Being a decentralized system, the functioning of Blockchain network may seem A LITTLE CRAZY at first.
But soon as I walk you through the technicalities of the network, everything will get puzzled out ;)
Let's dive into this...
Now, as specified earlier in a post that Blockchain starts from a genesis block. This the first block that is created by the Blockchain architecture and broadcasted on the web.
Once the Blockchain is live, any peer can join the network by creating and setting up a wallet. This is where all the cryptocurrencies or token owned by the user are stored. While crating a wallet, the user generates a key pair (public key & private key). Public key is exposed to the network and is used to identify the address of a specific peer while the private key remains secret with the owner for security purposes. Public key is displayed in the transactions or blocks created by the peer while private key is used for private functions for example signing a transaction. WAIT! WHAT IS THAT NOW???
Calm down.
We will talk about structure of a transaction and signatures in further posts. Right now, it is enough to understand it like an assertion that this transaction is created by a particular node. Signature is value that is created when a node signs a transaction and it is made public. All the other nodes check the legitimacy of this transaction by validation the signature using that peer's public key.
Now coming back to our newly created Blockchain, we have broadcasted the genesis block, and a lot many peers have joined. Since it is a distributed ledger, as soon as a peer joins, it creates and stores a copy of the full Blockchain ledger. Now the main concern is supply and flow of cryptocurrency over the network. The supply increases by mining, and the flow is incurred through transaction or transferring the assets among the peers. Now lets assume, a peer with enough computational power creates a block, mines it and broadcasts it over the network. All the network participants check the validity of the block with the help of NONCE.
Once the Block is validated, peers add it to their copy of Blockchain. Now there pops up a question...
WHAT IF two blocks are created at the same time. Are they accepted one by one? If so, then what if some nodes receive Block 1 first and add it to their blockchain while other nodes receive Block 2? The system will get disordered.
Here's what actually happens. There is a 51% rule in the Blockchain: If 51% of the nodes or more validated Block 1 then it is considered as the next adopted block. In this case, the Block 2 will be dropped by the network. Such blocks are referred to as the ORPHANED Blocks.
But what if exactly half of the peers received Block 1 and the other half received Block 2?? Nothing then, they will keep updating there blockchain over the Block they have received. WHATTT?? YES. Both ledgers will keep growing unless a situation comes where one gets longer. Ideally, all the peers tend to keep the longest Blockchain. Therefore, when other Blockchain grows longer, they will switch to it. Hence, creating a sync between the participants of the network.
Having talked about How the network grows, in the next post, let's find out what's inside these blocks, and how does it get added into a block. THE JOURNEY OF A TRANSACTION!!
Till then, if you'd like to play around with Blockchain, follow the below link:
STAY TUNED AND KEEP READING!! (*.*)
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