Questions tagged [development]
The creation and ongoing work for different existing and future Bitcoin-related projects and source code.
451
questions
85
votes
3
answers
37k
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How to redeem a basic Tx?
Given a raw, standard Tx (wiki):
01000000
01
26c07ece0bce7cda0ccd14d99e205f118cde27e83dd75da7b141fe487b5528fb
00000000
8b
...
44
votes
1
answer
10k
views
What do the different .dat files contain?
What data do different Bitcoin .dat files contain? How about the other files in the same folder?
The wallet.dat file is somewhat documented and there are some ways to convert it to human-readable ...
39
votes
4
answers
69k
views
How to fork Bitcoin and build own cryptocurrency [closed]
Is there any step-by-step tutorial about how to build own cryptocurrency based on Bitcoin code?
36
votes
7
answers
21k
views
How to generate a valid bitcoin address for destroying bitcoins?
(Following up to this question.)
In order to put a bitcoin beyond use, the answer was to select a made up address. As this isn't a formal destruction of bitcoins, there's a risk that the private keys ...
31
votes
1
answer
15k
views
How do I build Bitcoin source in Windows 7?
I am trying to build the current Bitcoin source in Windows 7x64 - Does anyone know of an idiot-proof tutorial? Some of the steps in the included doc give me errors.
When I try to tar openssl with ...
27
votes
5
answers
10k
views
how to monitor +20,000 addresses for new received transactions?
I have around 20000 generated addresses which I want to monitor for new transactions. More addresses should probably come. Customers should use every address only once but I would like to monitor ...
24
votes
3
answers
13k
views
How do I implement a Merkle Tree?
I`m slowly implementing some Bitcoin protocols, and I'm not sure how to properly understand the Merkle Tree from the Bitcoin wiki:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Protocol_specification#Merkle_Trees
I have ...
24
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Can a bitcoin be destroyed?
Its the hypothetical future and BTC2 is being designed. Everyone loves BTC2 and no-one wants the old BTC1 any more.
People who have BTC1 would be annoyed that their assets are suddently worth a lot ...
23
votes
1
answer
18k
views
Get non-wallet transactions using bitcoin rpc (gettransaction)
I am playing around with Bitcoin-qt. I want to iterate all blocks and all their transactions.
So far I've been able to get a list of all tx's in the blocks I want to. Now I want to get information ...
21
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How will multisig addresses work?
How will multisig addresses work? Will they consist of multiple traditional addresses, or will they have some different structure? Will one be able to specify whether they will require 2 out of 2, 2 ...
21
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How can I contribute to the open source Bitcoin project?
Generally speaking, how can:
A) A programmer contribute to Bitcoin?
B) A non-programmer contribute to Bitcoin?
Essentially; which areas are in most need of programming work / non-programming work?
19
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How to start programming your own Bitcoin client?
I want to develop my own Bitcoin client in a language that is not yet supported. Are there any resources that can be referenced to help me, or any other future developer with the task, or is the ...
17
votes
3
answers
8k
views
How to calculate new "bits" value?
Every 2016 blocks one needs to calculate new bits value. What is the formula to calculate it?
17
votes
5
answers
14k
views
How to validate a Bitcoin address is a real one?
Is there a code snippet that validates a bitcoin address?
I'm looking for both javascript and java snippets. The code should support both testnet and real addresses.
17
votes
1
answer
587
views
IPv6 support status
What is the current status of IPv6 support?
From what I gathered reading the Wiki, protocol specifications support IPv6, but the original client does not.
However, I also came across the description ...
16
votes
3
answers
524
views
What happens if the developers make a controversial change to the "standard" client?
One criticism I commonly hear of Bitcoin is that it merely transfers trust from some sort of central bank or government entity to the developers of the main project. Can anyone provide a clean ...
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Given a private key, how do you get a public address [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How are public & private keys in an address created?
I am scanning in a private key from a QR code in an app I am writting to handle the import of physical bitcoins.
...
14
votes
4
answers
628
views
How do I develop mobile applications for Bitcoin?
I would like to develop a mobile Bitcoin application for the Android and iPhone platforms. What libraries and resources can I use?
14
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is there a list of available APIs for Bitcoin exchanges?
So far I have seen some Perl modules; Finance:MtGox and Webservice:MtGox for interacting with Mt.Gox, a Ruby gem for Mt.Gox and a Python based command line client for again, Mt.Gox.
I'm wondering if ...
13
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Java library for Bitcoin Client Application
are there Java libraries for Bitcoin available to develop client applications?
13
votes
1
answer
973
views
What are the February 20 changes to the Bitcoin protocol?
From the BitcoinJ mailing list:
the Bitcoin protocol bizarrely changes itself on February 20th
2012 in a backwards incompatible manner
What are these changes, why are they necessary, when was ...
13
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What will happen when SHA 256 needs to be replaced?
MD5 used to be the hash algorithm. Everyone loved it, but now, not so much.
What will happen to bitcoin if flaws are found in SHA256 in the future?
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the meaning of the Bitcoin address version?
Bitcoin address versions are described on the Address wiki page:
Normal addresses currently always start with 1, though this might change in a future version. Testnet addresses usually start with m ...
12
votes
9
answers
5k
views
Is there a reference, authoritative resource or book on Bitcoin programming?
Is there any reference or authoritative resource, or book on Bitcoin programming?
Bitcoin is dubbed "programmable money" but there is no obvious resource for how to do that aside from ...
12
votes
3
answers
9k
views
How can I generate a large number of Bitcoin addresses?
I would like to generate a large number of public Bitcoin addresses (several hundred thousand) quickly and efficiently into a simple text file. What would be the easiest way to get this done? I'm just ...
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What are the steps in building bitcoind on Mac OS X 10.6?
Following the instructions in build-osx.txt (which seem sadly out of date) leaves me without a file named libboost_system.a.
Here is how I built boost:
% cd boost_1_42_0
% ./bootstrap.sh
% ./bjam ...
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How can I read information from the blockchain?
I don't want to use an existing service, like Blockchain.info or BlockExplorer.com. Is there some library out there that will let me read the blockchain programatically?
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How many bitcoins have been sent to Base58-invalid addresses?
Some bitcoins have been permanently lost when they are sent the the following addresses. The explanation I've found is that they contain characters that are invalid in Base58
...
11
votes
2
answers
564
views
Bitcoin client IRC - a potential network weak link?
I'm currently learning more and more about the Bitcoin protocol and I`m wondering if using an IRC channel as the source to find your Bitcoin peers is a potential weak link of the Bitcoin network?
...
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is the easiest way to programmatically obtain the current USD-BTC spot price?
E.g., if I wanted to create a cron script that would grab the latest spot price every hour and store it in a local file or database, what would be the place to "scrape" that information from?
(...
11
votes
2
answers
11k
views
what programming languages are used to built bitcoin?
I have one very basic question,
I would like to know:
what programming languages are used to built bitcoin?
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Turing completeness of Bitcoin Script
For me, scripts are one of the most interesting features of Bitcoin. They provide possibilities which have no equivalent in classical currencies. However, the wiki states
It is purposefully not ...
11
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How to implement a game like SatoshiDice?
Everyone knows what SatoshiDice is. Their core mechanic is gambling through the use of Bitcoin transactions with the payout being directly linked to the transaction that fuelled the bed to avoid ...
11
votes
3
answers
503
views
Changing Bitcoin's deflationary nature
One of the most common criticisms made against Bitcoin is related to its deflationary nature. Regardless of the advantages and disadvantages of an inflationary system, would it possible to change the ...
11
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Are there any C# wrappers for the Bitcoin REST API?
Are there any C# wappers that take an OOO approach to the Bitcoin REST API, and encapsulate it in an easy to use format?
11
votes
1
answer
746
views
How to build Bitcoin from source on Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal?
We have this detailed tutorial for Lucid Lynx, but somehow it doesn't work for Natty.
We also have a similar question but it is too broad and the solution there isn't complete enough to work.
I ...
11
votes
1
answer
292
views
Are there alternatives to Gitian?
I like how Bitcoin Core uses Gitian to make their builds deterministic. But Gitian is also a really complicated workaround. Is there any research being done into alternatives for deterministic builds?
10
votes
2
answers
733
views
Why don't developers switch from bitcoin-qt to a cleaner implementation?
The "reference client" bitcoin-qt receives a lot of complaints from developers on the messy way it was coded. It seems to require a big overhead to learn, and a lot of time is being spent on ...
10
votes
2
answers
36k
views
Want to write my own solo cpu bitcoin miner
I just want to understand how this mining process works (from the developers point of view from very start to end). Can someone guide me towards a doc or a open source code (I am newbie here so a VERY ...
10
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is an explanation of the P2SH voting in layman's terms?
Reading this question and looking in the bitcointalk forums at the related discussion, there seems to be some kind of miner vote being done on whether a change will be implemented in the bitcoin ...
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Merkle Tree hashing
I'm trying to implement my own Markle Tree, currently I'm working on getting the hashing done correctly.
I've used some hashes from http://blockexplorer.com/rawblock/...
10
votes
1
answer
657
views
How is a BIP accepted?
Who decides to change the status from Draft to Accepted?
BIP 0001 doesn't seem to clearly state this.
Is this a vote by the developers?
Whose vote exactly do we count?
How is it conducted and ...
10
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Are there any Scala libraries/implementations/projects on bitcoin?
There are quite a few Java libraries and I am building my Scala code on BitcoinJ, but obviously, native Scala libraries would be quite a bit more elegant. Has anyone tried?
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What's the best practice for creating and maintaining an address index?
I am working on a Blockchain.info-like block explorer, and I have some questions regarding best practice for data retrieval. Bitcoin Core stores and serves all blocks and, if txindex is set to 1, all ...
10
votes
1
answer
9k
views
PHP script to create private key & public address
Does anyone have an PHP code that can do what is done on this website:
https://www.bitaddress.org
Namely create private keys and associated public addresses?
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there developer documentation for the Bitcoin Core source code?
Is there a documentation somewhere to understand the C++ code of Bitcoin Core (available on Github) "from a to z" and being able to recreate it ?
9
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Is it possible to run Bitcoin on Google App Engine? / alternatives?
This question is cross-posted on bitcoin.stackexchange, stackoverflow and bitcointalks.
I'm planning to build an application on Google App Engine that will heavily make use of Bitcoin trading. I've ...
9
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Transaction signature generation
When one sets up a transaction, the input of the transaction needs to have a script with a signature to show that you can spend those coins. Which fields of the previous and current transactions need ...
9
votes
1
answer
647
views
Which of the open-source Bitcoin clients has the most thoroughly commented source code?
Learning from a source code is very useful at times, but it is a pain if the code is not commented well. Which of the open source Bitcoin software have the most thoroughly and understandably commented ...
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Which programming languages support secp256k1?
Which programming languages have some ready libraries that support Bitcoin's ECDSA curve - secp256k1?