How to Become a Blockchain Developer: How These 10 Pros Did It

An average blockchain developer makes about $146,000 a year! Because of the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency, the demand for blockchain developers is at an all-time high.

In this article, I present to you a roadmap and some of the best resources to kick-start your journey as a blockchain developer.

Who Is a Blockchain Developer?

A blockchain developer is one who creates and maintains the blockchain network.

They are in charge of optimizing blockchain protocols, developing internal blockchain systems, and creating smart contracts and web apps. 

To prevent hacks or strategic changes, most employers will require their developers to store all blockchain data. They are also responsible for creating the interfaces to maintain client applications and security.

Steps to Become a Blockchain Developer

1. Understand Blockchain Fundamentals

To become an expert at a skill, learning the fundamentals is a great starting point.

Before delving into blockchain development, you need to first understand what a blockchain is. Understanding how the blockchain came to be will help you know how to use it to develop blockchain applications. 

Tutorials, guides, courses, and training can keep you updated on the fundamentals of blockchain.

2. Understand the Basics of Decentralized Applications and Ethereum

According to the journal Blockchain Technology in Energy, "A decentralized application" is an application that can operate autonomously, typically through the use of smart contracts, and runs on a decentralized computing, blockchain, or other distributed ledger system.

Ethereum is a technology for developing apps and transacting globally without the constraints of a centralized authority.

Because of the security and rich ecosystem of this technology, decentralized apps are often built with Ethereum. 

A solid understanding of decentralized applications and Ethereum is a must for blockchain development.

3. Learn the Basics of Web Development 

Web development is divided into two parts: the front end and the back end.

The front end is concerned with the user interface, or the visual aspect of your application with which prospective customers or visitors will interact.

The backend had to do with the server and application working behind the scenes to give you that visual side.

Having a good knowledge of web development will help with your transition into blockchain development. 

4. Understand What a Smart Contract Is

Working as a blockchain developer will involve using smart contracts.

A smart contract is a computer protocol that is stored on a blockchain and is designed to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce contract performance.

Learning C++, Golang, and Python is cool, but to stay relevant, you need to have a good grounding in Solidity (the most popular language for building smart contracts).

5. Understand How to Connect Your Smart Contracts to the Front End 

After building the smart contracts, connecting them to the front end is your next step.

For blockchain development, you can rely on two main libraries to do this: web3.js and ether.js.

Web3.js provides a single instantiated web3 object with methods for interacting with the blockchain, while ethers.js divides the API into two distinct roles.

Depending on your project, you can choose one of the libraries to run your applications.

6. Begin Building

Although there are so many frameworks, libraries, and deployment tools to choose from, the most important step is to begin building.

There are courses and communities that can help you navigate these processes. But you first have to build something, even if it isn't a kickass project.

It can be an NFT marketplace, a game, a decentralized finance app, or even a homepage.

Just start!

How to Become a Blockchain Developer: How These 10 Pros Did It

As a blockchain developer, your job is to create applications on the blockchain for everyone.

A lot of people want to be blockchain developers but are confused about where to start. In this article, I want to address your fears.

I have interviewed 10 blockchain developers on how they started, the challenges they faced, and their most interesting career highlights.

1. Himanshu Rawat.

Lead Developer at QuantumRhino

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I was drawn to the Web3 ecosystem as a developer because of its potential to reshape the internet and create a more equitable and decentralized world. 

The combination of blockchain technology and decentralized protocols provides a new set of tools for building decentralized applications that can help to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our world today in the financial sector.

As a developer, I've been working on various blockchain projects, and I've found the Web3 community to be very dynamic and innovative.

There is a lot of opportunity for growth and impact, and I am excited to be a part of this rapidly evolving space.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

Acxyn is one of my favorite projects that I worked on, and I am still a part of that project.

For tools and testing methods, it depends on which chain we are working on. For solidity, we use ganache to display private chain logs, solidity coverage to test smart contracts, and many other tools.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

Start with the basics.

Make sure you have a strong understanding of computer science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, and cryptography.

Additionally, research the fundamental principles and concepts of blockchain technology, such as consensus algorithms and smart contract development.

Then, get hands-on experience.

Start building your own blockchain projects, whether it's a simple or a complex decentralized application.

Remember to join the blockchain developer community, which is a thriving and supportive group of people eager to share their knowledge and help others.

Remember, becoming a blockchain developer takes time, effort, and dedication. But the rewards of being part of this exciting and innovative field are well worth it.

2. Grace Olayinka

Tech Lead at Niyo Group

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I first heard about blockchain from my brother, who was just giving his usual advice about learning something new and its benefits.

A few days later, a friend of mine mentioned blockchain technology and discussed its benefits, so I became more interested and decided to learn more about it.

After spending some time reading about blockchain, I began following communities and thought leaders who posted about it.

That's where I started as a blockchain developer, learning how to write smart contracts with Solidity. 

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

I have mostly worked on NFT projects, and I would say my favorite one is FountainHead NFTs. 

Although I’ve been a frontend developer before, the frontend aspect wasn’t much of a challenge. The smart contract was a challenge for me, especially because of the specific features for the client.

Most times when I got stuck, I reached out to a senior developer, and he helped out a lot.

For tools, I use truffle to test.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

If you want to start with Web3, I advise you to understand and hone Web2 technologies first.

Since this is blockchain development, start with web development and build further. Web3 is an advanced version of Web2, not a totally different thing. 

3. Sami Ullah Salim

Community Builder at Amazon Web Services

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I started with Web3 by reading about it online in various articles and blog posts. This led me to discover the various potentials of blockchain technology. 

Blockchain helps us create a decentralized ledger (meaning anyone can access the data, but it is immutable). It also helps us create non-fungible tokens.

In Web3, you don't have to create or maintain different accounts for different websites. You can have a wallet that is created using the blockchain, and you can use it to log in or sign up.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

I created multiple projects in the blockchain. The recent one was a website where people could log in with their wallets and see their remaining balance. They are listed on my profile.

For tools, I use Hardhat for testing and Solidity as a programming language. To integrate smart contracts with the React library on the web, I also use etherJs and web3Js.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

Start learning the theory of blockchain.

It's important to understand its concepts because you will be building on them. Then start learning Solidity because it's mostly used for smart contract development.

For integrating parts, learn React Library, EtherJs, or Web3Js. You can learn these things from multiple websites and courses. Most of all, start doing projects. You can create your token or your NFT Marketplace.

4. Olubisi Idris Ayinde

Developer Relations Engineer at Mara

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

Everything started late last year when I saw a tweet on Web3.

Although the term "Web3" had previously trended on Twitter, I assumed it was a passing fad; however, as I dug deeper, I discovered I was mistaken.

Curiosity drove me to research, learn, and build decentralized applications in order to gain practical knowledge of Web 3.

I work full-time as a backend engineer, but in my spare time, I read Web3-related papers, watch videos, and so on.

I realized that we need a lot more information in the Web3 space because, as you know, it's still in its early stages.

This motivated me to put even more effort into documenting my journey as I learn or build things that will help others get started in the Web3 ecosystem.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

I don't have any favorites currently. I put my time and effort into all my projects.

For tools:

In the frontend of a web application, you need things like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and libraries like React or Angular.

Then all you need to do is learn about the blockchain, understand the terminologies used in Web3, and then learn how to interact with the blockchain using libraries and SDKs. Check these out here.

For the backend, learning programming languages like Solidity, Rust, or Vyper is your best shot at creating smart contracts and building on the blockchain.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

Learning and practicing in public can help you land your dream job as a developer.

If you want to work in this space, spend some time studying higher-level ideas in Web3 and building higher-level projects for your resume.

Participation in the Web3 community may also lead to recruitment for non-technical roles.

5. Micheal Fawole

Blockchain Developer Tutor at LightHall

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I started with Web3 in 2020.

The language I wrote about before then is PHP. As I saw the possibilities and potentials of blockchain technology, I left PHP and entered Web3.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

My favorite project I worked on was the Ethereum swap, where you can swap Ethereum for native tokens.

For tools, Remix is a great platform that blockchain developers use for writing solidity codes.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

For newbies who want to venture into the blockchain field, you have to be consistent and focused. Don't give up because you encountered an error that lasted for weeks.

6. David Fernández

Head of Developer Relations at TestMachine

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

It all started in 2020 when I heard of flash loans.

Flash loans are non-restricted decentralized finance loans in which a user borrows and returns funds in the same transaction.

If the user is unable to repay the loan before the transaction is completed, a smart contract cancels it and returns the money to the lender.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

AMMs. Automated Market Makers enable digital assets to be traded automatically using liquidity pools rather than traditional buyer-and-seller markets.

For tools, I use the Hard Hat, Chai, and Mocha libraries.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

The most practical advice I can give is summed up in five-letter words: S-T-A-R-T. Start first by learning and building; the rest will come later.

7. Helder Vasconcelos

Co-founder at TAIKAI

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

Everything started in 2017 when I saw an article about Bitcoin in Wired Magazine. 

I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but when I read that article, the idea of a distributed ledger technology that could eliminate the middleman and run autonomously resonated in my head.

After that, like everybody else, I stumbled upon the Bitcoin white paper and started to learn more information and documentation about decentralized technologies.

I remember that during that time we had a small group of crypto enthusiast engineers that met on the coffee corner to talk about cryptocurrencies, decentralized technologies, and Web3 projects.

After working on a trading engine for a TradFi company, we decided to look for some funding to launch our own crypto exchange. In 2018, I was eager to join the Web3 ecosystem, and I met Mario Alves.

We discussed some preliminary ideas and decided to collaborate to launch Taikai.

This is a Web-based social innovation network that will connect developers and organizations on a decentralized platform with a tokenized circular economy based on the KAI Token.

This is when I started seriously programming smart contracts and gained real-world experience with Web3 protocols like interacting with wallets, writing smart contracts, and designing Web3 software architectures.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

My favorite project is, of course, TaiKai.

This project was a challenge to build and took years to reach the maturity that it has right now. I don't believe you can build an outstanding product in a couple of weeks.

It took some months to understand our market and drive the product in the best direction.

But one funny thing is that some of the early designs that we made on our first office whiteboard still stand and were important in our journey.

We are currently expanding our product to interoperate with external Web3 social graphs.

Like many other projects, we use unit tests for smart contracts, UI design systems, and a full suite of end-to-end tests that validate our software in an automated way, just to make sure we have a healthy production build.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

My general advice for becoming a blockchain developer is to participate in hackathons as much as you can, learn by doing some small pet projects, go to meetups, and share your knowledge with others.

In Web3, everything is about community, so be open to talking with people and learning on the way.

8. Favour Adetona

Lead Developer at Blockroll

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I started by reading the basic concepts in Web 3.

I found articles about decentralization and distributed ledger technologies. This was the building block that led me to blockchain development.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

I don't have any favorites currently. I put my time and effort into all my projects.

For tools, I use Solidity, JavaScript, Foundry, Remix, Hardhat, and React.js/next.js

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

Just start by building something. It could be a token, an NFT, or a staking dApp.

9. Odewole Babatunde Samson

Technical Writer at Hackmamba

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I got into Web3 out of curiosity and a love for decentralization.

I used to be a frontend software developer, but after seeing the potential of blockchain technology, I changed my focus to become a blockchain developer.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

I've worked on quite a few projects, but my favorite was connecting the frontend with smart contracts, DAO, and CRUD apps with Solidity. 

Leveraging a community was one of the best things I did when I started. This gave me a host of developers to learn from and interact with as I started my projects.

For tools, I used Third Web, Hardhat, and Truffle.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

My advice would be to have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript and know how the blockchain works.

10. Adetutu Gbangbola

Frontend Engineer at FSDH Group

How Did You Get Into Web3 as a Developer?

I started my blockchain journey in August 2022 through a boot camp.

Although I have been into crypto for about two years, the journey never ends. I'm still learning, and I'm currently in a boot camp intermediate class for solidity. My aim is to transition to Fullstack Web3 developer.

What Is Your Favorite Project You’ve Worked On, and How Did You Go About It?

It was ChainWrite, a social media blogging DApp deployed on Polygon Mumbai and integrated with the Lens protocol.

Can You Give Practical Advice to Newbies Who Want to Become Blockchain Developers?

Stay committed to learning and networking; there is a lot to learn.

Conclusion

The journey to becoming a blockchain developer is tough, but it is worth it!

With plenty of opportunities and salaries on the increase, there has never been a better time to get started. The right mindset and the right work ethic are needed to help you scale.

Blockchain developers must continuously learn and adapt their skills to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the industry.

Also, they need to have strong soft skills, including communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills.

Information overload is one of the greatest hindrances to becoming a blockchain developer. Start with a course first to give you an overview before you step up.

Overall, becoming a blockchain developer can be a profitable career choice for anyone.

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