The Ultimate List of Development Courses to Expand your Blockchain Knowledge

source: brainfall.com

If you want to get a successful career in the blockchain but don’t know where to start, this overview of the best blockchain development courses is here to help. No matter if you are a complete beginner or an advanced developer who wants to deepen their knowledge or transition to the blockchain from other industries, you will find courses relevant to you in this overview.

Blockchain Fundamentals

These courses will explain to you the fundamentals of the blockchain and give an in-depth overview of such technologies!

Udemy courses:

“Blockchain and Bitcoin Fundamentals”

This course is for people who don’t have any background in programming or development and want to learn about the fundamentals of the blockchain. You will learn the core concepts in the blockchain such as hash functions, mining, Merkle trees, smart contracts, and tokens. You will also get practical instructions on setting up a Bitcoin wallet and making transactions with it, so this course is perfect if you want to learn the basics and take the initial steps towards cryptocurrency trading.

• Price: $95
• Type: Online
• Duration: 35 lectures

“Certified Bitcoin Professional: Pass The Certification Exam”

This course on blockchain fundamentals is aimed at preparing you for the Certified Bitcoin Professional Exam. It is far more comprehensive than the above-mentioned course, and will not only give you the basics but in-depth guidance on the blockchain and Bitcoin-related topics at a professional level. Through the 38 course lectures, you will learn everything you need to know to successfully pass the Certified Bitcoin Professional Exam. The course covers different mining algorithms and hardware, various types of cryptocurrency wallets, Bitcoin clients, merchants, and payment processors. The instructor, Ravinder Deol, is a founder of the B21Block platform and is himself a Certified Bitcoin Professional, so he knows what he’s talking about. The course is suitable for complete beginners, as well as for those who have some basic knowledge about the blockchain and Bitcoin but want to structure it in order to successfully pass the Certification exam.

• Price: $100
• Type: Online
• Duration: 38 lectures

Academic Courses

For anyone who like an academic approach(homework, lectures, exams, and quizzes) to learning, here is a collection of courses from esteemed universities:

“Blockchain at Berkeley”

In 13 weeks this course will give you an in-depth overview of Bitcoin and blockchain fundamentals, as well as the history and the cryptographic mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. The course is mostly theoretical, but you will get practical coding experience as well, and by the end of the course you will be able to build your own smart contracts and decentralized applications with Java and Solidity. Please keep in mind that the course is conducted offline and is restricted for Berkeley students only.

• Type: Offline
• Duration: 13 weeks

“Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies by Princeton University”

A comprehensive course about the technical aspects of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. You’ll learn about how Bitcoin works, what mining is, and why it is so important to the proper functioning of Bitcoin. You’ll also learn about what altcoins are worth looking into and what the perspectives of cryptocurrencies are. It also includes practical coding assignments in Java, but its primary focus is on the theoretical foundations of Bitcoin and the blockchain, so for sophisticated programming tutorials you should look at other courses. The course is taught by Arvind Narayanan, who is an assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science in Princeton University. One thing you should note is that the course material has not been updated since 2015, so many concepts and advances in the blockchain industry are not covered in it.

• Price: Free
• Type: Online
• Duration: 11 weeks

“Blockchain Training Series by Andreas Antonopoulos and University of Nicosia”

The first MSc degree in Digital Currency in the world. So unlike the previously mentioned courses, it is not a single course, but a regular structured MSc degree with a wide range of comprehensive courses on cryptocurrencies and blockchains aimed at people with diverse backgrounds. The course is administered online, so you can get the MSc degree wherever you are. A number of courses are taught by the famous Andreas Antonopoulos, the author of Mastering Bitcoin. The full MSc degree, however, might be expensive and time consuming. So before deciding whether you are ready for this commitment, you might take the free introductory course from this program. The course is offered by Cyprus University in the form of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), where you get to learn directly from the famous Mr. Andreas Antonopoulos. You don’t even need to have a previous technical background. The main thing about Cyprus University is that University of Nicosia has issued the first academic certificates whose authenticity can be verified through the Bitcoin blockchain.

• Price: 12,080 EUR, scholarships available
• Type: Online
• Period: 2 years

“Bitcoin Engineering (CS251P) by Stanford”

A very practical course on building Bitcoin-enabled applications with Python. It is conducted through practical coding assignments and is aimed at people with prior experience with Python and UNIX who want to get into blockchain development. After a brief introduction into the basics of Bitcoin, you will learn how to build Bitcoin-powered versions of popular Internet services such as Twitter or Instagram. The course is taught by Stanford professors, and right now the course is conducted offline, but the MOOC version will be launched later this year.

• Type: Offline, MOOC version to be launched soon.
• Duration: 12 weeks

Blockchain Practical Development

The best independent online courses:

“Cryptozombies — Learn to Code By Building Your Own Game”

A practical course on building Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps) using Solidity. No prior programming experience is required, as the gamification approach of the course is perfect for beginners who want to get hands-on experience with Solidity. Because the course is very practical and coding-oriented, it does not cover any theoretical foundations of the blockchain, so you will have to look for that elsewhere. Through the course you will learn how to build a DApp similar to the game Cryptokitties: you will get step-by-step guidance on creating unique zombie characters with Solidity, comprising an army of them and making them fight with each other. After finishing this course you will have practical skills with Ethereum development, which you can further strengthen by going through further tutorials like these.

• Price: Free
• Type: Online
• Duration: 6 interactive lessons

“IBM Developer Works, IBM Blockchain foundation developer”

A practical development course from IBM based on the IBM blockchain platform — Hyperledger. Compared to previously mentioned Cryptozombies, this one is more comprehensive and explains theoretical foundations of the blockchain as well. It is focused on Hyperledger, not just Solidity, like Cryptozombies, so you should take it if you are particularly interested in the Hyperledger platform. Otherwise you might find this course irrelevant to your learning goals. Through this course, you will learn how to build your own blockchain networks with Hyperledger. This is an advanced course for developers, so if you don’t have any prior experience with the blockchain you should start with the IBM’s Essentials course and then proceed to this one. This course is perfect if you plan to get a career as a blockchain developer in a big company as Hyperledger is one of the most popular platforms in the corporate world.

• Price: Free
• Type: Online
• Duration: 6 sections

“Certified Online Ethereum Developer by B9Lab”

A course from B9lab, a pioneering service in the sphere of blockchain education. It is an advanced course for developers interested in pursuing a recognizable certification and kickstarting a career in blockchain development. You will learn how to work with Solidity, Web3, and Truffle and build advanced blockchain-based projects with these resources. The course offers support from experienced instructors such as Elias Haase and collaboration with other participants through Slack. It is great for people interested in building a successful career in blockchain development and networking, it’s not just about learning the basics. So, compared to the Cryptozombies and Hyperledger courses from IBM, this one is more broad and comprehensive. It does not focus on a specific platform (like Hyperledger), and it gives you far more advanced skills than Cryptozombies does.

• Price: 1,450 EUR
• Type: Online
• Duration: 9 weeks

Udemy courses:

“Ethereum and Solidity: The Complete Developer’s Guide”

A best-selling Udemy course on practical development with Solidity. The instructor, Stephen Grinder, is a professional engineer who has experience working for the top companies in Silicon Valley. He will guide you through the process of blockchain-based development from the basics of Ethereum and simple smart contracts to advanced multi-page frontends. To start you will need to have programming experience, specifically knowledge of Javascript and NPM. It’s one of the most comprehensive courses on Ethereum and Solidity development as is targeted at experienced developers who want to go into the blockchain industry.

• Price: $95
• Type: Online
• Duration: 243 lectures

“Ethereum: Decentralized Application Design & Development”

A course focused on building decentralized applications (DApps) and private blockchain networks that uses a learning-by-doing approach. It is aimed at developers, so if you don’t have prior experience with coding it will be too difficult for you to follow. You should be particularly comfortable with programming in JavaScript to successfully complete this course. It is great for developers willing to learn how to build blockchain-based applications, what technical Ethereum token standards are, and how to implement blockchain solutions for ICOs. This course covers more advanced concepts than the previously ones described here. For instance, it will give you guidance on building private blockchain networks, which is not covered in most courses. This one will fit you very well if you want to get a development job with a blockchain-related startup or in a company that wants to introduce the blockchain to its operations.

• Price: $95
• Type: Online
• Duration: 101 lectures

“Ethereum Blockchain Developer: Build Projects Using Solidity”

An in-depth course on Ethereum and Solidity from the founders of B21Block. It will go into the technical details about the blockchain and, specifically, Ethereum, and it will give you practical hands-on experience writing smart contracts with Solidity and building DApps through comprehensive step-by-step tutorials. Compared to the two courses mentioned above, this one is more theory-focused and less coding-heavy, which makes it more suitable for the beginners who are just starting their journey in the blockchain industry. The course will give you a good foundation for further development in the blockchain industry. It is great for people who have some experience with coding and want to grasp the foundations of Ethereum and the blockchain in general to decide whether this new industry is a suitable career option for them.

• Price: $195
• Type: Online
• Duration: 85 lectures

After you learn the basics and get a good grasp on practical blockchain development, the best way to continue your education in the blockchain is starting up a project on GitHub and mastering your skills. We have collected advice from the experts in the blockchain industry that will help you to deepen your knowledge. For the extra resources such as textbooks and tutorials available, you can consult this article.

In case you want to find even more educational opportunities, you can refer to our rating of the most recommended blockchain courses. We are trying to build the most informative course rating on the market that will help anyone to start their educational path and make decisions about which course to start with based on the data.

To build the most comprehensive rating of blockchain courses, we did the following things:

• Build a course rating for each category (development, trading, average usage) based on reviews.
• Contact each author and publish an interview with them on our website.
• Actualize courses and keep the most recommended ones.

We also have special bonuses (promo codes and scholarships), so before starting your educational path you can join the community of learners on our educational blockchain Telegram channel.

Originally published at howtotoken.com on March 30, 2018.

About the author:

Kirill Shilov — Founder of Geekforge.io and Howtotoken.com. Interviewing the top 10,000 worldwide experts who reveal the biggest issues on the way to technological singularity. Join my #10kqachallenge: GeekForge Formula.