Unlocking the Power of Blockchain: A Comprehensive Guide — Part 1 🚀

Intro:

Have you ever wondered why all websites look the same on all browsers? The answer is because they follow standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These standards are set around the three key things every web developer needs to have some familiarity with: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The W3C sets standards around how a web browser like Chrome must understand, run, and display the code being written by a web developer using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

What is a blockchain?
A blockchain is a distributed, digital, immutable ledger that is used to record transactions and store data in a secure and transparent manner. A network of nodes collectively maintains a single source of truth, and transactions are secured through consensus mechanisms (which will be discussed in the next chapters).

What is a Node?*
In simple terms, it can be considered a computer running blockchain software.*

Genesis Block
The first block in the blockchain It is the only block that does not reference a predecessor block.

Mining Node
A type of node called a mining node is responsible for grouping together new transactions being made on a network into a block, verifying them, and proposing that the block be included on the global ledger by everyone else.

Fork Process:*
When one blockchain splits into two chains, the process is called a fork. There are two types of forks: hard forks and soft forks.*

A hard fork is not backward-compatible, meaning that nodes running the old version of the protocol will not be able to validate blocks created on the new version of the protocol.

A soft fork is backward compatible, meaning that nodes running the old version of the protocol will be able to validate blocks created on the new version of the protocol, but nodes running the new version of the protocol will not be able to validate blocks created on the old version of the protocol.

An example of a fork is Bitcoin, which split into Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in 2017.

Web-1 VS Web-2 VS Web-3
Web1: Read 📖
Web2: Read-Write 📖 🖊️
Web3: Read-Write-Own 📖 🖊️ 🔑

Ethereum:*
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain that supports smart contracts. Unlike Bitcoin, which only supports the transfer of the Bitcoin token around the network, Ethereum is more general purpose.*

Developers can build dApps, or decentralized applications, which can be executed on the Ethereum network on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The global state of Ethereum therefore consists of more than just the balance of every account but also the state of each dApp.

Ethereum first used proof of work for consensus, but then The Serenity Patch, introduced in September 2022, made the switch for Ethereum from Proof of Work to a Proof of Stake mechanism.

ERC20 Tokens
In addition to Ether, people can create and use their own currencies on Ethereum. The most common form of currency is ERC20 tokens. ERC20 tokens are smart contracts that fit a specific standard. Developers can extend beyond the standard but should meet the minimum requirements when making their own token. The standardization allows for digital wallets to easily support all types of tokens, without needing specialized code for each token created.

ERC-20 tokens are tokens designed and used solely on the Ethereum platform.

Optional:
Token Name
Symbol
Decimal (up to 18)

Mandatory:
totalSupply
balanceOf
transfer
transferFrom
approve
allowance

ERC721 and ERC1155 Tokens
*These are also called NFTs. These two standards, similar to ERC20, provide a baseline for what requirements should be met when creating NFTs.*

How is Ethereum different from Bitcoin?
Ethereum has a shorter block time. In Ethereum, the time between blocks is around 14 seconds, compared with Bitcoin’s 10 minutes.

Ethereum has smaller blocks. In Bitcoin, the maximum block size is specified in bytes (currently 1 MB), whereas Ethereum’s block size is based on the complexity of contracts being run—it’s known as a Gas limit per block. Currently, the maximum block size in Ethereum is around 1,500,000 Gas. Data-wise, currently most Ethereum blocks are under 2 KB in size.

**Bonus <>

Good Hack Read:
New Batch Overflow Bug in Multiple ERC20 Smart Contracts (CVE-2018-10299)**

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