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Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#12Here is a really great video [1] which really made blockchains click for me. I believe this was posted on HN a while back.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Back in 2008 I invented an algorithm for tree structures where the definition of the hash of any node, was "the hash of hashes of all its immediate children". I had invented a way to do 'tree node comparisons' where any time two tree nodes on a tree had the same 'hash' i knew the content (recursively deep into the tree) of those nodes was identical. I never went forward on that algorithm, because i knew it meant each…
I think Merkle got there first, in about 1979 or so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree
Very interesting, thanks. I had never heard of Merkle Tree. Since a linked list is merely a special case of a 'tree structure' (i.e. one where there is always only one child), we can consider Merkle to be the true 'inventor' of blockchain. However, really the concept is so simple and obvious that I wouldn't be surprised if Babbage/Lovelace era folks had written papers on it.
I'm sure there's at least one arse who'll tell me the DIFFERENCE between a tree and a linked list. lol. Gotta love social media.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Merkle got there first, in about 1979 or so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree
It's a nice strike against software patents though, probably every programmer interested in data structures goes through a whole series of these independent inventions. To award a patent to someone just because they thought of it first is ridiculous.
I'm no lawyer, but they really need to outlaw patents on 'general purpose' technologies. Adam Carolla famously got sued for owning a podcast company, when someone claimed to have a patent on the entire concept of "downloadable audio". I think there should be a one year jail term for anyone who files a suit about something that ends up being determined "general purpose" technology. Would end the nonsense overnight.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#15Is there a Blockchain email system? Wouldn't that be a solid evolution forward, in terms of human communication?
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Merkle got there first, in about 1979 or so. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree
Very interesting, thanks. I had never heard of Merkle Tree. Since a linked list is merely a special case of a 'tree structure' (i.e. one where there is always only one child), we can consider Merkle to be the true 'inventor' of blockchain. However, really the concept is so simple and obvious that I wouldn't be surprised if Babbage/Lovelace era folks had written papers on it. I'm sure there's at least one arse who'll…
He'd also be the true inventor of Git then. It's a widely useful data structure.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#17Is there a Blockchain email system? Wouldn't that be a solid evolution forward, in terms of human communication?
What point would serve other than increasing latency, and vastly increasing storage and network requirements?
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very interesting, thanks. I had never heard of Merkle Tree. Since a linked list is merely a special case of a 'tree structure' (i.e. one where there is always only one child), we can consider Merkle to be the true 'inventor' of blockchain. However, really the concept is so simple and obvious that I wouldn't be surprised if Babbage/Lovelace era folks had written papers on it. I'm sure there's at least one arse who'll…
He'd also be the true inventor of Git then. It's a widely useful data structure.
Merkel WAS a genuine innovation, and it DOES collapse into plain blockchain if all 'nodes' on a given tree have one child, because in this case the directed graph (tree) is a linked list. If the key innovation in both structures were not the same then your snarkyness would have been appropriate.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
He'd also be the true inventor of Git then. It's a widely useful data structure.
Merkel WAS a genuine innovation, and it DOES collapse into plain blockchain if all 'nodes' on a given tree have one child, because in this case the directed graph (tree) is a linked list. If the key innovation in both structures were not the same then your snarkyness would have been appropriate.
The point is that there is more to blockchain technology than just Merkle trees, I think. Just focussing on the underlying datastructure is like saying filesystems are just B trees or something.
Re: Blockchains from the ground up: Part 1
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Merkel WAS a genuine innovation, and it DOES collapse into plain blockchain if all 'nodes' on a given tree have one child, because in this case the directed graph (tree) is a linked list. If the key innovation in both structures were not the same then your snarkyness would have been appropriate.
The point is that there is more to blockchain technology than just Merkle trees, I think. Just focussing on the underlying datastructure is like saying filesystems are just B trees or something.
Yes. I think that there a bunch of interesting ideas in blockchain technology, not all of which are necessarily new, but they are often new to the blog writer and/or audience. So introductory articles often focus on those basic concepts, which leads to this confusion