What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction, gives an overview of blockchain technology by exploring some of the basic topics, such as its definition and history, the motivation behind it, its characteristics, and the different types of blockchain.

Chapter 2, A Bit of Cryptography, explores the fundamentals of cryptography with regards to blockchain technology, along with a few practical examples.

Chapter 3, Cryptography in Blockchain, explains how blockchain technology makes use of cryptographic primitives, such as hash functions and digital signatures.

Chapter 4, Networking in Blockchain, introduces peer-to-peer networking concepts to achieve decentralization in the blockchain network. This chapter also covers how blockchain is maintained in a decentralized network with the help of an example application.

Chapter 5, Cryptocurrency, dives into the original and best implementation of the blockchain technology by exploring the concepts of Bitcoin, and helps to differentiate cryptocurrency from traditional digital currencies.

Chapter 6, Diving into Blockchain – Proof of Existence, introduces decentralized application development using MultiChain blockchain framework by implementing a use case: Proof of Existence.

Chapter 7, Diving into Blockchain – Proof of Ownership, dives further into decentralized application development by introducing the concepts of smart contracts on the NEO and Ethereum blockchain platforms by implementing a use case, looking specifically at Proof of Ownership.

Chapter 8, Blockchain Projects, explores the opportunities in the field of blockchain by classifying and understanding some well-known blockchain projects.

Chapter 9, Blockchain Optimizations and Enhancements, focuses on the techniques that can optimize blockchain applications, while introducing a  few enhancements of existing blockchain applications in order to add interesting functionalities.

Chapter 10, Blockchain Security, gives an insight as to the level of security required blockchain technology by pointing out possible attacks and how they can be prevented.

Chapter 11, When Shouldn’t We Use Blockchain?, lists the characteristics of blockchain technology and explains several decision models you'll need to consider when picking the right use case for a blockchain application.

Chapter 12, Blockchain Use Cases, analyzes a selection of genuine blockchain use cases with the help of decision models, and looks at creating implementations for those use cases.