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 SystemsCoordination 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 BlockchainThe 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

The Usage of the Term in This BookProvisional Definition; The Role of Managing Ownership; The Application Area of the Blockchain in This Book; Outlook; Summary; Step 6: Understanding the Nature of Ownership; The Metaphor; Ownership and Witnesses; Foundations of Ownership; A Short Detour to Security; Identification; Authentication; Authorization; Purposes and Properties of a Ledger; Ownership and the Blockchain; Outlook; Summary; Step 7: Spending Money Twice; The Metaphor; The Double Spending Problem; The Term; Double Spending as a Problem of Copying Digital Goods

Double Spending as a Problem of Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems of LedgersDouble Spending as an Example of Violated Integrity in Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems; How to Solve the Double Spending Problem; Solving Double Spending as a Problem of Copying Digital Goods; Solving Double Spending as a Problem of a Distributed Peer-to-Peer System of Ledgers; Solving Double Spending as an Example of Violated Integrity in Distributed Peer-to-Peer Systems; The Usage of Double Spending in This Book; Outlook; Summary; Stage III: How the Blockchain Works; Step 8: Planning the Blockchain; The Goal