Chapter 1, Exploring Blockchain and BaaS, offers an in-depth exploration of blockchain and distributed ledger technology. It also takes you through blockchain-layered architecture, types of networks, actors, and structure. This chapter offers a prelude to blockchain, shows its relationship with distributed ledger technology, and demonstrates its pertinence to it. This chapter will demystify the prominence of the BaaS platform, its architecture, features, qualifiers, and the ease of use of prebuilt applications while exploring the eminence of OBP.
Chapter 2, Construing Distributed Ledger Tech and Blockchain, demonstrates the world of HLF design and implementation strategy, while diving into the comprehensive five-step design strategy—explore, engage, experiment, experience, and influence. In this chapter, we will build equations, coined by the author, to justify blockchain as the qualified solution for a given use case. We will look at various structures of permissioned business networks, such as joint venture, consortium, and founder initiated, and glance at a permissioned distributed autonomous organization (pDAO). We will also look at different types of use cases, ascertain the properties of blockchain, and witness them as the driving force behind various use cases and their adoption. The book includes a use case on FinTech; helping you to learn the art of modeling a blockchain business network (KonsensusChain) by defining its assets, participants, ledgers, consensus, transactions, events, permissions, and access controls. It also explores how to integrate a permissioned Hyperledger-based business network with BPM, SaaS, and other applications, while creating an infrastructure for the sample business network.
Chapter 3, Delving into Hyperledger Fabric, demonstrates Hyperledger's architecture and allows you to assemble a sample Hyperledger-based business network. You will look at a founder-based and a consortium-based business network. You will learn about business network components, adding peers to channels, working with chaincode, and smart contracts. It will guide you in enabling a dApp or application to transact with the business network. You will also take a deep dive into identity, security, privacy, membership services, and channels, as well as walking through ledger state and transaction flow via a PiggyBank example. These details will allow you to learn transaction flow and its steps, such as proposals, endorsement, packaging responses, verification, ordering, distribution, validation, committing, and notifications. Furthermore you'll see on-chain and off-chain architecture as an extension to a private data collection.
Chapter 4, Engage in Business Case on Blockchain Platform, allows you to engage with OBP. You'll learn how to design a solution inline with the constructs of OBP. You'll also see the sample business network topology, network artifacts, and solution and deployment architecture. Furthermore, you'll explore OBP in detail, its features, and components. You'll also delve into defining and creating an instance of a founder-based business network. In the chapter, you will see a rich history database working with channels.
Chapter 5, Managing Solutions Using Oracle Blockchain Platform, gets you into the practicality of translating network topology on OBP, creating network stakeholders, and configuring OBP instances. This ledger of knowledge illustrates a transaction infrastructure setup, joining participants to a business network, access control, adding smartness (chaincode) to a business network, and REST proxy configuration to expose chaincode to a dApp.
Chapter 6, Developing Solutions on Oracle Blockchain Platform, concludes the book with details on chaincode development, such as the programming languages required, development tools, and a development environment setup. This chapter teaches you about mapping asset models, operations, and developing chaincode functions and interfaces. It highlights the full life cycle of chaincode from development to updates; which includes installing, initiating, testing, and versioning. It demonstrates the full chaincode with a code base built on Go and Node.js. The chapter also illustrates endorsement policies, private data collections, and their functioning in concert with chaincode. It covers chaincode testing via shim and REST endpoints and integrating client apps with business networks using SDK, REST, and events. Finally, it concludes with insights into chaincode, transactions, and channels by experimenting with the monitoring of a business via chaincode logs and channel logs.
