A basic implementation of the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm used as Sybil prevention by Bitcoin and other PoW networks. A deeper comparison between PoW and Proof of Stake (PoS) can be found in our article PoW vs PoS: The Next Industrial Revolution.
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Method & Python Script
- Install VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com or similar application.
- In VS Code open a new terminal window by navigating to Terminal > New Terminal.
- Install Homebrew by pasting the following code into the terminal and pressing Enter:
- Install Python in the same way:
- Next, install the modules that the script needs (dependencies):
- Now, create a project folder and navigate to it in VS Code via File > Open Folder.
- Create a new Python file in VS Code via File > New File. Name it something like pow.py
- This script calculates the hash for the text βhelloβ with five leading zeros. Copy and paste it into pow.py and save it.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"brew install pythonpip3 install hashlib datetime# v.0.1
from hashlib import sha256
from datetime import datetime
def pow(data, zeros, nonce):
data = str(data).encode("utf-8")
zeros = zeros * "0"
t1 = datetime.now()
while True:
combo = data + f"{nonce}".encode("utf-8")
hash_ = sha256(combo).hexdigest()
if hash_.startswith(zeros):
t2 = datetime.now()
return nonce, hash_, t2-t1
else:
nonce += 1
output = pow("hello", 5, 0) # 5 = ~ 1 second
print(output)- Run the script from the terminal with:
python3 pow.py