BAC-L1-AVAX-103Avalanche
Snowman consensus and repeated sampling
A consensus family that reaches agreement not by global vote but by repeatedly polling a small sample — and the properties that follow.
- Level
- L1 — Blockchain developer
- Duration
- 3 h
- Track
- Avalanche
- Maintainer
- Avalanche Lead Architect
Learning objectives
- 01Explain agreement by repeated sampling
- 02Position this consensus against classical BFT families
- 03Interpret a network's sampling parameters
Guided lab
Simulate repeated sampling and observe convergence as parameters change.
Independent lab
Vary sample size and threshold, then plot the effect on decision latency.
Security angle
What a probabilistic consensus guarantees, and the regime in which that guarantee stops holding.
Assessment
Submitted simulation with curves and a written interpretation.