Blockchain technology continues its triumphant march along the winding roads of the global financial system. Gone are the days when interest in the crypto industry was built on speculation. Today, blockchain technology is actively used in many industries, which was facilitated by the emergence of smart contract platforms. Now there are blockchains like that offer users a wide range of features involving various blockchain developments.
A successful business is often associated with the introduction of blockchain technologies, fueling the excitement for this area of digital technologies. Dozens of startups appear every day, promising benefits to both the developers of smart contracts and cryptos and those who aim to use them.
Many programmers, observing a similar trend, would not mind switching to smart contracts and blockchain technology. How real is this? We will try to highlight all the points concerning the implementation of such a transition.
Why Should I Pursue Smart Contract Development Jobs?
The answer to this question is not obvious to everyone, but the number of open vacancies in smart contracts and blockchain indicates great prospects. In addition to the fact that new experience in such blockchain technology is valuable in itself, financial interest must also be taken into account. It is no secret that currently, the annual salary of programmers engaged in the development of blockchain and smart contracts has already reached the $150 thousand mark.
Aren’t these good reasons for mastering a new profession?
What Do I Need to Become a Smart Contract Developer?
Programmers are well aware of the fact that mastering a new programming language or environment is a complex and often lengthy process. Blockchain technology is no exception. Moreover, the roadmap of SC developers imposes increased requirements on candidates for mastering this profession. Thus, DecimalChain, one of the industry leaders, also puts high requirements for candidates in all spheres of blockchain development and maintenance. Here is an approximate list of skills needed for this.
Basics
If you have never dealt with decentralized networks and blockchain technology, you should start with this. Blockchain, being a specific database, employs a number of techniques that make it unique. Of course, it is not necessary to delve into the mathematical wilds of the cryptographic methods used, but getting acquainted with the technology of adding and verifying blocks in the registry is the minimum that is required to understand the specifics of the profession. Although there are blockchains like DecimalChain, that offer maximum accessibility of functions.
But still, you can’t do without ordinary programming skills either. And here knowledge of C++, JavaScript, and Python will be very useful – they are often used as the main or additional PL for a particular blockchain.
There are enough resources on the web to acquire relevant knowledge.
Cryptography
Since the operation of any blockchain is based on the use of at least a public key, smart contract platforms should confidently understand this issue. It is also necessary to gain knowledge regarding digital cryptographic signatures, a very important component of smart contracts necessary for identity verification.
Studying cryptography methods means that you have to master such a function as hashing since it is this function that underlies the unification of blocks and transactions that they consist of.
Ethereum Blockchain
Since this particular platform was originally created as a development environment for decentralized applications, it is not surprising that most of the existing smart contracts are implemented on this blockchain. And if so, it will be highly desirable to study both blockchain technology and its functionality for creating applications, in particular, the internal language for developing Solidity smart contracts.
Mastering Smart Contracts PL
Solidity is not the only programming language designed for the development of smart contracts. There are others, and many of them provide functions free from the shortcomings of the industry pioneer. Most of these platforms require the use of a virtual machine, so a lot of time will have to be devoted to studying the basics of their functioning and application. Choosing a platform and, accordingly, a programming language is a responsible step, since even recognized talents find it difficult to study several language options at once.
SC development platform, testing environment
All of the above applies equally to the choice of an integrated development environment for smart contracts. The list of popular tools cannot be called extensive, but you will have to choose. The most well-known development environments are considered to be the Remix IDE, Hardhat and Truffle Suite. We should also think about the possibility of thorough testing of the smart contract since after its deployment in the blockchain, errors can be corrected only with the help of a hard fork.
Security
The use of cryptographic methods is far from being the only means of ensuring security. It guarantees the transparent closing of transactions, but in the case of smart contracts, the number of potential vulnerabilities increases significantly. And you need to be able to detect and eliminate these potential vulnerabilities in your code. Believe me, this is a rather extensive topic that requires a separate study.
But this knowledge can also be useful to you in web programming, regardless of blockchain technologies.
Best Practices to Prepare for Smart Contract Development
You can start studying all the above directions randomly. But this, of course, is not the best option. To acquire a good qualification, experience and knowledge are required. The first one is still unattainable, and in order to obtain a sufficient stock of knowledge, it is necessary to use a strategic approach. Let’s list the components of such a strategy:
· choosing a suitable training course. There are many of them, it is important that it not only helps to master the architecture of smart contracts but also provides an opportunity to study their practical application. It is necessary that such a training course covers all aspects of the development of cryptographic smart contracts, including programming languages and integrated development environments. It is also important to provide high-quality support for courses, the availability of round-the-clock expert support;
· use of internet resources. Training courses should be a priority, but you can also get additional knowledge and skills from third-party resources. In particular, there are a lot of data on YouTube devoted to this topic. It would be useful to search for articles on smart contract development on Discord servers, which will allow you to be aware of all new trends in the industry;
· joining developers` communities. Yes, most of them are for experienced specialists communicating there, but that’s what they are good at. If you have difficulties with studying a complex topic, a correctly asked question will not remain without a qualified answer. An example of such specialized communities can be called hackathons, which will not only help you gain new knowledge but also find a job in a new specialty – both programmers and employers “hang out” there, as well as potential investors looking for promising startups;
· creating a developer’s portfolio. Gaining knowledge in the field of developing platforms for smart contracts is the minimum that is necessary to start in the profession. But it would be much easier to find a job if you create your portfolio, which will indicate your programming skills. Do not forget to include a list of completed professional courses in it. The highlight will be the availability of skills in the development of SC.
Despite it looking challenging, the profession of a smart contract developer is quite a feasible task for any practicing programmer. It is also possible to start studying the subject “from scratch”, but in this case, it will take incomparably more time to master the relevant skills.
However, there are crypto platforms for the development of smart contracts on the blockchain, allowing you to use ready-made templates with the necessary parameters, and this direction is also very popular. An example is a Decimalchain project, in which it is possible to create your own token based on the Decimal cryptocurrency using an ordinary mobile application.