Blockchain and Ethereum Awareness (Entry Level)

Topics covered

• define Ethereum-specific terms such as mining, ether, and smart contracts
• describe the functions of smart contract bytecode, opcodes, and ABI in interacting with a contract
• describe the need for smart contracts to eliminate the need for a trusted third party in many transactions
• describe the trie data structure that is used to represent associative arrays and distinguish it from its space-optimized version, the Patricia trie
• identify the two types of Ethereum accounts - externally owned and contract - and the data that is needed for each of them
• outline the concept of gas in Ethereum and the role of the gas price and gas limit fields in a transaction
• outline the proof of work algorithm and the work which miners need to do to claim mining rewards
• outline the steps involved verifying transactions initiated in the Ethereum network
• outline the technique of sequencing records by breaking them up into blocks and arranging those blocks in a chain
• recall the use of the Ethereum state in verifying the sender's Ether balance to ensure they possess the funds being transferred in a transaction
• recognize the characteristics of the Ethereum blockchain network and how it records transaction data in a transparent and verifiable manner
• recognize the features of the Truffle framework, Ganache, and Drizzle tools that speed up smart contract development
• recognize the role of an Ethereum client and list the different Ethereum clients
• recognize the role of cryptographic hashing in blockchain networks to ensure immutability of transaction data
• recognize the role of mining nodes in the Ethereum network and the define the concept of gas which is used to measure the complexity of transactions