Hi all, in this article, we will try to cover some of the terms which are very helpful in understanding blockchain technology better.
Block Time
Block time refers to the time it takes for adding new data to the existing network. This time taken by the blockchain network is mainly the time it takes to validate the hash of that data to some predefined value. Like for example for Bitcoin, this time is around 10 mins and for Ethereum it is around 15 seconds which depicts that it is fast to add data on ETH than BTC. To see the average Block time for Ethereum over time you can refer to https://etherscan.io/chart/blocktime .
Average Block time of ETH over time
Smart Contract
Smart contracts are accounts controlled by the code. They tell how incoming and outgoing requests are to be handled without the intervention of any other party involvement, that is the reason the blockchain cryptocurrencies are referred to as decentralized banking systems. This is the case of Ethereum has below information:
- Code: Raw machine code for this contract.
- Storage: Data storage of contract.
- Balance: Amount of Ether.
Hash Functions
These are the functions that are used to convert input data into encrypted values of a certain length and the same data will always produce the same output. It is not possible to get the original data from the hash outputs which makes it important for blockchains for higher security.
Proof of Work
It is how some computations are done by the network nodes to get to the hash output for the certain matching predefined criteria before the block is added to the network. Doing this makes use of resources of computer i.e. work, hence the person who is lending these resources are called minors and is given some rewards in return for this. Bitcoin uses this method to add new transactions blocks to the network. But this method involves higher energy consumption.
Proof of Stake
Proof of stake was developed as an alternative to the Proof of Work. In this, the miner can only mine once he has put his/her coins on the stake and can only mine the max of the coins that are on stake. So this solves the issue of higher power consumption that is there is a POW. Ethereum as of now uses both POS and POW and is planning to completely move toward POS.
Thanks for reading this article, in upcoming articles we will discuss more on blockchain technology.
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