Member-only story
Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm, revolutionizing the way we handle transactions, secure data, and build trust in a decentralized manner. The concept may seem complex at first, but fear not — in this article, we’ll break down the fundamentals and guide you through creating a basic blockchain in Python.
Understanding the Basics
Before diving into code, let’s grasp the core concepts. A blockchain is essentially a chain of blocks, each containing a list of transactions. The uniqueness lies in its decentralized and secure nature. Once a block is added to the chain, altering it becomes practically impossible due to cryptographic hashing.
In our Python implementation, we’ll create a Block class to represent each block in the chain. Each block will store its own data, a timestamp, and a hash, along with the hash of the previous block — forming a chain.
Setting Up the Environment
Let’s get started by setting up our Python environment. We’ll use the hashlib
library for hashing and the time
module for timestamps. Open your favorite…