From 9f94188e3cbba47863d0a9b5caaaa750b88c77fb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "David A. Harding" Date: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:37:15 -1000 Subject: [PATCH] CH12: s/fingerprint/(digest|commitment)/ Makes the test more consistent with other changes made in previous chapters. --- ch10.asciidoc | 9 +++++---- 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/ch10.asciidoc b/ch10.asciidoc index ba91261c..5cca4411 100644 --- a/ch10.asciidoc +++ b/ch10.asciidoc @@ -903,14 +903,15 @@ until the desired hash result appears by chance. ((("Proof-of-Work algorithm", id="proof10")))((("mining and consensus", "Proof-of-Work algorithm", id="Cproof10")))A hash algorithm takes an arbitrary-length data input and produces a fixed-length deterministic -result, a digital fingerprint of the input. For any specific input, the -resulting hash will always be the same and can be easily calculated and +result, called a _digest_. The digest is a digital commitment to the +input. For any specific input, the resulting digest will always be the +same and can be easily calculated and verified by anyone implementing the same hash algorithm. ((("collisions")))The key characteristic of a cryptographic hash algorithm is that it is computationally infeasible to find two different -inputs that produce the same fingerprint (known as a _collision_). As a +inputs that produce the same digest (known as a _collision_). As a corollary, it is also virtually impossible to select an input in such a -way as to produce a desired fingerprint, other than trying random +way as to produce a desired digest, other than trying random inputs. With SHA256, the output is always 256 bits long, regardless of the size