CH11: update para about height not being stored in blocks

develop
David A. Harding 1 year ago
parent 747d6c9b10
commit 94c9bd7c6e

@ -167,10 +167,14 @@ Although a single block will always have a specific and invariant block
height, the reverse is not true—the block height does not always height, the reverse is not true—the block height does not always
identify a single block. Two or more blocks might have the same block identify a single block. Two or more blocks might have the same block
height, competing for the same position in the blockchain. This scenario height, competing for the same position in the blockchain. This scenario
is discussed in detail in the section <<forks>>. The block height is is discussed in detail in the section <<forks>>. In early blocks, the block height was
also not a part of the block's data structure; it is not stored within also not a part of the block's data structure; it was not stored within
the block. Each node dynamically identifies a block's position (height) the block. Each node dynamically identified a block's position (height)
in the blockchain when it is received from the Bitcoin network. The in the blockchain when it was received from the Bitcoin network. A
later protocol change (BIP34) began including the block height in the
coinbase transaction, although it's purpose was to ensure each block had
a different coinbase transaction. Nodes still need to dynamically
identify a block's height in order to validate the coinbase field. The
block height might also be stored as metadata in an indexed database block height might also be stored as metadata in an indexed database
table for faster retrieval. table for faster retrieval.

Loading…
Cancel
Save