### Assalam o Alaikum I hope you all are doing great by the grace of Allah Almighty. I'm fine too. Today I am going to take part in the contest that is organized by @khursheedanwar in steem4Bloggers community.

What are forks and when they occurs?

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In the context of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies a Fork is a significant event that occurs when a blockchain diverges into two separate paths leading the creation of two distinct version of blockchain. There are two type of forks HARD FORK and SOFT FORK. A Hard Fork is a radical change to the blockchain protocol that makes previously invalid. It requires all participants in network. A Hard Fork results in permanent divergence from the previous version of blockchain. If someone continue using the old version while other move to the new one then it leads to the creation of two separate blockchain. A hard Fork may occur to implement significant updates or changes to blockchain protocol that are not backward compatible. Hard Fork can also arise from disagreement within the community over the future direction of projects. Sometimes a hard Fork is necessary to address critical security vulnerabilities in the blockchain. A soft fork is a backward compatible upgrade to blockchain protocol meaning that it introduces changes that are compatible with the previous version of protocol. A soft fork does not require all participants to upgrade to the new version. Soft fork are often used to implement new features or optimize the protocol without causing a split in the blockchain. A soft fork may introduce changes such as tightening the rules for valid blocks or transaction but these changes did not require everyone. When a hard fork occurs then not all participants agree to follow the new chain this lead to a chain split resulting in two separate blockchain that operate independently. Planned Forks are often announced well in advance and coordinated with the community. Unplanned or contentious forks occur due to disagreement with the community or unexpected events. Forks are critical events in the life of a blockchain. ![pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-7567529.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaqBwBoKHGV3YrFHQPfGLrxc5WfVq71NvMrsELhBQv1ra/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-7567529.jpg)[source](https://www.pexels.com/photo/focused-professional-man-using-laptop-7567529/)

Distinguish between fork types?

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Forks in blockchain technology can be broadly categorized into two types HARD FORK and SOFT FORK. These two types of forks represent different ways to implement changes or upgrades to blockchain protocol. A Hard Fork is a major change to blockchain protocol that is not backward compatible. This mean that nodes or participants that continue running the old software will no longer be able to validate or interact with blocks and transaction that follow new rules. The new protocol rules are incompatible with the old ones. All participants must upgrade to new software to continue participants in the network. If a significant portion of the community decides of the community decides not to upgrade. A new blockchain will emerge alongside the original one. Where a hard fork lead to a chain split the new blockchain often has its own cryptocurrency. Hard Fork usually require a broad consensus within the community to be successful. A soft fork is a protocol upgrade that is backward compatible. In a soft fork the new rules are designed to be compatible with the old ones. The changes introduced by soft fork are compatible with the old protocol. Nodes that do not upgrade can still interact with the network. New rules are backward compatible there is no need for the blockchain to split into two. Soft fork usually involve tightening the rules. Such as reducing the block size or adding new transaction types. Nodes and miners can be choose to upgrade at their own pace. Hard forks are generally used when there is a need for substantial changes that cannot be accommodated within the existing protocol rules. Hard Fork are also common when there is a fundamental disagreement within the community about the future direction of blockchain. Soft fork are preferred when the goal is to introduce new features or optimization that do not require changing the basic rules of the blockchain. ![pexels-rdne-8369835.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZER2fJTFdj6oGyBj5RfCksx3rnc4kV11swMgP4zsyQck/pexels-rdne-8369835.jpg)[source](https://www.pexels.com/photo/female-vlogger-holding-a-sheet-of-data-analysis-8369835/) ### Thank you for reading my post. I would invite three of my friends to take part in this contest. @jannat12 @sahar78 @mateenfatima Regards @alinaasim5