3 ms·
This is indeed basic. Half the article explains public key cryptography, the other gives a basic overview that omits key details, such as the purpose of reflect
by mypastself 5y ago
This is indeed basic. Half the article explains public key cryptography, the other gives a basic overview that omits key details, such as the purpose of reflection, and how the curve can get combined with finite fields in practical applications (although point 2 does partly address this aspect). Not a bad way to get a general intuition of the algorithm, but not overly useful, either.
- Sherlock 5y agoAgree, the book "Programming Bitcoin" by Song provides a detailed explanation of the algorithm.
- ineiti 5y agoPoint 2 is a simplification that borders on wrong: you don't "wrap around if it's too big" - the point operation will always cross the curve (except for the zero point)! You "wrap around" because you're using a finite field. As far as I understand, the finite field of the scalars allows you to have an inverse for the multiplication, and the finite field of the points is there to make the calculation easier.
- magicalhippo 5y agoReading the article, it reminded me of the "how to draw an owl" meme[1]. Not quite as bad but, I didn't really get any good insight in how ECC works. [1]: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/how-to-draw-an-owl https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/how-to-draw-an-owl