Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps

Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Introduction
Stage I: 术语和技术基础
	Step 1: Thinking in Layers and Aspects 思考层次和方面
		The Metaphor 比喻
		Layers of a Software System
			Application vs. Implementation 应用 vs 实现
			Functional vs. Nonfunctional Aspects 功能性的非功能性
		Considering Two Layers at the Same Time 同时设置两个层面
		Integrity 完整性
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
2: Seeing the Big Picture
		The Metaphor
		A Payment System
		Two Types of Software Architecture
		The Advantages of Distributed Systems
			Higher Computing Power
			Cost Reduction
			Higher Reliability
			Ability to Grow Naturally
		The Disadvantages of Distributed Systems
			Coordination Overhead
			Communication Overhead
			Dependencies on Networks
			Higher Program Complexity
			Security Issues
		Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems
		Mixing Centralized and Distributed Systems
		Identifying Distributed Systems
		The Purpose of the Blockchain
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
3: Recognizing the Potential
		The Metaphor
		How a Peer-to-Peer System Changed a Whole Industry
		The Potential of Peer-to-Peer Systems
		Terminology and the Link to the Blockchain
			The Definition of a Peer-to-Peer System
			Architecture of Peer-to-Peer Systems
			The Link Between Peer-to-Peer Systems and the Blockchain
		The Potential of the Blockchain
		Outlook
		Summary
Stage II: Why the Blockchain Is Needed
	Step
4: Discovering the Core Problem
		The Metaphor
		Trust and Integrity in Peer-to-Peer Systems
		Integrity Threats in Peer-to-Peer Systems
			Technical Failures
			Malicious Peers
		The Core Problem to Be Solved by the Blockchain
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
5: Disambiguating the Term
		The Term
			A Data Structure
			An Algorithm
			A Suite of Technologies
			An Umbrella Term for Purely Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems with a Common Application Area
		The Usage of the Term in This Book
		Provisional Definition
		The Role of Managing Ownership
		The Application Area of the Blockchain in This Book
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
6: Understanding the Nature of Ownership
		The Metaphor
		Ownership and Witnesses
		Foundations of Ownership
		A Short Detour to Security
			Identification
			Authentication
			Authorization
		Purposes and Properties of a Ledger
		Ownership and the Blockchain
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
7: Spending Money Twice
		The Metaphor
		The Double Spending Problem
		The Term
			Double Spending as a Problem of Copying Digital Goods
			Double Spending as a Problem of Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems of Ledgers
			Double Spending as an Example of Violated Integrity in Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems
		How to Solve the Double Spending Problem
			Solving Double Spending as a Problem of Copying Digital Goods
			Solving Double Spending as a Problem of a Distributed Peer-to-Peer System of Ledgers
			Solving Double Spending as an Example of Violated Integrity in Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems
		The Usage of Double Spending in This Book
		Outlook
		Summary
Stage III:
How the Blockchain Works
	Step
8: Planning the Blockchain
		The Goal
		Starting Point
		The Path to Follow
			Task 1: Describing Ownership
			Task 2: Protecting Ownership
			Task 3: Storing Transaction Data
			Task 4: Preparing Ledgers to Be Distributed in an Untrustworthy Environment
			Task 5: Distributing the Ledgers
			Task 6: Adding New Transactions to the Ledgers
			Task 7: Deciding Which Ledgers Represent the Truth
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
9: Documenting Ownership
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		A Short Detour to Inventory and Transaction Data
		How It Works
			Describing the Transfer of Ownership
			Maintaining the History of Transfers
		Why It Works
		Importance of Ordering
		Integrity of the Transaction History
			Formal Correctness
			Semantic Correctness
			Authorization
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
10: Hashing Data
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		How It Works
			Providing Hash Values for Any Data Quickly
			Deterministic
			Pseudorandom
			One-Way Function
			Collision Resistant
		Trying It Out Yourself
		Patterns of Hashing Data
			Independent Hashing
			Repeated Hashing
			Combined Hashing
			Sequential Hashing
			Hierarchical Hashing
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
11: Hashing in the Real World
		Comparing Data
			The Goal
			The Idea
			How It Works
			Why It Works
		Detecting Changes in Data
			The Goal
			The Idea
			How It Works
			Why It Works
		Referring to Data in a Change-Sensitive Manner
			The Goal
			The Idea
			How It Works
			A Schematic Illustration
			Why It Works
		Storing Data in a Change-Sensitive Manner
			The Goal
			The Idea
			How It Works
				The Chain
				The Tree
			Why It Works
		Causing Time-Consuming Computations
			The Goal
			The Idea
			How It Works
			An Illustrative Example
			The Difficulty Level
			Why It Works
		Usage of Hashing in the Blockchain
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
12: Identifying and Protecting User Accounts
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		A Short Detour to Cryptography
			The Major Idea of Cryptography
			Terminology2
			Symmetric Cryptography
			Asymmetric Cryptography
		Asymmetric Cryptography in the Real World
			Creating and Distributing the Keys
			Using the Keys
				Public to Private
				Private to Public
		Asymmetric Cryptography in the Blockchain
			Identifying Accounts
			Authorizing Transactions
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
13: Authorizing Transactions
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		A Short Detour to Digital Signatures
			Creating a Signature
			Verifying Data by Using the Signature
			Identifying Fraud by Using the Signature
		How It Works
			Signing a Transaction
			Verifying a Transaction
		Why It Works
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
14: Storing Transaction Data
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		Transforming a Book into a Blockchain-Data-Structure
			Starting Point: A Book
			Transformation 1: Making Page Dependency Explicit
			Transformation 2: Outsourcing the Content
			Transformation 3: Replacing Page Numbers
			Transformation 4: Creating Reference Numbers
			Transformation 5: Getting Rid of the Book Spine
			Goal Achieved: Appreciating the Result
		The Blockchain-Data-Structure
			The Mental Unit of a Page of the Ordering Catalog and Its Corresponding Content Page
			Ordering Catalog
			Content Pages
			Catalog Page Reference Numbers
			Content Reference Numbers
		Storing Transactions in the Blockchain-Data-Structure
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
15: Using the Data Store
		The Metaphor
		Adding New Transactions
		Detecting Changes
			Changing the Content of Transaction Data
			Changing a Reference in the Merkle Tree
			Replacing a Transaction
			Changing the Merkle Root
			Changing a Block Header Reference
		Changing Data Orderly
		Intended vs. Unintended Changes
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step 16: Protecting the Data Store
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		A Short Detour to Immutability
		How It Works: The Big Picture
			Making Manipulations Stand Out
			Enforcing Rewriting the History for Embedding Changes
			Making Adding Data Computationally Expensive
		How It Works: The Details
			Compulsory Data
			The Process of Creating A New Block
			Validation Rules
		Why It Works
		The Costs of Manipulating the Blockchain-Data-Structure
		The Immutable Data Store in the Real World
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step 17:
Distributing the Data Store Among Peers
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		How It Works: The Overview1
		How It Works: The Details
			Keeping Existing Connections Alive
			Establishing New Connections
			Distributing New Information
		Why It Works
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step 18:
Verif ying and Adding Transactions
		The Metaphor
			Consequences
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		How It Works: The Building Blocks
			Validation Rules
				Validation Rules for Transaction Data
				Validation Rules for Block Headers
			Reward
			Punishment
			Competition
				Speed Competition
				Quality Competition
			Peer Control
		How It Works: The Skeleton
		How It Works: The Details
		Why It Works
		Dealing with Dishonest Behavior
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
19: Choosing a Transaction History
		The Metaphor
		The Goal
		The Challenge
		The Idea
		How It Works
			The Longest-Chain-Criterion
			The Heaviest-Chain-Criterion
		Consequences of Selecting One Chain
			Orphan Blocks
			Reclaimed Reward
			Clarifying Ownership
			Reprocessing of Transactions
			A Growing Common Trunk
			Eventual Consistency
			Robustness Against Manipulations
		Threats to the Voting Schema
		The Role of the Hash Puzzle
		Why It Works
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
20: Paying for Integrity
		The Metaphor
		The Role of Fees Within the Blockchain
			Impact on the Integrity of the System
			Impact on the Openness of the System
			Impact on the Distributed Nature of the System
			Impact on the Philosophy of the System
		Desirable Properties of an Instrument of Payment for Compensating Peers
		A Detour to the Emergence of Cryptographic Currencies
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
21: Bringing the Pieces Together
		Reviewing Concepts and Technologies
		What Is the Blockchain?
			The Purpose of the Blockchain: Functional Aspects of the Application Layer
				Clarifying Ownership
				Transferring Ownership
			Properties of the Blockchain: Nonfunctional Aspects
				Highly Available
				Censorship Proof
				Reliable
				Open
				Pseudoanonymous
				Secure
				Resilient
				Eventually Consistent
				Keeping Integrity
			Internal Functioning: Functional Aspects of the Implementation Layer
				Ownership Logic
				Transaction Security
				Transaction Processing Logic
				Storage Logic
				Peer-to-Peer Architecture
				Consensus Logic
		Gaining Abstraction
		Outlook
		Summary
Stage IV:
Limitations and How to Overcome Them
	Step
22: Seeing the Limitations
		The Challenge
		Technical Limitations of the Blockchain
			Lack of Privacy
			The Security Model
			Limited Scalability
			High Costs
			Hidden Centrality
			Lack of Flexibility
			Critical Size
		Nontechnical Limitations of the Blockchain
			Lack of Legal Acceptance
			Lack of User Acceptance
		Overcoming the Limitations
			Technical Limitations
			Nontechnical Limitations
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
23: Reinventing the Blockchain
		The Metaphor
		Conflicting Goals of the Blockchain
			Transparency vs. Privacy
			Security vs. Speed
		The Roots of the Conflicts
		Solving the Conflicts
			Deciding on Transparency vs. Privacy
			Deciding on Security vs. Speed
		Four Versions of the Blockchain
		Consequences
			The Peer-to-Peer Architecture
			The Distributed Nature
			Purpose
		Reviewing the Purpose of the Blockchain
		The Usage of the Term Blockchain in the Remainder of This Book
		Outlook
		Summary
Stage V:
Using the Blockchain, Summary, and Outlook
	Step
24: Using the Blockchain
		The Metaphor
		Characteristics of the Blockchain
		Generic Application Patterns
			Proof of Existence
			Proof of Nonexistence
			Proof of Time
			Proof of Order
			Proof of Identity
			Proof of Authorship
			Proof of Ownership
		Specific Use Cases
		Analyzing Blockchain Applications
			Are the Requirements for Using the Blockchain Fulfilled?
			What Kind of Blockchain Is Used?
			What Is the Added Value of Using the Purely Peer-to-Peer System?
			What Is the Application Idea?
			What Is the Business Case?
			How Are Peers Compensated for Contributing Resources to the System and Maintaining Integrity?
		Outlook
		Summary
	Step
25: Summarizing and Going Further
		The Metaphor
		Further Developments and Alternatives
			Minor Technical Improvements and Variations
			Improving Scalability
			Conceptual Evolutions
				Access Rights
				Privacy
				Consensus
				Transactions
				Inventory Data
				Data Structure
		Major Accomplishments of the Blockchain
			Disintermediation
			Automation
			Standardization
			Streamlining Processes
			Increased Processing Speed
			Cost Reduction
			Shift Toward Trust in Protocols and Technology
			Making Trust a Commodity
			Increased Technology Awareness
		Possible Disadvantages
			Lack of Privacy
			Loss of Responsibility
			Loss of Jobs
			Reintermediation
		The Future
			Limited Enthusiast Projects
			Large-Scale Commercial Usage
			Governmental Projects
		Outlook
		Summary
Index