Blockchains are the Doritos Locos Taco of computer science. Complex as software can become, there are a limited number of tools available to software developers. Software developers combine arrays, databases, objects, pointers and other logical constructs in unique ways to create efficient solutions to problems, but most of these combinations have been known for decades. (This is the classic book describing some of these common combinations.) Software developers are like chefs at a Mexican restaurant mixing hard shells, salsa and beans to make a taco, but later using a flour tortilla, salsa and beans to make a burrito.
Because there are only so many ingredients available, innovative combinations are rare. In the fast-food space, the Doritos Locos Taco was one of these innovative combinations: It is just like a regular taco, but its shell is instead a giant, folded Dorito. It was unveiled at Taco Bell in 2012 and quickly became the restaurant's most popular menu item. It was a brilliant combination of existing ingredients, it took everyone by surprise, and it was delicious.
Like the Doritos Locos Taco, blockchains combine well-known software ingredients to make something completely new, brilliant and surprising. Hashing and peer-to-peer file sharing have been standard software constructs since the early days of computing, but no one thought to piece them together to build a blockchain until recently. And blockchains have had a big effect on software, the economy and internet culture in the form of cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and public ledgers of ownership.
And like a taco, the elements of a blockchain are not complicated. This post walks through building a blockchain from scratch to explain how it all comes together to create something unique in computer science.
The Ingredients
While there can be more involved as they become more complex, the basic ingredients of a blockchain are hashing and peer-to-peer file sharing. IP/Decode has discussed hashing in two posts:
Continue reading: https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2022/06/building-a-blockchain-from-scratch
Because there are only so many ingredients available, innovative combinations are rare. In the fast-food space, the Doritos Locos Taco was one of these innovative combinations: It is just like a regular taco, but its shell is instead a giant, folded Dorito. It was unveiled at Taco Bell in 2012 and quickly became the restaurant's most popular menu item. It was a brilliant combination of existing ingredients, it took everyone by surprise, and it was delicious.
Like the Doritos Locos Taco, blockchains combine well-known software ingredients to make something completely new, brilliant and surprising. Hashing and peer-to-peer file sharing have been standard software constructs since the early days of computing, but no one thought to piece them together to build a blockchain until recently. And blockchains have had a big effect on software, the economy and internet culture in the form of cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and public ledgers of ownership.
And like a taco, the elements of a blockchain are not complicated. This post walks through building a blockchain from scratch to explain how it all comes together to create something unique in computer science.
The Ingredients
While there can be more involved as they become more complex, the basic ingredients of a blockchain are hashing and peer-to-peer file sharing. IP/Decode has discussed hashing in two posts:
Continue reading: https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2022/06/building-a-blockchain-from-scratch
