runtime bytecode

Wallets and client software

Geth

Light clients

Supporting protocols

Whisper

Swarm

Chapter 10 : Ethereum in Practice

Ethereum payments

Innovations in Ethereum

Difficulty time bomb

EIP-1559

The merge and upcoming upgrades

Programming with Geth

Installing and configuring the Geth client

Creating a Geth new account

Querying the blockchain using Geth

Geth console

Geth attach

Geth JSON RPC API

Setting up a development environment

Connecting to test networks

Creating a private network

Starting up the private network

Experimenting with the Geth JavaScript console

Mining and sending transactions

Introducing Remix IDE

Interacting with the Ethereum Blockchain with MetaMask

Installing MetaMask.

Creating and funding an account with MetaMask

Using MetaMask and Remix IDE to deploy a smart contract

Adding a custom network to MetaMask and connecting it with Remix IDE

Importing accounts into MetaMask using keystore files

Deploying a contract with MetaMask

Interacting with a contract through MetaMask using Remix IDE

Chapter 11 : Tools, Languages, and Frameworks for Ethereum Developers

Languages

The Solidity compiler

Installing solc

Experimenting with solc

Tools, libraries, and frameworks

Node.js

Ganache

ganache-cli

Ganache UI

Truffle

Drizzle

Other tools

Contract development and deployment

Writing smart contracts

Testing smart contracts

Deploying smart contracts

The Solidity language

Functions

Variables

Local variables

Global variables

State variables

Data types

Value types

Reference types

Control structures

Events

Inheritance

Libraries

Error handling

Chapter 12 : Web3 Development Using Ethereum

Interacting with contracts using Web3 and Geth

Deploying contracts

Using solc to generate ABI and code

Querying contracts with Geth

Interacting with Geth using POST requests

Interacting with contracts via frontends

Installing the web3.js JavaScript library

Creating a web3 object

Creating an app.js JavaScript file

Creating a frontend webpage

Calling contract functions

Deploying and interacting with contracts using Truffle

Installing and initializing Truffle

Compiling, testing, and migrating using Truffle

Interacting with the contract

Using Truffle to test and deploy smart contracts

Deployment on decentralized storage using IPFS

Chapter 13 : The Merge and Beyond

Introduction

Ethereum after The Merge

The Beacon Chain.

Beacon nodes.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781803230214

1803230215

OCLC:

1374426900