Packt+ | Advance your knowledge in tech

0

All Products

Best Sellers

New Releases

Books

Videos

Audiobooks

Free Learning

Mastering Blockchain

You're reading from Mastering Blockchain Distributed ledger technology, decentralization, and smart contracts explained

Product type Paperback

Published in Mar 2018

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781788839044

Length 656 pages

Edition 2nd Edition

Languages

Solidity

Tools

Blockchain

Concepts

Blockchain

Author (1):

Imran Bashir

View More author details

Table of Contents (26) Chapters

Title Page

Copyright and Credits

Packt Upsell

Contributors

Preface

1. Blockchain 101 FREE CHAPTER

2. Decentralization

3. Symmetric Cryptography

4. Public Key Cryptography

5. Introducing Bitcoin

6. Bitcoin Network and Payments

7. Bitcoin Clients and APIs

8. Alternative Coins

9. Smart Contracts

10. Ethereum 101

11. Further Ethereum

12. Ethereum Development Environment

13. Development Tools and Frameworks

14. Introducing Web3

Web3
Summary

15. Hyperledger

16. Alternative Blockchains

17. Blockchain – Outside of Currencies

18. Scalability and Other Challenges

19. Current Landscape and What's Next

1. Another Book You May Enjoy

Leave a review – let other readers know what you think

Index

Bitcoin installation

The Bitcoin Core client can be installed from https://bitcoin.org/en/download. This is available for different architectures and platforms ranging from x86 Windows to ARM Linux, as shown in the following screenshot:

Download Bitcoin Core

Types of Bitcoin Core clients

Let's explore the different types of Bitcoin Core clients.

Bitcoind

This is the core client software that can be run as a daemon, and it provides the JSON RPC interface.

Bitcoin-cli

This is the command line feature-rich tool to interact with the daemon; the daemon then interacts with the blockchain and performs various functions. Bitcoin-cli calls only JSON-RPC functions and does not perform any actions on its own on the blockchain.

Bitcoin-qt

This is the Bitcoin Core client GUI. When the wallet software starts up first, it verifies the blocks on the disk and then starts up and shows the following GUI:

Bitcoin Core QT client, just after installation, showing that blockchain is not in sync

The verification process is...

The rest of the chapter is locked

Register for a free Packt account to unlock a world of extra content!

A free Packt account unlocks extra newsletters, articles, discounted offers, and much more. Start advancing your knowledge today.

Unlock this book and the full library FREE for 7 days

Get unlimited access to 7000+ expert-authored eBooks and videos courses covering every tech area you can think of

Start free trial

Renews at $15.99/month. Cancel anytime

Authors (1)

Imran Bashir

Imran Bashir

Imran Bashir has an M.Sc. in Information Security from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has a background in software development, solution architecture, infrastructure management, and IT service management. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the British Computer Society (BCS). Imran has extensive experience in both the public and financial sectors, having worked on large-scale IT projects in the public sector before moving to the financial services industry. Since then, he has worked in various technical roles for different financial companies in Europe's financial capital, London.

See other products by Imran Bashir

Other recommended products

Related to this chapter

Blockchain Quick Reference

Blockchain Quick Reference

This book applies the core principles and ideas of Blockchain in your existing applications. You will understand the key areas of Blockchain architecture along with the challenges faced with an easy-to-follow guide. You will not only be able to solve current and future problems around Blockchain but also build efficient decentralized applications.

Aug 2018 11h 40m

Learn Bitcoin and Blockchain

Learn Bitcoin and Blockchain

Blockchain and Bitcoin are currently the talk of the town. This book will start with an introduction to the fundamental concepts of Blockchain and it will take you through its various features and challenges. By the end of this book, you will learn to implement the Blockchain technology for securing your cryptocurrency.

Foundations of Blockchain

Foundations of Blockchain

Blockchain technology is a combination of three popular concepts: cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, and game theory. This book is for anyone who wants to dive into blockchain from first principles and learn how decentralized applications and cryptocurrencies really work. Learn blockchain from first concepts to algorithms explained in Python.

Jan 2019 12h 24m

Ethereum Projects for Beginners

Ethereum Projects for Beginners

Ethereum enables the development of efficient, smart contracts that contain code. These smart contracts interact with other smart contracts to make decisions, store data, and send Ether to others. This book begins with an introduction to Ethereum and then a detailed step-by-step process required to building advanced Ethereum Projects.

Jul 2018 3h 32m

Securing Blockchain Networks like Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric

Securing Blockchain Networks like Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric

The adoption of blockchain for the value chain, insurance, and healthcare domain is flourishing. However, one of the key challenges faced in blockchain development is securing them. The book will cover essential architectural considerations, system and network security, various operational configurations to Ethereum and Hyperledger fabric network.

Building Blockchain Projects

Building Blockchain Projects

This is a project-based guide to teach you what Blockchain is, how it maintains data integrity, and how to create real-world Blockchain projects using Ethereum. With interesting real-world projects, you will know about bitcoin, generating smart and secure contracts with Ethereum, building end-to-end applications for Blockchain.

Apr 2017 8h 52m

Blockchain for Business 2019

Blockchain for Business 2019

Blockchain has the potential to change the world and has become the hottest field in the tech sector now. Blockchain for Business is a comprehensive guide that enables you to fully understand the far-reaching applications beyond Bitcoin and empowers you to make fully-informed decisions.

Jan 2019 8h 36m

Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum

Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum

Blockchain applications provide a single-shared ledger to eliminate trust issues involving multiple stakeholders. With the help of Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum, you'll learn how to create distributed Blockchain applications which do not depend on a central server or datacenter. The course begins by explaining Bitcoin, Altcoins, and Ethereum, followed by taking you through distributed programming using the Solidity language on the Ethereum Blockchain. By the end of this course, you'll be able to write, compile, and deploy your own smart contracts to the Ethereum Blockchain.

Sep 2018 3h 24m

Learn Ethereum is ideal for anyone who wants to do an ultra-learning on Ethereum blockchain technology and build end-to-end decentralized applications using smart contract and Ethereum. The hands-on examples will help novices master blockchain and Ethereum in a quick, effective and easy way.

Sep 2019 18h 0m

Ethereum Cookbook

Ethereum Cookbook

Ethereum is an open-source, public, Blockchain-based distributed computing platform, and operating system featuring smart contract functionality which builds decentralized applications. If you want to get started with Ethereum and Solidity or you are among the many developers already working with this platform, this book is your one-stop guide.

Aug 2018 13h 28m

Solidity Programming Essentials

Solidity Programming Essentials

Solidity is a new contract-oriented programming language popular for creating smart contracts and distributed applications. Writing smart contracts targeting Ethereum and other blockchain platforms is an emerging skill. This book will enable you to write robust, secure, object-oriented contracts that extend blockchain with business functionality.

Apr 2018 7h 24m

Mastering Blockchain Programming with Solidity

Mastering Blockchain Programming with Solidity

With this book, you will learn to write production-ready smart contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. Finally, with the help of comprehensive examples, you will learn how to add security to smart contracts and then delve into the various security considerations that must be paid attention to.

Aug 2019 16h 12m

Personalised recommendations for you

Based on your interests and search pattern

Mathematics of Machine Learning

Mathematics of Machine Learning

Deepen your theoretical knowledge and enhance your ability to solve complex machine learning problems with structured guidance. Gain the confidence to engage with advanced ML literature and tailor algorithms to meet your project requirements.

May 2025 24h 20m

Generative AI with Python and PyTorch

Generative AI with Python and PyTorch

Learn how to create images and text using VAEs, GANs, LSTMs, and transformers. Implement applications in natural language processing and computer vision through practical tutorials.

Mar 2025 15h 0m

Practical Generative AI with ChatGPT

Practical Generative AI with ChatGPT

This book helps you unlock ChatGPT's potential to make your working life better. From prompt engineering to creating custom GPTs, you'll enhance your productivity, creativity, and efficiency with practical insights and advanced techniques.

Apr 2025 12h 52m

Generative AI with LangChain

Generative AI with LangChain

Gain a solid foundation in LangChain, agentic AI, and LangGraph, and learn to build production-ready systems with multi-agent architectures, advanced RAG pipelines, Tree of Thought reasoning, agent handoffs, and fine-grained error handling.

May 2025 15h 52m

Architecting Power BI Solutions in Microsoft Fabric

Architecting Power BI Solutions in Microsoft Fabric

Power BI provides several options to solve common data problems, and designing the correct solution for each scenario can be a daunting task. This book makes it easier by guiding you through designing optimal solutions using Power BI.

Apr 2025 14h 16m

Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator SC-300 Exam Guide

Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator SC-300 Exam Guide

This comprehensive guide covers key topics such as Microsoft Entra ID implementation, authentication and access management, external user management, and hybrid identity solutions, providing practical insights and techniques for SC-300 exam success.

Mar 2025 19h 48m

LLM Design Patterns

LLM Design Patterns

This book helps you gain practical skills to develop and deploy LLMs. You'll learn data prep, training, pruning, quantization, and evaluation, as well as explore RAG, advanced prompting, and optimization to build robust, scalable language models.

May 2025 17h 48m

Tableau Cookbook for Experienced Professionals

Tableau Cookbook for Experienced Professionals

Advance your Tableau knowledge beyond the basics, streamline dashboard performance, tackle advanced geospatial challenges, and unlock API potential while fortifying your corporate data infrastructure with proven best practices.

Apr 2025 12h 24m

Time Series Analysis with Spark

Time Series Analysis with Spark

This book offers a complete guide to time series analysis with Apache Spark and Databricks, covering essential concepts and advanced techniques including Generative AI to equip readers with skills for real-world challenges across industries.

Mar 2025 9h 56m

Hands-On Artificial Intelligence for IoT

Hands-On Artificial Intelligence for IoT

Transform IoT systems with the power of artificial intelligence using this hands-on guide. Dive into practical techniques and expert insights to innovate and optimize your IoT devices, making them smarter and more efficient.

May 2025 15h 44m