5 Hard Skills You Need To Know To Become A Blockchain Developer

Key takeaways

Blockchain technology is gaining traction in the corporate world, moving beyond its cryptocurrency associations.
Understanding blockchain architecture is crucial for optimising its functionality and requires knowledge of consensus mechanisms and distributed ledgers.
Cryptography plays a vital role in blockchain, with specific standards and principles essential for network security and consensus.
Proficiency in data structures is necessary, as blockchains are advanced iterations of distributed databases.

Blockchain has been categorized as one of the most disruptive technologies in recent times. After breaking away from the negative associations of cryptocurrency, the technology is now being adopted by corporates all over the world. For developers looking to capitalize on the wave of blockchain development, the time is now. New devs will be able to ride the wave of adoption, with blockchain developers as a whole being in short supply for the corporate market. Here are 5 hard skills you can learn to get started with developing on the blockchain.

Blockchain Architecture

The blockchain is a relatively new idea in computer science, with advancements still being made in the field. This is why it is necessary to learn how blockchains work completely, so that optimizations can be made. Under this umbrella fall skills such as creating a consensus mechanism, operating a distributed ledger and knowing the associated infrastructure. This is due to the fact that a blockchain cannot exist on its own and requires a healthy accompanying infrastructure to function smoothly.

Cryptography

Blockchains have a lot of background in cryptography. Cryptocurrencies derived their name from this part of the blockchain. The cryptographic principles used in the blockchain are different in execution from those in traditional settings. Cryptographic hash functions are a big part of making the blockchain function smoothly. In some types of blockchains, cryptography is a mission-critical component for consensus. In others, it is a means of securing a network. Cryptography standards such as SHA256 and KECCAK256 are widely used in the blockchain setting. There is also the requirement of understanding asynchronous cryptography and digital sig generation.

Data Structures

Blockchains, at their base, are a more advanced version of distributed databases. This means that anyone wishing to develop for or on the blockchain are required to have an in-depth understanding of data structures. The various kinds of data structures applied on blockchains include stacks, queues, trees and hashmaps. The developer must also know how to tweak existing data structure infrastructures to make the most of efficiency. This, along with cryptography, is one of the most important parts of building a blockchain. Moreover, owing to the decentralized nature of the chain, knowledge of data structures is a mission-critical skill.

Solidity And Truffle

Solidity is Ethereum's native language for writing smart contracts or 'blockcode' as they are known. It is known for being a difficult language to learn, and is important for developing decentralized applications or sidechains. Truffle is a framework which is highly popular on the Ethereum blockchain. When used in conjunction with Solidity, it provides a highly efficient and powerful way to develop on the blockchain. These two tools are essential for any blockchain developer, as many companies focus on developing applications on Ethereum or an Ethereum sidechain. In addition to this, prominent coding languages like Python or Java are also used.

Web Development

Even as blockchains are largely database and cryptography based tasks, the development of a frontend is also required in order to access the service provided by the decentralized application. This includes creating GUIs, handling API calls, request handling, designing a smooth user experience and more. Knowledge of languages like HTML, Javascript and CSS is also required for this skill.