Blockchain Developer Tutorial

If we are to believe a recent report by CoinDesk, the Blockchain technology will continue to foster at an exponential rate in the upcoming fiscal years. And guess what? The demand to learn Blockchain as technology would increase even more among freshers and Blockchain enthusiasts. In addition, Blockchain will find its way and venture into advanced applications of almost every vertical and its horizontals. Owing to these developments in the Blockchain landscape, there will be a plethora of job openings for Blockchain Developers. As a matter of fact, the median annual salary of a Blockchain Developer lies in the range of US$106,680.

‘Blockchain technology isn’t just a more efficient way to settle securities. It will fundamentally change market structures and maybe even the architecture of the Internet itself.’

This statement by Abigail Johnson, CEO of Fidelity Investments, speaks volumes about the potential of Blockchain as a disruptive technology.

You might have come across the term ‘Blockchain technology’ before, in reference to cryptocurrencies. The term might seem abstract with little real meaning on the surface; nonetheless, without Blockchain, digital currencies would not exist. If you are new to cryptocurrencies, and to the Blockchain technology, read this guide on the Blockchain basics and set yourself in the direction of a blissful and lucrative career.

As an attempt to familiarize you with every nook and corner of the Blockchain space, we at Intellipaat have prepared this Blockchain tutorial. This tutorial will give you an introduction to Blockchain and subsequently pave a way for you to take up a high-paying Blockchain Developer job role. As you navigate through the modules of this Blockchain tutorial, you will get to learn about the Blockchain basics, Blockchain architecture, Blockchain Developer, leading Blockchain companies, working principles, Blockchain applications, Blockchain types, and certain of its real-time use cases.

Also, we will shed light on certain concepts and applicability of Blockchain technology. By the time you reach the end of this Blockchain tutorial, not only will you comprehensively understand how Blockchain networks work in real-time but also garner comprehensive insights about how you can pace your career with the evolution of the Blockchain technology.

We can guarantee that if you pay your undivided attention while skimming through this Blockchain tutorial, you will learn all that is needed to master Blockchain within a few weeks.

Why Blockchain?

As we have seen, there is absolutely no central control, no national boundary, and no specific owner in Blockchain. Its security is powered by sophisticated cryptographic processes performed by p2p users, through a process known as mining.

Here are some of the reasons why we need to embrace Blockchain technology.

• Secure

It is impossible for anyone to tamper with transactions or ledger records present in Blockchain.

• Worldwide Adaptation

Blockchain has been adopted worldwide and has the backing of many investors from both the banking and non-banking sectors.

• Automated Operations

In Blockchain networks, operations are fully automated through software implications. Private companies are not needed to oversee the operations.

• Open-source Technology

Blockchain happens to be an open-source technology. All operations within a Blockchain network are carried out by the open-source community.

• Distributed Architecture

Blockchain works in a distributed mode in which records are stored in all nodes in the network. If one node goes down, it doesn’t impact the other nodes or records.

• Flexible

The Blockchain network can be programmed using the basic programming concepts. This flexibility makes Blockchain networks easy to operate on.

Blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps a record of all transactions taking place in a peer-to-peer network. All information transferred via Blockchain is encrypted and every occurrence is recorded, meaning that the information cannot be altered. As a decentralized network, Blockchain networks do not require any central or certifying authority. For this reason, these networks can be relied upon for much more than the transfer of currency; in fact, contracts, records, and other kinds of data can be shared across the Blockchain network. Encrypted information can be shared across multiple providers without risking a privacy breach.

Blockchain has gained immense popularity, because of these attributes:

• Blockchain networks are distributed ledgers on the Internet
• Each action is visible for everyone; only adding lines is possible and that too after consensus
• ‘Peer to peer’: No third party is required in order to carry out transactions
• Secured by unbreakable cryptographic hashing

Audience

Individuals including software professionals and graduates who want to build a career around the Blockchain network or those who want to learn the precepts of Blockchain as a whole are most welcome to this Intellipaat Blockchain tutorial.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with scripting languages such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS
• Enthusiasm to grow with the fast-paced evolution of Blockchain

Blockchain Use Cases

Potential use cases of the blockchain: Proof of Existence : Demonstrating data ownership without revealing actual data Document timestamping Checking for document integrity Check out this What is Ethereum video by Intellipaat: Record Keeping : Data inserted and hashed into secure blockchains like Bitcoin creates permanent and

History of Blockchain

Blockchain Background: Before getting into the depths of blockchain, it might be quite insightful for you to know the history of blockchain. In this module, we will make sure that you will glean maximum insights about the blockchain background and the history of blockchain. In 1991, when Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta wanted to implement a system where document

Benefits of Blockchain & Problems with Blockchain

Benefits of Blockchain : Before we shed light on the benefits of blockchain, let us invest some time in comprehending the need of blockchains in the first place. In this module, we shall also focus on the problems with blockchains and what is being done to mitigate those issues. In addition, we will also detail you about the future of blockchains.

What is Blockchain?

What is Blockchain Technology?: “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value,” Don & Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution (2016). In simple terms, Blockchain ledger is digital, distributed and decentralized. So, how does blockchain technology work? As per the blockchain definition,

Blockchain Currency – Cryptocurrency

What do you mean by Blockchain Currency? : Before understanding how blockchain and cryptocurrency twin together, let us first brief you about the precepts of cryptocurrency. What exactly is Blockchain Cryptocurrency? Basically, a digital asset, blockchain cryptocurrency is designed to work as a medium of exchange. Unlike physical currencies, blockchain cryptocurrency works on digital channels and are often adhered to strong

How does blockchain work?

How does blockchain work?: Now that we are familiar with a few aspects of blockchains, let us analyze in-depth, how does the blockchain works. We know that blockchain is nothing but an endless inundation of blocks which are knit together like a chain, and that too in a specific order of cryptography. When it comes to storing transactional information in

Blockchain Wallet

What Are Blockchain Wallets?: The whole concept of Blockchain is fascinating, no doubt. However, there is a catch here. As cryptocurrencies are becoming the order of the day in financial markets, a lot of patience goes into understanding and managing them. We know that cryptocurrencies are digital money, so where do we store them? The answer to this question is

Ethereum and Smart Contracts

What is Ethereum?: Ethereum, a distributed open blockchain network was conceptualized by Vitalik Buterin in November 2013. The development of  a Turing-complete language that allows the development of smart contracts for blockchain and decentralized applications unlike Bitcoin which is non-turing. The “Ether” is the cryptocurrency of Ethereum. Comparing Wei & Ether: Unit Wei Value Wei Wei 1 wei 1 Kwei

Blockchain Explorer

What is blockchain explorer?: Well, even that is possible. Use an apt blockchain explorer and you are well on your way. Don’t you think about how we can traverse through blocks in a blockchain? An online tool, blockchain explorer is designed and devised to view all the information associated with blocks, addresses, and past and current transactions on a blockchain.

What is Blockchain Database – Difference between Blockchain and Relational database

What is a blockchain database?: If we consider all that we have learned about blockchains so far, we can say that blockchains are quite sophisticated and complex. However, at the bottom line, they are not that complex. They are just like databases but are structurally and functionally different. While databases store data using ‘table’ data structures, blockchains store data in

Blockchain Fork

What is Blockchain Forks?: For a technology that is as sophisticated as blockchains, it won’t be wrong to say that the technology adheres to numerous limitations. With issues such as propagation delays, which refer to lag time between nodes sending and receiving data, transactions getting lost while being transmitted to receivers, and nodes going bad and transmitting false information, stakeholders

What is Bitcoin Blockchain?

What is Bitcoin Blockchain? : Before we try to understand how bitcoin and blockchain are related, we must be adept with the precepts of bitcoins. We must also understand what role blockchain plays in the world of bitcoins. If you say that bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, you are correct. It is a form of electronic cash that functions just as general

What is Blockchain Mining?

What exactly is Blockchain mining? : A peer-to-peer computer process, Blockchain mining is used to secure and verify bitcoin transactions. Mining involves Blockchain miners who add bitcoin transaction data to Bitcoin’s global public ledger of past transactions. In the ledgers, blocks are secured by Blockchain miners and are connected to each other forming a chain. When we talk in depth, as

What are Smart Contracts Blockchain?

What are Blockchain smart contracts with respect to Bitcoins?: On an evening when Nick Szabo was wondering about the purpose of security around bitcoins, he thought of incorporating software-based protocols to facilitate, verify, and enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. These software models later were referred to as ‘blockchain smart contracts.’ The basic purpose behind the inception of

Bitcoin Economics

Introduction to Bitcoin Economics: Now that we know what Bitcoins are and how to mine them, let’s move forward and understand the economics of Bitcoins and its benefits along with going into the depths of solo and pooled mining techniques and more. Economics of Bitcoin: Only after each of the Block creation, which is at a reducing and settled rate,

What is Ethereum Blockchain?

Ethereum Blockchain: An open-source, public, and blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring a smart contract functionality, Ethereum enables distributed applications to be built and executed without any downtime, fraud, control, or interference from a third-party entity. Ethereum is not just a platform but also a Turing-complete programming language running on a Blockchain that helps developers publish distributed applications.

Solidity

What is Solidity?: With the mention that Ethereum can be used to write smart contracts, we tend to corner our mind to the fact that there must be some programming language with which these applications are designed. Yes, there is a programming language that makes it possible. It goes by the name ‘Solidity’. An object-oriented programming language, Solidity was developed

Hyperledger

What does ‘Hyperledger’ mean?: Neither a company nor a cryptocurrency and not a blockchain, Hyperledger is a hub for open industrial blockchain development. According to the official Hyperledger website, ‘Hyperledger is an open-source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. It is a global collaboration, hosted by the Linux Foundation, including leaders in finance, banking, Internet of Things, supply

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency

What is Bitcoin?: Bitcoins are private, super-fast, cheap(transaction fees are minimal) and entirely decentralized. The structure of a Bitcoin block header consists of – Reference to a previous block hash The difficulty, timestamp and nonce The Merkle root Size Field Description 4 bytes Version A version number to track software/protocol upgrades 32 bytes Previous Hash block It is the reference

What is Ripple Blockchain?

Ripple Blockchain: Developed by the US-based technology company Labs Inc. in 2012, is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), currency exchange, and remittance network. The most distinguishing feature is its build schematics. Mounted on top of a distributed open-source protocol, supports tokens that represent fiat currency, cryptocurrency, commodities, and other units

What is EOS Blockchain?

EOS Blockchain Protocol: EOS blockchain or EOS.IO is a blockchain protocol which is powered by its native cryptocurrency EOS. The protocol emulates almost every attribute of a real computer including CPUs, GPUs, local memories like RAM, and hard disk storages with computing resources that are distributed equally among EOS cryptocurrency possessors. Operating as a smart contract platform, EOS.IO is a

Use Cases of Blockchains

Create your own ‘Private Blockchain’: Here’s a use case of blockchains. Being case-specific, this use case will help you understand how Blockchains can revolutionize all verticals in the marketplace. The use case centers around devising lightweight financial systems using blockchains. Check this Blockchain video by Intellipaat [intytsubsc] Within this financial system, one or

Blockchain Applications

What are the applications of blockchains?: Blockchains are basically decentralized permission-less databases whose primary utility is to remove the need for trusted middlemen. In addition, they lower operational costs, speed up traditional processes and systems, and further offer added benefits of accuracy through logic-driven execution and automatic backup of transaction records. There are several concepts and applications that are ripe

Hyperledger Blockchain

Understanding Hyperledger Blockchain: Hyperledger is an open-standard, decentralized public ledger based on Blockchain technology to advance worldwide business. It is a cross-industry collaborative effort to create a Blockchain based open standard for the distributed ledger for globally conducted business transactions. The goals of Hyperledger is to – To make endeavor review bases to help business exchanges. For, giving unbiased, open& community-driven

Ethereum Cheat Sheet

Ethereum Quick Reference Guide: Blockchain started as tickle but in just a few years has become a flood. Banking sectors started to adopt this technology immediately. Even though it is still at the nascent stage, we can certainly see the future of Blockchain and its significance in each organization. Check this Blockchain video by intellipaat [video thumb class=”col-md-12″ id=”E_KQ69soVak” alt=”blockchain Tutorial”

Blockchain Cheat Sheet

Blockchain Cheat Sheet: The world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies can seem daunting to anyone on the outside looking in. And with good reason too. There’s a lot of technical information around, as well as thousands of cryptocurrency companies, with more created every day.

What Does a Blockchain Developer Do?

The wise yet short answer to this is: a Blockchain developer develops Blockchains! Well, that was easy!

Now that we got that out of our system let’s take a serious look at what a Blockchain developer does. To best answer this question, we first need to establish that there are two different types of Blockchain developers; there’s the Core Blockchain Developer and the Blockchain Software Developer. Call them sub-divisions of Blockchain development.

A Core Blockchain Developer designs the security and the architecture of the proposed Blockchain system. In essence, the Core Blockchain Developer creates the foundation upon which others will then build upon.

What “others” are we referring to? That would be the Blockchain Software Developers, of course, who use the core web architecture built by the Developer to create apps, specifically the decentralized (dapps) and web varieties.

Perhaps there may be situations where the same person fulfills both roles, most likely in cases where the business is small, and people traditionally wear more than one hat. Whatever the case, the everyday responsibilities and roles of the Blockchain developer are: 

• Design the Blockchain protocols
• Design the network architecture that can be used for the centralizing or decentralizing the data
• Backend development according to the Blockchain protocols
• Developing front-end designs according to client requirements
• Developing and monitoring any smart contracts

The Blockchain developer’s responsibility is to develop innovative solutions to challenging problems, including solutions for command and control, and high integrity. The developer also performs complex analysis, design, development, testing, and computer software debugging, specifically for distinct product hardware or for technical service lines of businesses. Develops perform software design, operating architecture integration, and computer system selection. Finally, they operate on multiple systems and apply knowledge of one or more platforms and programming languages.

Of course, obstacles are awaiting the Blockchain developer. For instance, the developer has to work with legacy infrastructure and its limitations, while still meeting the expectations inherent in a Blockchain development project. Also, there are the challenges of understanding the technical practicality of implementing decentralized cryptosystems, processes that fall outside of the traditional IT development skill-set, which means a Blockchain developer needs specialized skills.

How Does One Become a Blockchain Developer?

So, after all of that, the questions present itself: with all of these responsibilities, how does one train someone with the necessary skills to let them rise to the challenge of Blockchain development? There are two different situations at work here. There are the Blockchain hopefuls who are starting completely from scratch, having no background in programming whatsoever, and those who have experience in careers that share similarities with Blockchain.

What Kind of Mindset Do You Need to Become a Blockchain Developer?

Before we dive into those two different types of people aspiring to become Blockchain developers, it may help to familiarize ourselves with the kind of mindsets that are best suited for Blockchain developers. After all, the unique challenges of Blockchain development require a certain unique way of thinking.

Whenever you hear the word “hacker” spoken aloud, it’s not usually in a positive light; no self-respecting business wants anything to do with hackers (well, except for ethical hackers, but that’s a different story for a different time). However, it’s precisely the hacker mentality that helps make good Blockchain developers. That’s because hackers tend to think outside the box when faced with problems and obstacles, rather than engage in conventional thinking.

Furthermore, a good Blockchain developer works well with a team and can collaborate. On a related point, the ideal Blockchain developer knows when to ask for help with a problem and when to keep plugging away by themselves until they arrive at the answer.

So the best candidate for Blockchain development works well with others, knows his or her limitations, and can unconventionally approach problems.

For Those Who Are Completely New to Programming and Development

If you’re someone who wants to become a Blockchain developer but has no related skills or experience to build a foundation on, then frankly, the road is going to be a little tougher for you and will require more work and dedication.

Fortunately, there is hope! Here are some steps that anyone coming from such a place, but yet is interested in a Blockchain developer career can take.

• Learn Why Blockchain Was Needed in the First Place
  The story of Blockchain is the story of Bitcoin, as the latter is the reason that the former exists. Blockchain was designed as a platform for Bitcoin, allowing it to become a reality. To this end, an aspiring Blockchain developer should become familiar with Bitcoin, including actually purchasing some cryptocurrency to get one’s feet wet. Additionally, check out Bitcoin forums featured on Reddit, stay current on Blockchain news on Coindesk, and take a glance at some cryptocurrency vlogs on YouTube. Any research you can do, any immersion in the world of cryptocurrency you can manage will be to your advantage.
• Learn about Blockchain Development
  As silly as their names sound, CryptoZombies and Space Doggos are courses that help you learn Solidity Code, which in turn is the code used in writing smart contracts, putting you on the right path to mastering Blockchain development. Space Doggos is particularly useful, as you use actual Solidity code in designing your space dog. These are fun and entertaining ways of getting a grasp on Blockchain’s development, and possibly a bit less intimidating.
• Understanding Different Programming Languages
  A good Blockchain developer needs to be comfortable with a selection of programming languages. For instance, C++, SQL, JavaScript, and Python languages are good examples. If you are already proficient in a couple of them, then great!
• Take Blockchain Developer Courses
  When it comes to acquiring relevant, marketable skills, there’s nothing as good as taking courses through an accredited training provider. Keep reading; there is more about this later.

Transitioning to Blockchain Developer From a Similar Career

Upskilling is the process of teaching an employee new skills. This process is particularly useful when it comes to creating new Blockchain developers from other, similar positions in the business. Some companies, keenly aware of the growing importance of the Blockchain technology, will upskill individual employees, empowering them to handle the new tech.

If you are someone who’s working at a business that pays for your upskilling costs and wants to put you in the position of Blockchain developer, remember that you will be obliged to stay with that company for at least a specific period. After all, businesses aren’t in the habit of paying from employees’ training, only to make them more marketable elsewhere!