TL;DR
I learned a bit about blockchain technology... you can too!
Watch these videos: ~50 minutes
Do this tutorial: ~1-3 hours:
I want a place to write about random topics. I think this may become a thing for I do from time to time...
Background
I run a learning (reading) group at work. We meet once a week. We discuss technical books a few chapters at a time via a Lean Coffee meetup format. There are regulars, but attendance varies greatly upon the book, or topic.
I facilitated a conversation on Blockchain technology! This is how I prepared.
Exploration and Learning
I work with smart people, you should too...
To start off, I ask around at work about technical interests and topics people are currently passionate about. I found out a few individuals frequently bring up BitCoin and blockchain technology with enthusiasm! (Machine learning is next)
They directed me towards an individual by the name of Andreas Antonopoulos. So, I Google searched him... thus my expertise journey had began.
I found Bitcoin for Beginners, presented by Andreas Antonopoulos, helpful. For any technically friendly individual, watching this 25 minute video brings your comprehension level well beyond that of many avid BitCoin enthusiast.
I watched a few other videos, How Bitcoin Works in 5 Minutes and How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood... It's official, I am now a BitCoin expert.
Blockchain Example in Python
A proof of concept is a great way to further understand a topic!
I came across and followed Build Your Own Blockchain Server blogpost tutorial, 5/7 perfect score. It is a fantastic hands on technical dive into the blockchain world, highly recommended.
Here is my GitHub repository that contains the work: https://github.com/DEV3L/python-flask-blockchain
I may contribute my findings as a pull request back to the author's repository some day :)
Elaborates
"Now, this'll be a straight walk-off, old school rules. First model walks; second model duplicates, then elaborates. Okay, boys - let's go to work!" - David Bowie in Zoolander
I have a Heroku account. If you don't, I would recommend it. It is a free and easy way to host prototype applications. You can follow this tutorial Getting Started with Python to get you up to speed.
In Heroku, I created two new apps. Each points to the same python-flask-blockchain GitHub account linked above.
Now I two 'nodes' available on heroku:
In the GitHub repository is a postman collection that can exercise the api - Blockchain Heroku.postman_collection (collection exists for local nodes too). Loading the collection into postman reveals a handful of self explanatory requests.
Register heroku-1 and heroku-2 with each other. Mine on heroku-1. Resolve on heroku-2. Since heroku-2's chain was smaller, consensus was reached by replacing its chain with heroku-1... That is about the simplest work flow that demonstrates how blockchain technology works!
We are now all experts!
Ran the Lean Coffee Meetup
Subject: Continuous Learning Group - Let's Talk About: Blockchains! (BitCoin)
Description: We have several individuals in the organization who are passionate about Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies such as BitCoin! Let's Talk About It!!!
Almost ten people showed up, a decent turn out. We kicked the meeting off with the How Bitcoin Works in 5 Minutes video. The group wrote down topics to discuss as the video played. We voted then discussed each topic below for about five minutes!
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