To Become a Blockchain Engineer, You Need These 5 Skills
Developing blockchain developer abilities
takes time, effort, and patience. You must not only be knowledgeable about many
technological areas, but you must also be willing to learn how to work with new
technologies as they emerge.
Blockchain developers frequently
create novel things that have never existed before, which necessitates creative
thinking and problem-solving abilities. Before diving into this article, be
sure to read our guide on how to become a blockchain developer.
- Experience with software development
- Experience with open-source technologies; building, designing, testing, and deploying APIs
- comprehension of data structures and algorithms.
- Understanding of C++, Golang, Java, or other protocol development languages.
- Smart contract comprehension.
- Knowledge of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.
- Understand public key cryptography.
Top 5 Needed Skills for Blockchain Development Jobs
The five blockchain developer
skills listed below are usually recognized as essential for launching a career
in blockchain development. It's important to note that there are many more
skills you'll need to acquire, but this is a great place to start! We'll look
at a few intangible talents required to flourish in this industry towards the
end of this book.
1) Previous Software Development Experience
Most developers that enter the
blockchain field have prior software development experience. Initially, this
was the industry standard because blockchain technology was complex and still
in its early stages.
Now that blockchain technology has
been around for more than a decade, we are seeing more engineers begin their
careers in this discipline rather than in more traditional tech fields.
Make no mistake, however, software
development experience of some kind is extremely valuable. Intense instruction,
such as that provided by university computer engineering courses or immersive
study groups, is advantageous.
Even simple web or mobile apps that
do not involve blockchain technology are required for learning developer best practices.
2) APIs stands for Application Programming Interface (APIs)
An application programming interface
(APIs) connects numerous end-user programs.
APIs are common in the IT sector
nowadays and are frequently utilized in online and mobile applications. When
you shop online, for example, an API sends a request to a server that contains
the essential data and returns the result to your device.
APIs are a method of directly or
indirectly connecting a blockchain node or a client network. Many
cryptocurrency exchanges, for example, offer APIs to make it simple to access
real-time trade data.
APIs are also used to collect
information about cryptocurrency transactions, account or wallet
administration, analytics, and security.
While many APIs are only available
as a subscription service, there are a plethora of open-source APIs.
You'll need to know how to connect
current APIs to your blockchain applications as a blockchain developer.
It's also likely that you'll write
your APIs for other developers who wish to use the technologies you're
developing.
3) Fundamental Blockchain Development
Core blockchain development, also
known as protocol-level development, is primarily concerned with the creation
of blockchain protocols, mechanisms for blockchain consensus, network design,
and peer-to-peer network security mechanisms.
Some blockchain networks use C++,
Golang, and Java as programming languages. Satoshi Nakamoto built the Bitcoin
Core code in C++. Many Bitcoin forks, such as Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, have
continued to modify the original Core C++ codebase to satisfy the needs of
their development groups and users.
With the advent of smart contract
platforms and open-source technology, it may appear that core blockchain
development is becoming less vital, but this is not the case. Blockchain
network cores are always being improved.
Furthermore, with the growth of
third-generation blockchains such as Cosmos, Solana, and others, as well as discussions
of developing fourth-generation blockchains, core blockchain development may be
more valuable now than ever before.
4) Intelligent Contracts
If the protocol is the foundation of
the blockchain, the remainder of the structure is a smart contract. A smart
contract is a contract that executes itself on a blockchain. An ERC-20 token
smart contract is the most common example nowadays.
Solidity is a blockchain programming
language that is mostly used with Ethereum. Assume you want to create a decentralized
application (dApp) that allows users to rapidly and simply generate tokens on a
blockchain.
ERC-20 tokens can then be listed on
IDOs, traded on DEXs, and sent/received in crypto wallets that support them.
Smart contracts, in addition to asset generation, serve as the foundation for
the expansion of new blockchain use cases.
Assume you wish to create a decentralized
app for a trading protocol, lending/borrowing platform, or perhaps a gaming
game. The application's rules are based on the execution of some form of smart
contract technology.
Although Ethereum popularized smart
contracts, it is far from the sole blockchain platform that supports them.
Developers can also use Avalanche, Qtum, Binance Smart Chain, and other
protocols to create sophisticated apps driven by smart contracts.
5) Data Structures and Algorithms
The most important aspect of
blockchain technology is algorithms. In a nutshell, algorithms are the rules or
circumstances that govern how a blockchain operates.
Consensus algorithms, also known as
consensus mechanisms, are critical because they validate digital signatures,
confirm balances, evaluate the validity of a block, and determine how a block
is formed, among other things. Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, and Delegated
Proof of Stake are popular examples.
Mining algorithms such as SHA-256,
Scrypt, and Equihash are another form of algorithm that plays an important part
in security for Proof of Work blockchains. Nowadays, blockchain networks use
cryptocurrency mining to power transactions worth trillions of dollars.