Blockchain developer
To become a core blockchain developer or a distributed software application developer (Dapps developer)?
As a revolutionary technology, blockchain has clearly opened up a new field of development called blockchain development. In turn, this creates a lot of job opportunities for developers and technology enthusiasts. Even with such an excellent job opportunity, people are usually confused about the direction that should be taken to become a blockchain developer. At the same time, when holding events and teaching blockchain, many people tell me that they want to become a blockchain developer but When I asked, the other party was not sure whether to become a blockchain developer. The main reason was that they often confuse Blockchain Developer with Dapp Developer and do not clearly distinguish them.
Therefore, I decided to write this article to help people who want to enter the blockchain development to confirm their role. Hope it helps.
Core Blockchain Developers (Blockchain Developers)
Blockchain software developers have a set of independent roles. These roles have nothing to do with consensus design or system architecture. Just like how an ordinary web developer uses the protocols and design structures established by core web architects to build web applications, blockchain software developers use blockchain technology to build decentralized applications or Dapps.
When talking about blockchain developers, people expect them to combine various skills. Let us discuss them one by one.
Blockchain architecture
Blockchain developers should have a good understanding of blockchain, its work and architecture. Like cryptographic hash functions, consensus, distributed ledger technology. The best way to familiarize yourself with blockchain technology is through the Bitcoin blockchain white paper, but it may be a tedious task to go through the complete white paper. A little guidance will always help improve the learning curve. It is recommended to read the Bitcoin at the very least. The white paper of the currency and the yellow paper of the Ethereum.
Data structure
When you want to become a blockchain developer, in-depth knowledge of data structure and application significance are necessary. Blockchain developers constantly revolve around and adjust existing data structures, such as merkle trees, petrecia trees, etc., to meet the needs of blockchain network transmission. Blockchain uses a large number of data structures and advanced encryption technology to build a secure and unmodifiable system. Without understanding the data structure, knowledge about the blockchain can only be considered unqualified.
Encryption Cryptography
Blockchain is a combination of data structure and advanced cryptography, so it is obvious that becoming a blockchain developer also requires a good grasp of cryptography. In addition to asynchronous encryption used to generate digital signatures, there are also many encryption methods (such as SHA256 and KECCAK256) used in blockchains. It is impossible to become a blockchain developer without understanding how these work.
Smart Contract Development
Since the release of Ethereum, smart contracts have become a major event. Now, every blockchain is trying to integrate smart contract functions into its system so that business logic can be easily applied on the blockchain. Therefore, developers striving to enter the blockchain field should definitely understand the development of smart contracts. This usually requires learning network-specific languages, such as Solidity, Viper, Chaincode, etc. One point to note here is that writing a smart contract may seem simple, but in fact it requires a lot of attention and accumulation of experience, such as whether the smart contract can interact with the smart contract or can only allow the user account to interact with the smart contract or Whether the virtual currency quota will exceed the upper limit or whether it can accept negative values, etc.
Wallet development
Wallets are often overlooked during development, but they are also very important. How to generate user wallets and how to maintain user wallets to protect private keys and seeds. Although many articles currently require users to protect their own wallets, it is still necessary to help users create wallets and manage wallets in commercial scenarios. It is recommended to understand BIP32, BIP39, BIP44, multi signature and hardware wallets, etc.
Web development
Web development is part of the core aspect of blockchain developers. When a blockchain developer starts his career, most of them are also required to develop the basic design of decentralized applications. This means that you must understand the basics of front-end and back-end development, including creating interactive graphical user interfaces for Dapps, API processing, request processing, etc.
Distributed application Dapps V.S smart contract smart contract
Traditional web applications use HTML, CSS and javascript to render pages. It also needs to use the API to obtain detailed information from the database.
