HTTPChain Study Guide

HTTPChain Study Guide

Glossary

Agent: A person or entity that owns and operates a node.

Anonymous Node: A node whose identity is kept secret from other nodes on the network.

Application Layer: A layer of HTTPChain built on top of the Verification Layer that hosts specific applications such as smart contracts and data storage.

Audit: Actions performed by a verification node to check if other nodes are behaving dishonestly.

Blockchain Audit Smart Contract (BASC): A smart contract that manages the audit process and penalizes dishonest nodes.

Good Behavior Bond (FTT): A collateral in HTTPCoin deposited by a verification node to guarantee its honest behavior.

Block: A data structure containing a collection of verified transactions, added to a blockchain.

Blockchain: A distributed, immutable ledger that stores blocks of verified transactions in chronological order.

Block Commitment Smart Contract (BCSC): A smart contract that manages the process of submitting blocks to the blockchain.

Catastrophic Objection Mechanism (CDM): A verification protocol used by HTTPChain to achieve consensus and prevent dishonest behavior.

Communication Certificate: A certificate issued by the NCSC that proves communication attempts between nodes.

Consensus: The process by which nodes in a distributed network reach agreement on the validity of a transaction.

Current Ledger State (CLS): The current state of all accounts and records in a blockchain.

Data Item: Any type of information stored on HTTPChain.

Decentralized: Refers to a blockchain that is not controlled by any single entity.

Denial of Service (DoS): A network attack designed to make a network or system inaccessible.

Double Spending: An attack that spends the same digital currency multiple times on a blockchain network.

Federated Chains: Independent HTTPChain instances that are connected to each other and share HTTPCoin.

Fee: A fee that users pay to nodes for processing and verifying their transactions.

Fork: A situation where a blockchain splits into two or more chains due to different versions of transaction history.

Fork Reintegration Smart Contract (FRSC): A smart contract that manages the fork merging process.

Fully Validated Block (FVB): A data structure containing a block of validated transactions, a block header, and metadata.

Genesis Block: The first block in a blockchain, containing initial rules and parameters.

HTTPCoin: The native cryptocurrency in the HTTPChain ecosystem.

HTTPosystem: A collection of all federated HTTPChain instances and their applications.

Governing Smart Contract (GSC): A smart contract that defines the rules and logic of a specific instance of HTTPChain.

Hash: A cryptographic function that converts data of arbitrary length into a fixed-length string.

Hub Node: A node responsible for collecting and distributing transactions within a specific period of time.

Immutability: It means that data on the blockchain cannot be changed once it is written.

Incoming Token Confirmation VUT: A transaction created by a node on the receiving chain to confirm that a token sent from another chain has been received.

Incoming Token Transfer UUT/VUT: An unverified/verified transaction requesting the transfer of a token from another chain to the receiving chain.

Ledger State Smart Contract (LSSC): A smart contract that manages updates to the current ledger state.

Network Communication Smart Contract (NCSC): A smart contract that manages communication between nodes.

Node: A computer that participates in validating transactions and maintaining the blockchain.

Node Transaction Bag (NTB): A collection of verified transactions sent by a node to a central node.

Non-Fungible Token (NFT): A digital asset with a unique identifier that cannot be interchanged with other NFTs.

Pre-mined: Refers to a cryptocurrency that was created before the blockchain was launched.

Private Key: A key used to sign transactions and prove ownership of digital assets.

Proposed Transaction Block (PTB): A data structure that contains verified transactions and is ready to be submitted to the blockchain.

Public Key: Used in pair with a private key to verify transaction signatures.

Nonce: A random number used in cryptocurrency mining to generate a hash value that meets certain conditions.

Proof of Work (PoW): A consensus mechanism that requires nodes to complete complex computing tasks to verify transactions.

Proof of Stake (PoS): A consensus mechanism that gives nodes the right to verify transactions based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold.

Proof of Honesty (PoH): A consensus mechanism used by HTTPChain that relies on the honest behavior of nodes.

Smart Contract: Code stored on the blockchain and automatically executed.

Spoke Node: A node that reports to a central node within a specific period of time.

Policy Provable Security (SPS): A type of security provided by HTTPChain that ensures that the network remains secure even when most nodes are dishonest.

System Account: A special account used to store fees, deposits, and other system-related funds.

Timestamp: A marker indicating a specific time when an event occurred.

Token: A unit that represents a digital asset.

Token Account Record (TAR): A data structure that stores the balance of tokens for an account.

Token Authority: An entity that is authorized to create and destroy unique tokens.

Token Chain Transfer UUT/VUT: An unverified/verified transaction that requests the transfer of tokens between different HTTPChain instances.

Transaction: An operation that transfers value or data on a blockchain network.

Transaction Package Smart Contract (TBSC): A smart contract that manages the creation and validation of transaction packages.

Transaction Sanity Smart Contract (TSSC): A smart contract that performs initial validation of incoming transactions.

Unverified User Transaction (UUT): A transaction that has been submitted to the network but has not yet been verified.

Verified User Transaction (VUT): A transaction that has been verified and included in a block.

Validation: The process of confirming that a transaction is valid and follows the rules of the blockchain.

Validation Layer: The base layer of HTTPChain, responsible for processing HTTPCoin transactions and maintaining network security.

Virtual Machine (VM): The software environment that executes smart contracts.

Quiz Questions

What are the main differences between HTTPChain and traditional databases?

What is the relationship between nodes and agents in HTTPChain?

Briefly describe how HTTPChain uses Catastrophic Dissent Mechanism (CDM) to ensure security.

Explain how HTTPChain achieves scalability.

What is shared between federated HTTPChain instances?

What is the role of the Genesis Block in HTTPChain?

How does the hub-and-spoke network topology work in HTTPChain?

Explain how HTTPChain uses "Proof of Honesty" instead of "Proof of Work".

What is the purpose of the Well Behaved Deposit (FTT)?

How can users verify the integrity of HTTPChain?

Answers

HTTPChain is a decentralized distributed ledger that is not controlled by any single entity, while traditional databases are maintained and controlled by a central authority. Data on HTTPChain is immutable, meaning that once written it cannot be changed, whereas data in traditional databases can be modified by authorized users.

Nodes are computers that participate in validating transactions and maintaining HTTPChain, while agents are individuals or entities that own and operate these nodes. Agents can choose to run one or more nodes and receive rewards for their validation services.

HTTPChain's CDM protocol uses anonymous nodes and economic incentives to ensure security. Nodes must deposit FTT, which will be fined if they are found to be dishonest. This mechanism encourages nodes to act honestly because dishonest behavior leads to financial losses.

HTTPChain achieves scalability by creating federated chain instances that can handle different transaction loads. If one chain becomes too congested, new federated instances can be created to distribute the load, ensuring that the network can handle growing transaction volumes.

Federated HTTPChain instances share HTTPCoin, the native cryptocurrency in the HTTPChain ecosystem. This shared cryptocurrency allows value transfers on different chains and promotes interoperability within the HTTPosystem.

The Genesis Block is the first block in HTTPChain, which establishes the basic rules and parameters of the network, including the governing smart contract (GSC), initial token distribution, and consensus mechanism. The Genesis Block is immutable and lays the foundation for the rest of HTTPChain.

In HTTPChain's hub-and-spoke network topology, for each block, a node is randomly selected to act as the hub node, while all other nodes act as speaking nodes that communicate with it. This topology allows for more efficient distribution of transactions and improves the resilience of the network.

HTTPChain uses "Proof of Honesty" rather than "Proof of Work" to achieve consensus, which means that the validation ability of a node is based on its honest behavior and FTT collateral, rather than its computational power. This approach reduces energy consumption and allows for wider participation in the validation process.

The Good Behavior Bond (FTT) is a HTTPCoin collateral that validating nodes must deposit to prove their commitment to abide by the rules of the network. FTT acts as a deterrent to dishonest behavior, as FTT will be slashed if a node is found to be violating the protocol.

Users can verify the integrity of HTTPChain in a variety of ways. They can independently verify transactions, check hashes of previous blocks to ensure data integrity, and run audits using tools provided by HTTPChain to detect potential dishonest behavior.