What is a Block Chain ? Simple Definition of Block Chain | Everything you need to know | 2024

Why Block Chain and What it is used for ? 2024 Guide

Before we start to get to know about Block Chain, we have to get a better background understanding about what it is and how it is related to your day to day life indeed.  

How do we decide whether something fake or real? For example a Mobile device, a Laptop, or a License card. The mobile phone has an in-build serial number which was created by the manufacturer. Someone can check whether the serial number is fake or real by the manufacturer’s website. Simply it is a record kept by the manufacturer. Same as the Laptop. A license card is issued by an authority and they have the card number or whatever that is related to the card as a record. Therefore anyone who wants to check the verification of the license card can easily be done.        

These all records are centralized. Then it is not very difficult to change or modify those records or information by a single person since the changes will not be recorded again and can’t be visible to the other persons who engaged with the network other than the single person. But it is possible to change. To avoid those problems, Block Chain was invented.

 

What is a Block-Chain?

Simple Definition of block chain - Block Chain is a chain of blocks that contains some sort of information. This was originally invented in 1991.  

Block Chain is a solution for centralized networks since this keeps records of everybody who engaged with the network. 

If some data has been recorded in a block chain in a database, the data becomes very difficult to change. It is networked and it is visible to all the related persons in the network. Each block generally consists of three particular indexes and all the blocks contain interconnected links and all the blocks are interconnected.

1.       Data Amount

2.       Hash

3.       Previous Hash

All these indexes are interconnected and cannot be changed separately.  

What is Data Amount in Block Chain?

The Data Amount contained in a block depends on a model of the block chain. It can be a,

·         Data of a Patient: Name, Age, Disease, etc.

·         Data of a Transaction: Amount, to whom, from whom, etc.

What is Hash in Block Chain?

The other important feature is Hash. It is always unique to each block in the chain. It can be a,

·         Unique ID

·         Face ID or

·         Fingerprint Print etc.

Hash is basically a digital ID or digital signature of some kind of particular data. As an example: There is an image stored in your data collection on your computer. Then you can create a digital signature or digital ID for the picture. It is Hash.  

Changing something inside the block will be recognized by the Hash and immediately the Hash will be changed. On the other hand, this is very useful for you when you want to detect the changes in the block when it has happened.

As an instance; if the transaction details were changed in a certain transaction block, the unique ID of the block will be automatically changed. Then the crowd who interact with the block chain can immediately identify the changes inside the block.  

What is the Previous Hash in a Block Chain?

Previous Hash aka Hash of the previous block, this element is caused to make chain among the blocks and make more secure.

When it comes to the very first block of the chain, the previous hash element will be four zeros indeed.

 

Block 1

·         Data – Patient 1 : Age, Name

·         Hash – p0923

·         Previous Hash – 0000

 

Block 2

·         Data – Patient 2 : Age, Name

·         Hash – p0924

·         Previous Hash – p0923

 

Block 3

·         Data – Patient 3 : Age, Name

·         Hash – p0925

·         Previous Hash – p0924

You can’t re-write, re-order, or delete those blocks in the chain, the only thing you can do is create a new block to the chain.

Block chain uses the peer-to-peer network for connectivity. Everyone can join. The persons who joined the network before can see the full set of clearly visible pictures of the block chain in detail.    

 

What happened when creating a new Block?

When someone creates a new block, all the participants can visible it. It is checked by all the participants who engaged with the network to verify that it is compatible with the existing block-chain. If it behaves without any problem, then it will be added to the block chain.    

All the computers that are connected to the block chain network, are typically known as Nodes.

 

How Block-Chain interact with Crypto Currency?

Simply the cryptocurrency operates in certain platforms or networks which enables users to exchange money in peer-to-peer methods with anyone who engages with those platforms or networks clearly. All the variants of the currencies are recorded in the blocks and all the blocks are interconnected together. Therefore the users can visible all the previous activities and the changes in the currencies since all are in the block chain.       

The most important thing is the reliability of the data. Even nobody in the network can change the values of the indexes in the blocks since it is decentralized.

 

What are the techniques that related to the Block Chain?

1.       Network - Peer to peer network. Those types of networks need to share and build communications with each other inside the block chain.

2.       Cryptography - Encryption is the cryptography method that is used in these networks. This is a secure communication method used inside the block chain network. This authenticates the authenticity of the data and information provided by the people who engaged with the network. Even this helps engagers to secure their data and records from bad insiders within the network itself.

3.       Consensus Rules - When someone adds a new record or a block to the existing chain, that person needs to agree with the rules before adding the block.

 

How does Bitcoin relate with Block Chain?

This was the first form of coin aka money which kept records in a block chain throughout the transactions instead of having records in an authority. All the records are kept by everyone since it is a decentralized method and there is no way of changing the transaction records by someone from the network.   

 

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