Block hashes are used to uniquely identify and maintain the integrity of each block. The SHA-256 algorithm is used to generate the hash of the block using the timestamp, data, and previous hash — the three properties of our Block class!
Let’s create the .generate_hash() method for the Block class.
Instructions
In the .generate_hash() method, create the variable block_contents, which combines the Block timestamp, transactions, nonce, and previous hash.
Wrap each item in the str() method in order to convert them to a string type to prepare for hashing.
Return the result.
Create a variable block_hash.
Create a new hash with sha256() and block_contents and save the value to block_hash.
Remember to use the .encode() method to encode the string.
Update the method to return block_hash.
Return the text hash value by calling the hexdigest() method on block_hash.
Uncomment the line in __init__() that calls the generate_hash() function to complete the Block class.