Key features to consider when selecting a Blockchain platform
Blockchain platforms consist of a variety of features, which allows the enterprises to select the appropriate feature for different kinds of capabilities based on the application of this technology.
According to me, these four key features are critically important when evaluating blockchain platforms, their components & its application:
Whether a platform is open (that is, a public blockchain) or closed (a private blockchain) and how that affects speed and security. This mainly depends on the use case being executed, which defines whether you want a public or private Blockchain. Anyone can join a public blockchain, which can make it easier to set up for small-business users. The downside is that open blockchains are not as fast. Many of the blockchain code bases can be modified to be either open or closed. Private Blockchains allow only restricted participants and are faster in execution speeds.
Consensus mechanism, such as PoW, PoS or Byzantine fault tolerance. This is a core principle of Blockchain, which simply means that when data is recorded on Blockchain, it must be agreed to by all the participants of the Blockchain or participants who are authorized to validate the transaction data. This ensures that the participants can trust the data on the Blockchain. There are multiple consensus mechanisms and every Blockchain may use a different consensus algorithm, depending on the type of Blockchain and how the data is validated & written in the Blockchain**.** PoW is the older mechanism used in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The others are newer and less proven but faster and more efficient.
Ledger technology and how it records the transactions. This relates to how the blockchain keeps track of information. Popular approaches include an account model and UTXO. An account model records the balance, whereas the UTXO model is analogous to cash with serial numbers in your wallet. The account model is used in the blockchain platforms Ethereum, Stellar, Tron and EOSIO. IBM Blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Sawtooth use UTXO.
Intended smart contract functions for capturing business logic on the blockchain. Smart contracts are coded version of business logic, which can be trusted. Many blockchain platforms enable smart contracts. Reduction in payment reconciliation time and cost is the most important advantage of smart contracts in supply chain use-cases. Additionally, transactions which are sent from unauthorised agents, or in a wrong point of the process, can be automatically rejected, which prevents double-spending and human mistakes. Smart contracts Popular programming languages include Ethereum Solidity, WebAssembly languages and Digital Asset Modeling Language.
This article is also published here.