Roadmap to Blockchain Development

To know how blockchain and web3 are the new internet click here.

In this roadmap to blockchain development, I will be suggesting some of the learning resources as we walk through. Also this article series on dev.to will also guide you through these topics one by one.

Two types of blockchain developers

• There are two types of blockchain developers present. One who builds the blockchain from scratch (for example: Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto or Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin) and others who build Decentralised Applications (dApps) upon the public blockchains already present.

• In general, when we say blockchain developer, we mean the dApp (Decentralised Apps) developers who develop apps upon publicly available blockchain networks.

• In this roadmap to blockchain development, I will be walking through all the topics to cover to become an Ethereum blockchain developer. Also, I will be suggesting some of the learning resources. This article series on blockchain will also guide you through these topics one by one.

Start with Basics :

Since blockchain technology is new in comparison to Android or Web Dev, the community of Blockchain Developers is limited. So it's crucial to have a good grasp on the foundation or the basics of blockchain.

Blockchain foundation and use cases:

Week - 1

1. Why are People Excited About Blockchain?
2. The Brief History of Blockchain
3. The Move to Decentralization
4. Ledgers, Distributed Ledgers, and Consensus
5. What is Blockchain?

Week - 2

1. Basics of cryptography and hash Functions.
2. Public Key Cryptography and Signing.
3. Blocks and Blockchain, Structure of a block.
4. Nodes and Network.

Week - 3

1. Trust Framework and Consensus Mechanisms
2. Public, Consortium, Private Blockchains
3. Blockchain Interoperability
4. When to Use a Blockchain (Limitations and Misconceptions),
5. Implications of Blockchain on Traditional Business.

Week - 4

1. Bitcoin and Ethereum
2. Ethereum Blockchain
3. Smart Contracts (Theory)
4. Cryptocurrency Tokens
5. Wallets and the Marketplaces
6. Implications on Traditional Businesses.

This foundation course is offered by the Consensys Academy.

Why this foundation course?

There are several Blockchain foundation courses present on the internet. Not all of them are bad but some of them are misleading. I am referring to this course because this course presented by ConsenSys Academy. ConsenSys is a market-leading blockchain technology company and the parent company of Ethereum. So why not learn something directly from its creators? Click here for knowing about financial aid provided by Coursera.

Project based learning

Now that you have cleared your basics, you are good to go for the main battle. The best way to learn Ethereum blockchain development is by project-based learning. Learn blockchain by implementing it because things are very much uncertain in the web3 environment. Your knowledge today will not benefit you tomorrow. So try and learn by doing projects and keep yourself updated with the trend.

Let us list some bare minimum needed tools and technologies to learn Ethereum Blockchain Development.

• Javascript Javascript is a very versatile programming language. It can be used almost everywhere hence making it an indispensable part of blockchain development. Mainly react.js, node.js, express.js, and web3.js libraries of Javascript are needed in blockchain development.

  Note : We can also use Python in place of Javascript and the web3.py library of python instead of web3.js. But javascript is recommended.
  

• Solidity Smart contract is a computer program or a transaction protocol that is intended to automatically execute, control or document events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement written in Solidity language.

In short, solidity is the coding language that one has to learn to become an Ethereum blockchain developer.

• Truffle Truffle is a world-class development environment, testing framework and asset pipeline for blockchains using the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), aiming to make life as a developer easier.
• Ganache Ganache is used for setting up a personal Ethereum Blockchain for testing your Solidity contracts. It provides more features when compared to Remix. You will learn about the features when you work out with Ganache.
• Metamask Metamask is a cryptocurrency wallet that is available as a browser extension. Since web3 applications are not compatible to run with our normal browser, metamask overcomes this threshold. You will be learning about metamask more as you go forward.

Learning all these technologies with project-based implementation will make your blockchain journey far ahead of many developers because there are only 1% (roughly) blockchain developers available among all 18 million developers.

Now, I will suggest 3 courses for Ethereum Blockchain Development which I find great.

• Ethereum Blockchain Developer Bootcamp With Solidity (2022)

This is a paid course but the authors are great tutors and all course materials got updated on a regular basis.

• Ethereum Development Course - Blockchain at Berkeley

This is a freely available course on Udemy offered by Blockchain at Berkley.

• Blockchain Specialization

This is again a paid course but you can apply for financial aid on Coursera and your financial aid will be cleared within 15 days. Click here to know how to apply for the financial aid.

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