computer science

Hedera (distributed ledger)

Hedera (distributed ledger) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hedera (distributed ledger) rather than just read about it. In short: Hedera Hashgraph, commonly known as Hedera, is a distributed ledger which uses a variant of proof of stake to reach consensus. The native cryptocurrency of the Hedera Hashgraph system is HBAR.

Key takeaways

Hedera (distributed ledger) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hedera (distributed ledger) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hedera (distributed ledger) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hedera Hashgraph, commonly known as Hedera, is a distributed ledger which uses a variant of proof of stake to reach consensus. The native cryptocurrency of the Hedera Hashgraph system is HBAR.

History Hashgraph was invented in the mid-2010s by the American computer scientist Leemon Baird. Baird is the co-founder and chief technical officer of Swirlds, a company that holds patents covering the hashgraph algorithm. Hashgraph were described as a continuation or successor to the blockchain concept, which provides increased speed, fairness, low cost, and security constraints. Based on Hashgraph protocol, Hedera Hashgraph mainnet was launched in 2019. The Hedera white paper co-authored by Baird explained that "at the end of each round, each node calculates the shared state after processing all transactions that were received in that round and before," and it "digitally signs a hash of that shared state, puts it in a transaction, and gossips it out to the community." In 2020, Google Cloud joined Hedera Governing Council. A year later, EFTPOS joined the governing council. In September 2024 Hedera has transferred all source code of the Hedera Hashgraph to the Linux Foundation. The sources are now available as the open-source and vendor-neutral project Hiero.

Distributed ledger Hedera Hashgraph is a public distributed ledger based on the Hashgraph algorithm. Hedera Hashgraph is developed by a company of the same name, Hedera, based in Dallas, Texas. Hedera was founded by Hashgraph inventor Leemon Baird and his business partner Mance Harmon, and Andrew Masanto, adding significant contribution to the team. Previously, Hedera had an exclusive license to the Hashgraph patents held by their company, Swirlds. The Hedera Governing Council voted to purchase the patent rights to Hashgraph and make the algorithm open source under the Apache License in 2022. Hedera mainnet is maintained by governing council members which include companies such as Deutsche Telekom, IBM, FIS Global, and Tata Communications.

Hashgraphs Unlike blockchains, hashgraphs do not bundle data into blocks or use miners to validate transactions. Instead, hashgraphs use a "gossip about gossip" protocol where the individual nodes on the network "gossip" about transactions to create directed acyclic graphs that time-sequence transactions. Each "gossip" message contains one or more transactions plus a timestamp, a digital signature, and cryptographic hashes of two earlier events. This makes Hashgraph form an asynchronous Byzantine Fault-Tolerant (aBFT) consensus algorithm.

Criticism It has been claimed that hashgraphs are less technically constrained than blockchains proper. Cornell Professor Emin Gün Sirer notes that "The correctness of the entire Hashgraph protocol seems to hinge on every participant knowing and agreeing upon N, the total number of participants in the system," which is "a difficult number to determine in an open distributed system." Baird responded that "All of the nodes at a given time know how many nodes there are."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hedera (distributed ledger)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hedera (distributed ledger) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hedera (distributed ledger) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hedera (distributed ledger) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hedera (distributed ledger)

In research: Hedera (distributed ledger) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hedera (distributed ledger) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hedera (distributed ledger) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cryptocurrencies, Distributed computing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hedera (distributed ledger) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hedera (distributed ledger) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hedera (distributed ledger) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hedera (distributed ledger) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hedera (distributed ledger) in simple terms?

Hedera Hashgraph, commonly known as Hedera, is a distributed ledger which uses a variant of proof of stake to reach consensus. The native cryptocurrency of the Hedera Hashgraph system is HBAR.

Why does Hedera (distributed ledger) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hedera (distributed ledger)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hedera (distributed ledger).