Blockchain basics : a non-technical introduction in 25 Steps

Contents -- About the Author -- About the Technical Reviewer -- Introduction -- Stage I: Terminology and Technical Foundations -- Step 1: Thinking in Layers and Aspects -- The Metaphor -- Layers of a Software System -- Application vs. Implementation -- Functional vs. Nonfunctional Aspects -- Considering Two Layers at the Same Time -- Integrity -- Outlook -- Summary -- Step 2: Seeing the Big Picture -- The Metaphor -- A Payment System -- Two Types of Software Architecture -- The Advantages of Distributed Systems -- Higher Computing Power -- Cost Reduction -- Higher Reliability -- Ability to Grow Naturally -- The Disadvantages of Distributed Systems -- Coordination Overhead -- Communication Overhead -- Dependencies on Networks -- Higher Program Complexity -- Security Issues -- Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems -- Mixing Centralized and Distributed Systems -- Identifying Distributed Systems -- The Purpose of the Blockchain -- Outlook -- Summary -- Step 3: Recognizing the Potential -- The Metaphor -- How a Peer-to-Peer System Changed a Whole Industry -- The Potential of Peer-to-Peer Systems -- Terminology and the Link to the Blockchain -- The Definition of a Peer-to-Peer System -- Architecture of Peer-to-Peer Systems -- The Link Between Peer-to-Peer Systems and the Blockchain -- The Potential of the Blockchain -- Outlook -- Summary -- Stage II: Why the Blockchain Is Needed -- Step 4: Discovering the Core Problem -- The Metaphor -- Trust and Integrity in Peer-to-Peer Systems -- Integrity Threats in Peer-to-Peer Systems -- Technical Failures -- Malicious Peers -- The Core Problem to Be Solved by the Blockchain -- Outlook -- Summary -- Step 5: Disambiguating the Term -- The Term -- A Data Structure -- An Algorithm -- A Suite of Technologies -- An Umbrella Term for Purely Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems with a Common Application Area