BLOCKCHAIN

                 
BLOCKCHAIN
                    Being a  computer science engineering student, I am always curious to know the latest trends in the IT industry. While surfing in the net, to update my knowledge, I came across a term 'BLOCKCHAIN'.It was said that, just as the internet created a revolution in the world history, blockchain is also going to rule the world in the future.I was very inquisitive to know more about this latest technology and I have gathered some information. In this blog, I give an overview about this current trend which I believe will arouse the curiosity of the reader to learn more about it.



                        Pseudo name Satoshi Nakamoto in the year 2008 created bitcoins. Bitcoins are the digital currencies. These digital currencies where implemented using the blockchain technology. Blockchain is a digital ledger(database) in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly.

Why do we opt blockchain?.
                        Internet was created to be a distributed system, but today internet is controlled by big companies like google,microsoft etc. We don't want any central power to control us, so we go for blockchain. Decentralization is the major leverage of using this technology. If blockchain comes into the picture, then the role of banks as the central server for money transactions, would hopefully become outdated.Security and trust is the major isssue in transactions and blockchain technology can manage it well with it's various techniques adopted to preserve security

What makes Blockchain Unique?   
                     Hashing concept increases the security of Blockchain. Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA - 256) build by National Security Agency(NSA) is used in Blockchain. Each user is considered a block in the chain. Based on the transactional data in the block, a unique hash value is generated for all the blocks. A chain is formed by storing the hash of the previous block in the next block. Changing the data changes the hash which makes tampering data impossible.

                   There are many other algorithms which makes Blockchain a unique technology. If you know the basics of cryptocurrency and distributed computing, it would be quite easier to understand blockchain.
                   
Types of Blockchain
                     Based on who can be a part of the blockchain network, the blockchain can be divided into 3 types
       1) Public Blockchain  - It is open to the entire world and anyone can be a part of it.

       2) Private Blockchain - It is owned by only one company and the node access is restricted. This is implemented when only the transactions of the company must be visible to their employees alone.
   
       3) Federated Blockchain - Many companies together has a blockchain.

Consensus
                   Security in blockchain is enhanced by the algorithms used in it. Some are
       1) POW - Proof Of Work
       2) POS   - Proof Of Stake
       3) POET- Proof Of Elasped Time
       4) POD  - Proof Of Deposit
       5) POC  - Proof Of Capacity

Drawbacks of Blockchain
       1) Complex
       2) Slow
       3) Wastage of resources
       4) 51% Attack

                        As we go deeper and deeper,we can perceive that blockchain is such an interesting technology which has the capability to revolutionize the world.It has the potential to create new foundations for our economic and social system. I think this will trigger the reader to learn more about blockchain. Especially, if you are a CSE student you can start doing projects on Blockchain, which will pave way for a Challenging Career. Good luck....