These days, technology is reaching new heights of success at an incredibly fast pace. One of the latest triumphs in this direction is the evolution of Blockchain technology. New technology has had a profound impact on the financial sector. In fact, it was originally designed for Bitcoin, a digital currency. But now it finds its application in a number of other things.
It must have been easy to get this far. But no one knows what Blockchain is yet?
Distributed database
Imagine a spreadsheet being copied countless times over a computer network. Now imagine that a computer network is designed so intelligently that it regularly updates the table on its own. This is a broad overview of Blockchain. Blockchain stores information as a shared database. Moreover, this database is continuously reconciled.
This approach has its advantages. It does not allow you to keep the database in one place. The records in it have a real public attribute and can be verified very easily. Since there is no centralized version of the records, unauthorized users cannot manipulate or damage the data. Blockchain’s distributed database is hosted on millions of computers at the same time, making data easily accessible to almost anyone on the virtual network.
To make a concept or technology more clear, the analogy of Google Docs is worth discussing.
The Google Docs analogy for Blockchain
Since the advent of e-mail, a common way to exchange documents is to send a Microsoft Word document as an attachment to the recipient or recipients. Recipients will take the time to review it before sending back a revised copy. With this approach, you have to wait until you receive the return copy to see the changes made to the document. This is because the sender cannot make corrections until the recipient has finished editing and sent the document back. Modern databases do not allow two owners to access the same record at the same time. In this way, banks maintain the balances of their customers or account holders.
Unlike established practice, Google Docs allows both parties to access the same document at the same time. In addition, it also allows both to view the same version of the document at the same time. Just like a shared book, Google Docs also acts as a shared document. The distributed part becomes relevant only when the sharing involves multiple users. Blockchain technology is in some ways an extension of this concept. However, it is important to note here that Blockchain is not designed to exchange documents. Rather, it’s just an analogy to help you get a clear picture of this cutting-edge technology.
The salient features of Blockchain
Blockchain stores blocks of information across the network that are identical. By virtue of this feature:
- The data or information cannot be controlled by any single entity.
- Nor can there be a single point of failure.
- The data is stored on a public network, which ensures complete transparency of the overall procedure.
- The data stored in it cannot be damaged.
Demand for Blockchain developers
As mentioned earlier, Blockchain technology has a very wide application in the world of finance and banking. According to the World Bank, in 2015 alone, remittances worth more than US$430 billion were sent through it. Hence, Blockchain developers are in high demand in the market.
Blockchain eliminates the payment of intermediaries in such monetary transactions. It was the invention of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) that made it easier for the common man to access computers in the form of desktops. Similarly, the wallet application is the most common GUI for Blockchain technology. Users use the wallet to buy what they want using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.