Hey everyone
I've been checking out the tech section for a while and honestly, it feels kinda overwhelming trying to make sense of everything I read. Not sure if it's because my programming and software design skills aren't that great... but the main reason I'm here is that I really want to dive into the technical side of Bitcoin. I just got a new PC, so I'm ready to learn, but I need some help to build a solid foundation.
If I can find a mentor, I swear I'll put in the effort and make it worth your while. So, I’m really looking for some advice or guidance.
Thanks!
You can Start with this: https://learnmeabitcoin.com/
Mastering Bitcoin This guide will be helpful
You can search for previous discussions about any areas with : https://ninjastic.space/search
Also you don't necessarily need programming skills for this, it all depends on the area you want to focus on but you can really be grounded in the technical aspect of Bitcoin and having little knowledge of programming skills
Hope you do follow up this quiz [Quiz] Answer the Bitcoin question and earn merits! #1
You are literally in a community where there is a compendium of knowledge on whatever subject that you fancy in Bitcoin and Blockchain in general. A mentor is not what you need , rather you need to study. We are literally learning from one another and exchanging ideas and new information you too can watch this space , follow the conversation that goes on here and when you have a question, you ask. You'll get lots of people who want to help regardless of how "stupid" your question may sound at first.
My advice would be that mentoring isn't fully required to learn the technicals of Bitcoin, especially as a beginner. The awesome thing about this rapidly developing technological space is that so much supportive learning material exists, freely accessible online - tutorials insightful blog articles, comprehensive video courses - deliberately created for us newbies.
I'd suggest focusing your initial energy on the basics: the backend blockchain mechanics, how essential cryptography functions, the step-by-step processes confirming transactions... While developing working technical knowledge can feel overwhelming early on the key is taking things slow, absorbing piece-by-piece. And, don't let unfamiliar concepts deter you from diving deeper through continued reading and research self-exploration.
because only through actively trying things out yourself, getting your hands metaphorically dirty by running tests and practical experiments do the abstract principles start feeling more concrete. So once youve patiently built up enough baseline theoretical understanding, begin playing around - it's often in those moments of trial-and-error applied learning that everything clicks together. And even when the complex technical discussions happening, don't hesitate participating to learn from other's perspectives; the community is welcoming of curious newcomers bringing fresh ideas and questions to the table.
If you intend to be an expert (someone who truly understand Bitcoin protocol and can write/modify Bitcoin software), you might want to check this paid fellowship (which means you get salary), https://brink.dev/. But otherwise, i would suggest you to start by reading Mastering Bitcoin book and then read other technical resources (e.g. https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/technical-resources.html). And FYI most people who visit this forum board aren't expert either.
Knowledge here is scattered in different threads and to gather that knowledge one has to go through different threads. There is no single thread where you will find everything about Bitcoin but different threads. Make it habit to follow threads and read it carefully to master the skills.
Anyone getting started with Bitcoin must also go through the Bitcoin whitepaper, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. In whitepaper the concept of Bitcoin is explained very well without getting into too many technical details.
Not all are expert but there are people who are active for quite sometimes and are very expert. One has to spend time to segregate such expert users to follow.
As already said, learnmeabitcoin.com is a good start.
I advise you play around on testnet as much as you can and... start asking here exact, specific questions. You'll get answers (some better than others) and directions. I think that this is the most realistic way to move forward.
Thank you all for your support and materials, I'm on it now, and I have started jotting down some questions, and I believe I'll find answers here, but for the main time I'll continue my reading and after I have gained enough knowledge I'll start dropping my questions to gain more clarity.
May I ask if I'm to drop the questions here of create another thread ?
You don't have to create a new thread, the community will follow this thread and answer your questions quoting them, that way it will be easy for you not to lose track of the topic.
My recommendation if you want to learn the technical side of bitcoin is to install Bitcoin core on your computer and play with the commands that you will find there. There is always the option to use Bitcoin form the Graphic interface, but if the goal is to learn i would hardly recommend learning how to use bitcoin from the command line. A good start is:
That command will run the node.
that command will show you all the possible commands.
Remember to have your node full sync before start playing with the commands.
You can search with Google or with Forum Search and I don't really see Search with Ninjastic.space for finding available discussions can provide better search results than Google or Forum Search.
Technical learning resources if you want to go with basic and advanced tools for writing scripts, debugs.
https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/
https://siminchen.github.io/bitcoinIDE/build/editor.html#
https://github.com/kallewoof/btcdeb
https://ide.bitauth.com/
You actually can even run RPC commands from the bitcoin core GUI program, as there is an option to launch a console if you open the "Window" menu.
There are still quite a few commands you can try out even when your node is not synced, for instance all of the network methods, and you can even generate new wallets and addresses during the IBD.
I recommend you search the forum with the post search from https://ninjastic.space
And related to asking, it all depends. I see some prefer you continue here. My take is one topic per (new) thread, else people answering you once in a thread may miss the newer questions and may believe that they've covered it in the past.
https://learnmeabitcoin.com/ and https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information.html will have a lot of courses you can go through and focus on what you think is important. Some are for beginners, others are more technical in nature and require that you understand the basics.
Bitcointalk isn't really a teaching ground in the sense that there are A, B, C... types of threads that you should read to acquire knowledge on a specific subject. People come here with genuine problems and concerns. So, you collect pieces of information here and there based on the comments of other users. That gives you a clearer picture.
But if you want a complete course on a topic, check out the sites I recommended in my opening paragraph. You can always ask questions to make sure if you understood something properly.
Hello guys, thanks for the materials, advise and information provided, appreciate all your efforts.
Here are some questions I have been able to put together as I read through some Links:
1 how can running a node help you personally?/ what are the advantages of running a node?
2 if Bitcoin wallet denied a transacted because you don have the sufficient amount you which to transfer, then how does a node detect such transaction. that is, spending more Bitcoin than they own?
3 if I make a double spending, what is the possibility that the first transaction would get confirmed first?
If you are receiving transactions, then running your own node means that you don't need to trust or rely on anybody else for information about the transactions that are sent to you. If you choose not to run your own node, then you will need to use a service provided by someone else to let you know if/when you've received a transaction and the total value of that transaction. That service could lie, they could be mistaken, they could disappear.
When you send a transaction, your wallet software spends unspent outputs that you have control over, and it creates new unspent outputs that are under the control of whomever you choose. If you don't have sufficient funds, then there won't be unspent outputs under your control to include in the list that you are spending. If you try to spend an unspent output that you don't have control over, then you won't be able to provide a valid digital signature. Any transaction that has a sum of value from unspent outputs being spent that is less than the sum of value from the new unspent outputs being created is rejected by all nodes in the network as being invalid. Any transaction that attempts to include in the list of outputs being spent an unspent output without a valid digital signature is rejected by all nodes in the network as being invalid.
There will only be 1 spending. The spending that is confirmed is the 1 valid spending, the one that is not confirmed becomes an invalid spending. With this definition of "spent", it is impossible for the same bitcoins to be spent more than once.
However, I assume you are asking about transmitting two different unconfirmed transactions (A and B) that both attempt to include at least one unspent output in common in the list of outputs being spent. In that case, some nodes, solo-miners, and mining-pools can receive unconfirmed transaction A (and reject unconfirmed transaction B) while other nodes, solo-miners, and mining-pools would receive unconfirmed transaction B (and reject unconfirmed transaction A). Eventually once one of the transactions is confirmed, all nodes will accept the confirmed transaction and reject the unconfirmed transaction.
In that scenario, it's impossible to say what the "possibility" is of either transaction being confirmed. It depends on many factors. A few of those factors are:
Which transaction paid the larger fee per vByte?Which transaction required more bytes?How much time was there between the transmission of the two transactions?How many blocks were solved between the transmission of the two transactions?How well connected were the nodes that were initially sent each transaction?Did either of the transactions attempt to spend unconfirmed unspent transaction outputs?Which mining pools received each transaction first?