John Greene has a background in cloud infrastructure and security with an MSc in Digital Currencies from the University of Nicosia. He currently works as a technical writer for the Cardano Foundation. This is his ‘difficult second book’ after AWSoeasy in 2015 (outdated now). He lives in Ireland and enjoys Cardano for the mind, mountain running for the body, and playing the bodhrán for the soul.
Contact:
twitter.com/CardanoBook,
[email protected]
I discovered Cardano while researching a college project in 2018. Ever since I asked a question of Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson in one of his AMAs1, I had intended to write a book of some sort. I tried different ideas, gave up, and returned several times. On hearing that the much-anticipated Mastering Cardano book would be delayed, I felt there might be a space for a ‘can opener’ in the meantime.
Writing about cryptocurrencies is challenging. Most of the best-selling crypto books have 'Flesch reading ease scores' in the 50s. I wanted this book to be more inclusive. With so much jargon in the blockchain space, I decided to arm the reader with explainers throughout. However, I didn't want to obstruct the flow either. As Kindle automatically converts footnotes to a popup format, explainers are accessible by clicking on superscripts in the text. The explainers also form a glossary at the end of the book. I added excerpts from Charles Hoskinson’s various updates to interweave his perspective throughout the book. I felt they add context to many technology decisions while painting a vision for the overall project and industry.
I made every effort to be accurate, however, Cardano is evolving rapidly. There has probably been a change, or update of some sort, as you read this. The book is now open-sourced on GitHub2 inviting contributions. It seemed fitting, as I’m mostly reporting on other peoples work, to seek their review and inputs.
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best' -St. Jerome
In some respects, the book will always be a work in progress. I intend to update the book regularly in cadence with Cardano updates, improving readability with each edition. This is the 3rd edition, the Chang Edition, updated in the lead up to the Chang hard fork, due in 2024, named in memory of the late Philip Chang,3 former Voltaire Product Manager.
Intended audience
This book is mainly for Cardano newcomers. It does not focus on specific projects built on Cardano. It does not go deep into the weeds of the technical research papers,4 nor explore concepts in detail. The goal is to give a broad overview of Cardano. Each chapter can be read on its own, however, it’s best to read from start to finish if you are new to Cardano. OGs5 can browse and read sections independently. Nothing within these covers is financial advice. The views expressed here are my own, not those of my employer.
Chapter 1 is a high-level overview of blockchain and how Cardano started. Chapter 2 goes through foundational concepts and Chapter 3 addresses proof of stake and Cardano’s differentiators. The remaining chapters walk through different aspects of the Cardano roadmap (roadmap.cardano.org). The final Chapter 10 is about the end product: RealFi on Cardano.
For e-readers, graphics are best viewed in ‘landscape’ mode.
IOG and IOHK
Input Output was founded in Hong Kong, hence the abbreviation IOHK. However, the company has since moved its base to Wyoming, US and is rebranding itself as Input Output Global (IOG). At some stage, the website will probably migrate from iohk.io to iog.io.
Footnotes
-
Sunday AMA 05/17/2020, youtube.com/watch?v=-CJ5pcullgg&t=690s ↩
-
CFTM on GitHub, github.com/johnnygreeney/CardanoForTheMasses ↩
-
In Memory of Philip Chang, youtube.com/live/BUJ0LA0dcqs?si=BXCHz9leFlrh3Nrm&t=2340 ↩
-
IOHK Library, iohk.io/en/research/library/ ↩
-
OG (crypto Original Gangster) is slang for a founder of any early crypto blockchain such as Vitalik Buterin, who invented Ethereum. A crypto OG can also refer to an early investor in Bitcoin or Ethereum ↩