Blockchain Development Mega Guide

[kasscrypto]

The blockchain learning ecosystem has changed a lot since I first started. So I thought I'd share some of the cool sh*t I've either created or found on the web.  

The Mega Guide
Blockchain Development Mega Guide (Medium)

Free courses
These are about understanding more than programming but... It's a decent start.

Blockchain Technology - Berkley
Bitcoin and Blockchain - Khan Academy
Cryptography Course - Stanford
Blockchain Fundamentals - Plural sight
Blockchain Principles and Practices - Plural sight
Hyperledger Blockchain Technologies - Linux Foundation
Introduction to FinTech - Hong Kong University

Resources

How to become a blockchain developer
I don't know why they chose javascript to demonstrate lol, but otherwise, this is a solid guide!

https://asecuritysite.com/encryption
Site is kinda ugly, but packed with information about cryptography, with demonstrations and code.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Category:Developer
The bitcoin wiki developer page.


What the Guides don't tell you...
There are a good few things these guides don't tell you. These aren't hard concepts but are often glossed over or replaced with a more convenient learning example.

...about mining
In practice, mining isn't really about looking for a hash starting with serval '0' bits. Mining actually requires finding a hash that has a numerical value is less than a target hash (this results in a number of '0' bits). That target hash can be calculated from the difficulty. Bitcoin wiki page on difficulty.

pseudo code:

Code:

hash = sha256(block)
if big_endian(hash) < big_endian(target_hash):
  mined = true

...about adjusting difficulty
Difficulty must be adjusted to keep up with the changing hash rate of the network (to keep a block time of say 10 mins). The easiest way is to adjust the current target based on how much faster or longer it took to mine X blocks.

pseudo code:

Code:

target_hash = big_endian(diff_to_target(difficulty))
quotient = epoch_duration / expected_duration
new_target_hash = target_hash * quotient

difficulty = target_to_diff(new_target_hash)

I will add more to this when I get a chance
Happy Coding

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[odolvlobo]

This is also a good resource:

https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-guide

[tromp]

...about mining
In practice, mining isn't really about looking for a hash starting with serval '0' bits. Mining actually requires finding a hash that has a numerical value is less than a target hash (this results in a number of '0' bits).

There's more to mining than hashing:

http://cryptorials.io/beyond-hashcash-proof-work-theres-mining-hashing/

[DaCryptoRaccoon]

Another good way to visualize what is going on in the mining process it to have a look at the mining simulator.

https://yogh.io/#mine:last

This gives a good overview of how the process works in a visual manner. 

The source code is also available on github

https://github.com/yogh-io/bitcoin-transaction-explorer