A developer’s notebook · 2017–2019
Blockchain, explained from first principles to shipped code.
Twenty-six essays and walkthroughs written while the technology was young: what a transaction really is, how consensus works, how ICOs worked, and how to build on Ethereum yourself. Kept here as written, with notes where time has caught up with them.
- Blocks
- 26
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- 2017–19
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2019
- The Blockchain Notary: 5-minute file certification without corruptible intermediariesHow I built NOTARX, an Ethereum dApp that records a file's hash to prove it existed at a given time: the problem, the Solidity contract and the bug it contains.
- Are You an Ethereum Developer for Real? Answer These 5 Questions!Five Ethereum developer quiz questions with worked answers: MetaMask, ether units, the nonce and replay attacks, Solidity integer division, and key sizes.
- How I deployed a dapp on Ropsten from an EC2 instance (without using Infura)How I deployed a Truffle dApp to Ropsten from my own Parity node on AWS EC2 instead of Infura, and what changed since: Sepolia, geth plus a consensus client.
- VIDEOCreating and signing a Raw Ethereum TransactionBuild a raw Ethereum transaction, RLP-encode it and sign it with a private key in Node.js, then the same steps with viem for an EIP-1559 transaction on Sepolia.
- VIDEOAnatomy of an Ethereum TransactionThe fields of an Ethereum transaction explained: nonce, gas price, gas limit, recipient, value, data and v, r, s, plus the EIP-1559 fee fields used since 2021.
- Q&AWhere did Bitcoin start?Where and when Bitcoin started: its SourceForge project in November 2008, the genesis block of January 2009, and the first transfer, to Hal Finney.
- "What happens when I click SEND?" The beginning of a BTC transaction.What happens after you click Send in a Bitcoin wallet: private and public keys, signing the transaction, validation by nodes, the mempool, and mining.
- Q&AWhich ethereum wallet to use?How to choose an Ethereum wallet: running your own full node versus third-party wallets (desktop, mobile, web, extension or hardware) and the trade-offs.
- Q&AWhere bitcoin is accepted?Where you can spend bitcoin: finding local shops on the Coinmap map, lists of online retailers that accept it, and how to start accepting it in your business.
- Facebook Libra, a Developer's perspective.A 2019 developer's view of Facebook's Libra: can a company-run coin be a real cryptocurrency, the regulation it would face, and what it could do for adoption.
2018
- The epic CryptoVerse infographic: Learn about 25 altcoins in 10 minutesA 2018 third-party infographic summarizing 25 altcoins, with a short intro on how the crypto market grew after Bitcoin and Ethereum. Republished as sent.
- Why the recent drop in blockchain popularity is a good thingA November 2018 opinion piece on why the crypto bear market and fading media hype were good news for developers, leaving time for scaling, security and UX work.
- Boosting Banks' Power with Blockchain TechnologyHow blockchain could help banks, without jargon: fewer intermediaries in payments, a smaller attack surface, more transparency, and what banks still do well.
- Public vs Private Blockchain, and a middle-ground solution you may not knowPublic, private and consortium blockchains compared: who can write and validate transactions, the pros and cons of each, and how to choose one for your project.
- The 7 Blockchain Books for Self-Education and Decentralized EnlightenmentSeven blockchain and Bitcoin books reviewed, from Mastering Bitcoin to Blockchain Revolution, with who each one suits best: beginners, developers or investors.
- What is Consensus, and how to achieve it in a Blockchain ecosystemWhat consensus means in a blockchain, and how a dozen algorithms reach it: proof of work, proof of stake, delegated PoS, PBFT, federated agreement and PoET.
- The Dadi ICO - A Crowdsale you don't wanna missA January 2018 review of the Dadi ICO, a decentralized cloud and fog computing project: its web services, miner roles, whitepaper, GitHub, team and token sale.
- Blockchain and government, can they work together?Can governments use blockchain? Land registries, voting and tax collection, the limits of blockchain voting, and early adopters Dubai, Zug and Slovenia in 2018.
2017
- The value of Ethereum, a complete discussionWhere Ethereum's value comes from: smart contracts and dApps, demand for ether to pay for gas, the risks, and the 2017 roadmap for sharding and proof of stake.
- Cardano, a third generation blockchain based crypto tokenWhat Cardano set out to fix in 2017: the three generations of blockchains, its Ouroboros proof of stake protocol, and plans for interoperability and a treasury.
- Blockchain protocol applied to Anti-DDoS systems and CDN networksHow Gladius planned to sell DDoS protection and CDN bandwidth from users' spare capacity using Ethereum and a token: website, whitepaper, team and GitHub.
- ICO Investment done right - What you need to know about investing in ICOsA step-by-step process for researching an ICO before investing: the website, whitepaper, team, competitors, community, and the project's GitHub commits.
- Initial Coin Offering 101 - All you need to knowWhat an initial coin offering is, how it differs from an IPO, examples from Ethereum to Tezos, the scams and regulation, and parallels with the dotcom bubble.
- How to explain Blockchain to parents, or grandparentsExplain blockchain to parents or grandparents with one story: FedeCoin, a currency in a 10-person medieval village, then the same ideas mapped onto Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple - an explanation of the big three.How Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple's XRP work, explained for beginners: Bitcoin mining, Ethereum smart contracts, and the XRP Ledger's validators and payments.
- What is digital currency exactly?A plain-English guide to digital currency: centralized vs decentralized money, how Bitcoin miners and the blockchain keep the record, and what Ethereum adds.
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