Blocks and blockchain

Blocks are the main building structure of a blockchain. Ethereum blocks consist of various elements, which are described as follows:

• The block header
• The transactions list
• The list of headers of ommers or uncles

An uncle block is a block that is the child of a parent but does not have any child block. Ommers or uncles are valid, but stale, blocks that are not part of the main chain but contribute to security of the chain. They also earn a reward for their participation but do not become part of the canonical truth.

The transaction list is simply a list of all transactions included in the block. Also, the list of headers of uncles is also included in the block.

Block header: Block headers are the most critical and detailed components of an Ethereum block. The header contains various elements, which are described in detail here:

• Parent hash: This is the Keccak 256-bit hash of the parent (previous) block...