# WEEK2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PROGRAM AT BLOCKFUSE LABS WEB3 COHORTIV #### Introduction. We started by going through the masteretheruem book chapter 1 in which we talked about what the blockchain is what etheruem is and etheruem compared to bitcoin and the birth of etheruem, turing completeness of etheruem, the stages of etheruem development, components of the blockchain, category of the blockchain in these article you would get to understand each of these about the blockchain and also about etheruem. ## What is the Blockchain. Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers in a secure, transparent, and immutable way. Unlike traditional databases, where data is stored in a single central location, blockchain stores data in blocks that are linked together in a chain using cryptography. it is also a digital ledger that records transactions across many computers in a way that makes the data secure, transparent, and nearly impossible to alter. ## Components of the Blockchain. The components of an open, public blockchain are (usually) as follows: 1. P2P. 2. Consensus mechanism(rules). 3. Cryptography. 4. Messages. 5. Consensus Algorithm. etc * A P2P network connecting participants and propagating transactions and blocks of verified transactions, based on a standardized “gossip” protocol * Messages, in the form of transactions, representing state transitions * A set of consensus rules governing what constitutes a transaction and what makes for a valid state transition * A state machine that processes transactions according to the consensus rules * A chain of cryptographically secured blocks that acts as a journal of all the verified and accepted state transitions * A consensus algorithm that decentralizes control over the blockchain by forcing participants to cooperate in the enforcement of the consensus rules ## Cateogory of the Blockchain. Note all blockchains are created equal. The blockchain is categorized into 4 permissioned versus permissionless and public versus private: * Permissionless Permissionless blockchains, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are accessible to anyone. it allows anyone to join, participate in the consensus process, and read and write data, promoting trust through transparency. * Permissioned Permissioned blockchains restrict access, allowing only authorized participants to join the network and perform certain actions. * Public Public blockchains are decentralized and open to everyone, allowing broad participation in network activities and ensuring transparency through widespread distribution and consensus mechanisms. * Private Private blockchains limit access to a specific group of participants, often within organizations or among trusted partners. ## What is Ethereum. Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation and execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). The Ethereum platform enables developers to build powerful decentralized applications with built-in economic functions. It also provides high availability, auditability, transparency, and neutrality while reducing censorship and reducing certain counterparty risks. Ethereum is an open source, globally decentralized computing infrastructure that executes programs called smart contracts. It uses a blockchain to synchronize and store the system’s state changes. ## Birth of Etheruem. Toward the end of 2013, Vitalik Buterin, a young programmer and Bitcoin enthusiast, started thinking about further extending the capabilities of Bitcoin and Mastercoin (an overlay protocol that extended Bitcoin to offer rudimentary smart contracts). In October of that year, Buterin proposed a more generalized approach to the Mastercoin team, one that allowed flexible and scriptable (but not Turing complete) contracts to replace the specialized contract language of Mastercoin. Although the Mastercoin team was impressed, this proposal was too radical a change to fit into their development roadmap. ## Turing completeness of Etheruem. As soon as you start reading about Ethereum, you will encounter the term Turing complete. Ethereum, they say, is Turing complete, unlike Bitcoin. What exactly does that mean? The term refers to English mathematician Alan Turing, who is considered the father of computer science. In 1936, he created a mathematical model of a computer consisting of a state machine that manipulates symbols by reading and writing them on sequential memory (resembling an infinite-length paper tape). With this construct, Turing went on to provide a mathematical foundation to answer (in the negative) questions about universal computability, meaning whether all problems are solvable. He proved that there are classes of problems that are uncomputable. Turing further defined a system to be Turing complete if it can be used to simulate any Turing machine. Such a system is called a universal Turing machine (UTM). Ethereum’s ability to execute a stored program in a state machine called the EVM while reading and writing data to memory makes it a Turing-complete system and therefore a UTM (universal Turing machine). ## Ethereum’s Stages of Development The four main development stages are codenamed Frontier, Homestead, Metropolis, and Serenity. At the time of writing, we are in the last stage: Serenity. The Serenity stage has been further broken down into six substages codenamed The Merge, The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge. * Frontier (July 30, 2015) Launched at Genesis (when the first Ethereum block was mined), Frontier prepared the foundation for miners and developers by enabling the setup of mining rigs, the initiation of ETH token trading, and the testing of decentralized applications (DApps) in a minimal network setting. Initially, blocks had a gas limit of five thousand, but that was lifted in September 2015, allowing for transactions and introducing the “difficulty bomb.” * Homestead (March 14, 2016) Initiated at block 1,150,000, Homestead made Ethereum safer and more stable through key protocol updates (EIP-2, EIP-7, and EIP-8). These upgrades enhanced developer friendliness and paved the way for further protocol improvements, although the network remained in the beta phase. * Metropolis (October 16, 2017) Starting at block 4,370,000, Metropolis aimed to increase network functionality, fostering DApp creation and overall network utility. * Serenity (September 15, 2022) Serenity, commonly known as Ethereum 2.0, represents a major upgrade aimed at transforming Ethereum from a PoW to a PoS consensus mechanism. Serenity focuses on making Ethereum more sustainable and capable of handling a growing number of users and applications. The serenity is then divided into 6 aspects we have the merge, surge, scourge, verge, purge, splurge. * The Merge The Merge combines Ethereum’s mainnet with the Beacon Chain (the sidechain handling the PoS consensus), officially transitioning the network to PoS and reducing energy consumption significantly. * The Surge The Surge introduces sharding, increasing Ethereum’s scalability by splitting the network into smaller, manageable pieces, which allows for more transactions per second. * The Scourge The Scourge addresses issues of centralization and censorship resistance, ensuring that Ethereum remains a decentralized and open network. * The Verge The Verge implements Verkle trees, reducing the data storage required for nodes and thus improving network efficiency and scalability. * The Purge The Purge aims to reduce the historical data stored on Ethereum, simplifying node operation and lowering network congestion. * The Splurge The Splurge includes various minor upgrades and optimizations to ensure that Ethereum runs smoothly and efficiently after all major changes are implemented. ## Ethereum Compared to Bitcoin. Many people approach Ethereum with some prior experience of cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin. Ethereum shares many elements with other open blockchains: a peer-to-peer (P2P) network connecting participants; Yet in many ways, both the purpose and construction of Ethereum are strikingly different from those of the open blockchains that preceded it, including Bitcoin. Ethereum’s purpose is not primarily to be a digital currency payment network. While the digital currency ether is both integral to and necessary for the operation of Ethereum, ether is intended as a utility currency to pay for use of the Ethereum platform as the world computer. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a very limited scripting language, Ethereum is designed to be a general-purpose, programmable blockchain that runs a virtual machine capable of executing code of arbitrary and unbounded complexity. Ethereum’s language is Turing complete, meaning that Ethereum can function as a general-purpose computer #### Conclusion. in conclusion these ideas show that blockchain technology and Ethereum in particular is still in an active phase of refinement and discovery. The fundamentals are already strong: transparent ledgers, programmable contracts, and global participation without centralized control. For anyone entering the space now, this is not just a chance to learn a new technology stack; it is an opportunity to help shape the next generation of financial, social, and informational systems built on open, verifiable infrastructure and also in conclusion our blockchain which is decentralized is not like our centralized/traditional database like postgres, mysql, firebase, mongodb, and the rest of them that we can see user's name email and post and other information on our decentralized blockchain you cant see a user email what is beeing used to represent a user is their wallet address.