version 0.1.0-gimel-rc
Blockchains attract notoriously sketchy behavior. This is intended to open up a space where ‘coin’ does not apply and interesting concepts can be developed without regard to direct financial incentives or cryptocurrency.
So, `tiaf` is a blockchain implementation designed for several purposes.
Blockchains as linear merkle trees are an interesting data structure. Note that they actually are forming a degenerate tree form! Having the ability to have a node join a consensus database, gain information, and continue working, is a very useful property!
Then, too, exploring the applications of a non-coin blockchain is interesting!
Notably, similar tools exist in the for-pay space:
- https://www.bigchaindb.com/
- https://postchain-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
- https://www.chainifydb.com/
- https://www.vechain.org/
An open source distributed ledger (Hyperledger) exists. “it seems complicated” to put it mildly. Too, blockchain the data structure is interesting.
So. `tiaf` is different.
tiaf is designed to be deployed as a trustful distributed datastore. The authority to mint a new block or perform a new transaction is granted by an exterior authority.
The author of `tiaf` comes from a conventional SRE / CS major corporation background, and considers that, for work worth something, trust is required. Consider a Kubernetes deployment: the SREs of this system have nearly perfect control of the entire enterprise. They will deploy tools such as Consul or Linkerd to enforce peer to peer authority, and work in conjunction with IT and application developers to ensure that only authorized individuals can access the controlling routes.
New blocks in tiaf may be created by an API call. The caller is presumed to have authorization.
Transactions as implemented in bitcoin with the ‘mempool’ are derived from the requirement of “proof of work/stake”, where a miner has to put in time.
Design-wise, that’s essentially a FIFO-ish data structure of non-commmited writes that is shared across all peers.
This, however, is unrelated to proofs for mining, and thus can be implemented as, suprisingly, a FIFO queue. tiaf has done so; the contents of the queue are broadcast on reception. Double entry is forbidden by hashing the inputs and maintaining a record of what’s already been seen in the chain and the current mempool.
**(TODO: verify these - code is fully rewritten since -bet edition)**
REST api routes in (very draft) state. HTTP verbs to be added, which will simplify the endpoints.
| ui route | verb | description |
|---|---|---|
| / | GET | stab at JS ui |
| API route | HTTP verb | description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| /api/statistics | GET | human readable stats | |
| /healthz | GET | is the http server responding? note, does not indicate logical readiness | |
| /api/chain/get | GET | gets whole chain | |
| /api/chain/append | PUT | uploads candidate chain | |
| /api/chain/compare | POST | validates candidate chain | |
| /api/block | PUT | adds data and commits a block | |
| /api/record | PUT | adds data to the mempool, which also triggers a broadcast to peers | |
| /api/peers | PUT | sets a peer list to pull chains from | |
| /api/peers | GET | retrieves the currently set peer list | |
| /api/peers/sweep | POST | sweeps the set peers to get their chains | |
| /api/peers/sweep/auto | PUT | enables autosweeping peers | |
| /api/peers/sweep/auto | DELETE | disables autosweeping peers |
- Make tiaf queryable
- Spill large chains to disk
- Avoid sharing the entire chain when comparing lengths.
There’s a fairly hax makefile and Pulumi configuration for kubernetes. It’s very prototype.
tiaf: fiat, backwards, and misspelled.
it’s not commodity money, it’s not cryptocurrency. Calling it a currency is not even backwards.
taif is a city in Arabia, and looks beautiful: no relation.
tiaf is AGPL3. This means that if you deploy this and it interacts in any fashion with a third party (not your corporation), you must offer the third party tiaf’s code, plus all your modifications: AGPL3 is viral.
**BUT - ** If you want to deploy this commercially and lose the license, along with, optionally, a support contract, contact me and we will arrange a commercial license in conformance with your purchasing department’s policies.