Distributed Ledgers Technologies

Course name: Distributed Ledgers Technologies
Course number: XYZ
Knowledge area: Computer Science and Engineering

Administrative details

Faculty: Computer Science and Engineering
Year of instruction: 4th year of BS
Semester of instruction: 1st semester
No. of Credits: 5 ECTS
Total workload on average: 216 hours overall
Frontal lecture hours: 2 per week.
Frontal tutorial hours: 2 per week.
Lab hours: 2 per week.
Individual lab hours: 0.
Frequency: weekly throughout the semester.
Grading mode: letters: A, B, C, D.

Course outline

Distributed Ledgers are the technologies on which cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and all the blockchain-related technologies and applications are based on. Such technologies are an evolution of the ones at the base of the development of distributed systems and cryptographic technologies with a wide range of novel application domains. Moreover, the possibility of developing automated contracts (smart contracts) provides the tools to create distributed applications without any central control enabling a new development paradigm.

Expected learning outcomes

Understanding of the distributed consensus mechanisms
Distributed computation and storage
Ability to write smart contracts
Understanding of the Bitcoin technology
Understanding of the Ethereum technology

Expected acquired core competences

Smart contracts programming
Development of a blockchain-based system
Development of Dapps

Prerequisites

Principles of Computer Security
Distributed Systems and Cloud Computing
Network and Cybersecurity

Detailed topics covered in the course

The course covers the following main topics:

Fault-tolerance
Consensus
Quorum systems
Blockchains architectures
Distributed storage
Cryptocurrences and Bitcoin
Smart contracts and Ethereum

Textbook

Reference material

Lecture and lab slides and material
Several resources available online identified by the instructors during classes

Required computer resources

Students should have laptops.

Evaluation

Mid-term Exam (30%)
Final Exam (40%)
Project (30%)

BSc:DistributedLedgersTechnologies

Contents