You have probably heard a lot of talk about Blockchains recently.
Blockchains are becoming increasingly popular as a way of safeguarding bundles of
information in a ledger that can be added to, but who´s record cannot be forged or
counterfeited. The bundles of information, or blocks contain information about when and
how it was added to the chain, which block that precedes it, and a task to be completed by
anyone who wants to continue the chain by adding a block following the present one.
This task is called Proof of Work and the idea is to avoid spamming and abuse of the
blockchain, and the task is usually something a computer does, but that still requires a fair
amount of processing time. Those tasks can be difficult to understand, but the concept can
be easily understood if the task is something anyone can do with a bit of concentration.
Here, Sudoku puzzles are used as a Proof of Work task. The questions asked are; how
well suited is Sudoku as Proof of Work, and how does it compare to other puzzles. To
facilitate learning and teaching about blockchain technology, a mobile application and a
webpage, both connecting to a server, were made so that students can make a real
blockchain of their own by solving Sudoku puzzles. Each block added to the chain rewards
the puzzle solver with a token which can be traded to other students by describing the
transaction inside a block. Just as in a real cryptocurrency.
The mobile app and the website were showcased at the Salzburg University of Applied
Sciences at the Campus Urstein Open House on 15.03.2019

Facts:
Typ: Bachelorprojekt
Studiengang: Bachelor Informationstechnik & System-Management