A blockchain is a shared, append-only digital ledger that many computers keep in sync without a central owner. Records are grouped into blocks linked by cryptography, which makes past entries very hard to alter.
A consensus mechanism is the set of rules that lets a blockchain's independent nodes agree on one shared history. It decides which transactions are valid and in what order they are recorded.
A public blockchain lets anyone join, read and validate transactions, while a private blockchain restricts those rights to participants an operator approves. Public chains favour openness and decentralisation; private ones favour privacy, control and speed.
A smart contract is a program deployed on a blockchain that runs exactly as written whenever it is called. It can hold and move digital assets according to its own rules, without an intermediary.
Web3 is a model of the internet where users hold their own digital assets and identity through blockchain-based applications. Instead of logging into central platforms, people connect wallets to apps built on smart contracts and tokens.
A blockchain developer builds applications, smart contracts or core infrastructure on blockchain networks. The work ranges from protocol code to the services that connect users to chains, and hiring one makes sense when part of your product must run on a shared ledger.
A Layer 1 blockchain secures and settles transactions itself, while a Layer 2 processes them off the main chain and posts the results back to it. Layer 2s exist mainly to lower fees and raise throughput while borrowing the base chain's security.
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