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Discussion on: I am full-time blockchain developer for 6+ months, AMA!

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schmowser profile image
Victor Warno

Thanks for sharing, Lukas! I have only rudimentary knowledge about blockchains. Therefore, please bear with me if my questions are not exact enough.

  1. I have learned that blocks store hashes including hashes of the previous blocks. I noticed they used the hashing algorithm SHA-2. Do all blockchains use a SHA or do some use other algorithms? And is developing these algorithms part of the job of a blockchain developer?

  2. Do I get it right when I say that mining is finding out the data that produces above hashes? I saw that people try to guess n leading zeroes of the hash. Why? Is it just proof that the mining algorithm worked?

  3. What distinguishes different blockchains from another? Where is Ethereum different from Bitcoin for example?

  4. How does one dive into blockchain development? What was your first project and where to find projects to contribute?

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web3coach profile image
Lukas Lukac • Edited

Hey Victor, don't worry, you should see my questions when I started. One of the first was, since when running a DDOS attack to solve a somebody's puzzle on purpose is a way to program? :D

  1. Each blockchain can choose its own algorithm. It doesn't really matter as long as it's efficient and secure enough. Less secure means faster so it's a line you have to find. E.g, Ethereum is using Keccak256 (SHA-3) hash function.

  2. Yes more or less correct. The n number of zeroes is used to scale the difficulty of the process.

  3. They are all kind of similar actually. They are just designed for different purposes. E.g Bitcoin was suppose to replace money, (failed in my tech opinion), and Ethereum is a giant finite-state machine (EVM - ethereum virtual machine). Check the wiki page if you are curious about the state machines.

  4. I always start learning anything by doing. First I take a course to suck all the knowledge as soon as possible so I don't have to go through the hard, slow path and then I create a fictional project for myself and I try to implement it. By the end of the project I have a good overview of the scope and decide if I want to do it for money on daily basis or keep it as a hobby. Did the same with photography last week :)

As resources go, take my course of course haha, it will teach you everything Ethereum related from scratch with 51% discount (get the 51% blockchain joke?) until end of November :)

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inigogb profile image
BaronVonHex

The link to your course is no longer working :(

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web3coach profile image
Lukas Lukac

Ah sorry for that. I am doing major re-organizations, domain changes, etc atm and will update all links etc at the end. Write me a DM on LinkedIn and we figure the access Inigo: linkedin.com/in/llukac/