Software Development in a Connected World

What are merkle trees? Let's start with the basics by brainstorming a solution to this problem: How can you compare two copies of a large file across two machines? A naive approach would be to send the file from one to the other machine, and compare the contents using a sting matching algorithm. Let's do a little better with the understanding that utilizing CPU time locally is cheaper than sending something over the network . A better approach would then be to generate a hash value (i.e., a checksum) from each of the two files and compare the results. This approach starts making even more sense as you increase the number of machines on which the file is replicated and comparison needs to be performed--each machine can generate a checksum and share the results. Now, let's ask another question: "When you find differences in the hashes generated for file comparison, how can you quickly find out which part of the file is different?" This is more challengi...

I have heard of Bitcoin but what is Ethereum? While bitcoin (traditionally) allows simple addition and subtraction operations, which are sufficient for exchange of cryptocurrency, Ethereum enables more sophisticated operations. Ethereum positions itself as a programmable blockchain . Ethereum takes the blockchain concept popularised by bitcoin and introduces a full Turing-complete virtual machine on top of it. The machine is capable of executing code, which is usually written in Solidity programming language. But what does it do? Most commonly, the programmable code is termed as a smart contract ; it establishes conditions under which things of value are exchanged. In other words, instead of using a traditional legal framework to bind two parties, there is code deployed within the blockchain which automatically enforces an agreed contract. The contract could be as basic as "money is transferred from an escrow account to Alice's account, only when today is a Sunday...

What problem does Blockchain address? (In very simple terms) Blockchain primarily addresses aspects of record keeping across multiple, distributed peers such that trust between them is no longer an issue and no central authority is needed either. Somewhat more formally, blockchain is an immutable, distributed ledger of transactions . In today’s world, each organization/ peer participating in a business network performs its own bookkeeping of facts of interest. For example, a car manufacturer would have its own data related to the cars manufactured and a car distributor/ reseller will have its own data---even through there are overlaps and they might be talking about the same asset (i.e., a specific car). Same goes for financial institutions---each bank will have its own data. Such silos definitely need either central authorities/ middle-man who everyone can trust as well as settlements and reconciliation processes to iron out conflicts. Blockchain addresses all these problems b...