While working with Bitcoin Scripts, we hit the boundaries of what's possible with bitcoin-cli: it can't currently be used to generate transactions containing unusual scripts. Shell scripts also aren't great for some things, such as creating listener programs that are constantly polling. Fortunately, there are other ways to access the Bitcoin network: programming APIs.
This section focuses on three different libraries that can be used as the foundation of sophisticated C programming: an RPC library and a JSON library together allow you to recreate a lot of what you did in shell scripts, but now using C; while a ZMQ library links you in to notifications, something you haven't been able to previously access. (The next chapter will cover an even more sophisticated library called Libwally, to finish out this introductory look at programming Bitcoin with C.)
After working through this chapter, a developer will be able to:
- Create C Programs that use RPC to Talk to the Bitcoind
- Create C Programs that use ZMQ to Talk to the Bitcoind
Supporting objectives include the ability to:
- Understand how to use an RPC library
- Understand how to use a JSON library
- Understand the capabilities of ZMQ
- Understand how to use a ZMQ library