Does the blockchain technology entice you enough to dream of starting your own project in it? Do you wish to create something as a developer using the blockchain technology, which would have a lasting impact on the future? Well, these are just very reasonable dreams for any aspiring developer.
Blockchain being an open-source technology gives ample opportunities to aspiring developers to have their own private blockchain come in place. This can help you practice and perfect your own projects.
Here are some simple and straightforward steps that can help you initiate your own blockchain:
Step #1: Choose the Platform with Care:
There are several blockchain networks like Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda, Ripple, Quorum and many others. They can be useful in different ways. So, do your research properly about the product that you wish to create, or the service that you wish to provide.
And, you should also take into consideration the availability of documentation, fast responsiveness and supportive nature of the members of the network, as this will be very necessary while perfecting your project.
Step #2: Put the Initial Block of the Chain in Place:
For starting your blockchain you need to create the first block manually, which would contain all the characteristics of the chain. Then this should be shared with all the nodes within the network. This initial block has to be defined with a file created in JSON format. Thereafter the client platform creates a folder, which contains the blockchain, and initializes it.
Step #3: Select the Correct Consensus Protocol:
Blockchain is a distributed ledger. It is dependent upon consensus algorithms to reach an agreement amongst all the nodes. This can be better understood if we think of blockchain as a decentralized database, which is managed by distributed computers on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. That’s why blockchain has to be managed by the peer-to-peer networks collectively adhering to a protocol for inter-node communication and for validating new blocks, which are constantly created.
Consensus protocols are one of the most important and revolutionary elements of blockchain technology because they help in creating an unquestionable system of agreement between devices all over the network. This prevents misuse and exploitation of the system.
The word consensus means agreement. Having a consensus protocol means that the nodes on the network agree on having the same state throughout the blockchain. This makes it a self-auditing ecosystem. Consensus protocols permit the blockchain to be regularly updated as well as makes sure that every block in the chain is accurate, while also giving out incentives for the members for remaining motivated for doing this.
The process of consensus protocol involves asking the resolution of a mathematical problem, which needs big data and calculations. When a miner finds the solution, it has to be easily verifiable by all members. The first person to see the solution bags the chance to write the next block in the chain. The complexity of the problem is changed in real-time as per the strength of the network. This leads to new blocks being written with regular frequency. This is the reason why hacking become extremely hard. This also protects the blockchain from spam attempts to overload the network leading to crashing of the network.
Step #4: Carry Out Your Very First Smart Contract:
Running a smart contract is of interest if you wish to participate in growing a blockchain. The smart contract should be executed once you are absolutely ready. It should self-execute from a predefined threshold. This threshold can be a date, amount or a previously authenticated event.
Step #5: Debugging and Scaling:
A block is run on a set of nodes. At every node, after network termination, the outcome should be the same as the previous ones. This nature of the blockchain makes the process of debugging the application highly complicated. For this a new block is to be created and you have to wait for the chain to propagate the changes implemented.
There are infinite usages of blockchain technology. For beginners the above five steps form the basic structure of creating your own blockchain project.
Have you already executed your own blockchain project? Do share what more should be considered for the beginners in this area.
