Blockchain is a distributed immutable ledger that is completely transparent. Multiple Nodes are connected to form a single Big Node. The decentralization concept is dependent on the Company's needs and decides to make it decentralized.
Distributed: Each Node has the same copy of the blockchain, If there is a change on the block it is broadcasted to All other nodes, and after acceptance, the changes are added to blocks in all nodes.
Immutable: Once a Transaction is added to the blockchain it cannot be changed.
Ledger: A Storage place where all the transactions are stored. Each Block of Blockchain contains a ledger that resembles all other blocks.
Transparent: Any Transaction performed on the Blockchain is publicly available and can be viewed by anyone, the data is encrypted and contains a public address.
Bitcoin vs Ethereum
Bitcoin
A Decentralized digital currency that can be sent on a peer-to-peer network without the need for intermediaries, basically it is a cryptocurrency that uses blockchain technology.
Can Perform only transactions as it is a Not Turing Complete Algorithm, which means it cannot run loops and run programs on its network.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform that establishes a peer-to-peer network that securely executes and verifies application code, called smart contracts.
Can perform both transactions and deploy smart contrast on the network called Daaps[Decentralized Applications]. It is Turing Complete, as Solidity is used to write the smart contracts.
Types of Nodes in a Blockchain Network
Full Node - Can perform the mining and transactions in the blockchain. No need for third-party applications. Can install blockchain locally on the system. Validation and Verification is performed, Running 24 Hours.
Light Node - Stores only block header and depend on the full node. Stores only index and request data from the full node. No Verification and Validation is done.
Archive Node - Stores all the data from the genesis block till now. Archive of history of data and transactions.
These are the core fundamentals of blockchain and we gain more in-depth knowledge while building projects and portfolio updations. Let's Dive deep into the Solidity Programming language for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.