A year ago I decided that I wanted to learn more about blockchain and dabble in web3 development. Everybody was talking about Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, smart contracts, and more. I was intrigued by this technology and as a developer and software engineer, I was interested in learning how I can code and develop interesting apps using this technology.

I had read articles, was intrigued by apes going for thousands of dollars, and just didn’t understand what everything meant and how they all came together. Just wrapping my head around the idea that these jpegs are worth a ton of money baffled me, but one of the most important things that drew me to web3 was the concept of decentralization.

The idea that data is no longer owned and controlled by large institutions but instead owned completely by the user was enticing.

I started looking at resources to learn and code in web3. Since I already came from a software engineering background and was very familiar with many programming languages, I was one step ahead, but I was still overwhelmed. I felt it was a different way of thinking through problems when building in web3 vs web2. There are so many chains, layers, tokens, smart contracts… Where do I even start?

My journey started with understanding the fundamentals of blockchain technology. My learning style is always to read about the technology and practice writing code, but I had to understand some basic concepts in crypto, blockchain, and smart contracts.

I happened to come across Professor Gary Gensler’s MIT OpenCourseware course, 15.S12, Fall 2018 Blockchain and Money on YouTube. Professor Gensler is amazing in it! Thoroughly enjoyed his talks, banter, and everything. I started getting a little familiar and comfortable with the terminology and concepts...

I also started constantly consuming more videos on YouTube. Another notable one to mention is A Complete Visual Walkthrough into How Smart Contracts Work, FULL EPISODE with Anders Brownworth

There are countless other resources on YouTube and I have spent many hours every day going through these courses, writing small snippets of code on remix, while just reading through many repos on Github.

I also learned that it was essential for me to choose one area of focus and learn about it very deeply to become familiar with the terminology and core concepts. Ethereum is the most obvious choice here and you can find a large number of resources, a ton of GitHub repositories, and articles around it. This is where I started.

On Ethereum, Solidity is a language used to develop smart contracts and I needed to learn it fast. I spent many hours going through the Solidity docs and OpenZeppelin docs.

Recently, I got a chance to spend some time going through Patrick Collins’s 32-hour course on blockchain Learn Blockchain, Solidity, and Full Stack Web3 Development with JavaScript – 32-Hour Course. Patrick has done a fantastic job breaking down the basics of these core concepts in blockchain development and for most people transitioning from web2 to web3, it is a no-brainer to dive into. The course was thorough and well thought off. I even think it is worth it to go through it a couple of times to thoroughly understand the concepts.

I also found myself spending my mornings reading content on NFTs, Web3, and Blockchain, on Mirror, Substack, and Hashnode. These sites are rich in Web3 content where writers and developers dive deeper into their favorite subjects.

Newsletters like Coindesk, Decrypt, and the Defiant are good places to start to keep up with the latest news in the Blockchain and Crypto world.

And not to forget the podcasts, which I have found to be the maximum utilization of my time. What better way to do my daily chores around the house cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and walking my dog while listening to blockchain-related podcasts? This is the maximum utilization of my time! I will list my favorites in a future blog. Stay tuned!

My journey in learning blockchain, web3, and crypto continues. I learn something new every day and am enjoying every bit of it. It is still a relatively small, but rapidly growing community, but these communities are very helpful. I have seen that developers and technologists are willing to help each other out and encourage everybody to succeed!

A year ago I decided that I wanted to learn more about blockchain and dabble in web3 development. Everybody was talking about Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, smart contracts, and more. I was intrigued by this technology and as a developer and software engineer, I was interested in learning how I can code and develop interesting apps using this technology.

I had read articles, was intrigued by apes going for thousands of dollars, and just didn’t understand what everything meant and how they all came together. Just wrapping my head around the idea that these jpegs are worth a ton of money baffled me, but one of the most important things that drew me to web3 was the concept of decentralization.

The idea that data is no longer owned and controlled by large institutions but instead owned completely by the user was enticing.

I started looking at resources to learn and code in web3. Since I already came from a software engineering background and was very familiar with many programming languages, I was one step ahead, but I was still overwhelmed. I felt it was a different way of thinking through problems when building in web3 vs web2. There are so many chains, layers, tokens, smart contracts… Where do I even start?

My journey started with understanding the fundamentals of blockchain technology. My learning style is always to read about the technology and practice writing code, but I had to understand some basic concepts in crypto, blockchain, and smart contracts.

I happened to come across Professor Gary Gensler’s MIT OpenCourseware course, 15.S12, Fall 2018 Blockchain and Money on YouTube. Professor Gensler is amazing in it! Thoroughly enjoyed his talks, banter, and everything. I started getting a little familiar and comfortable with the terminology and concepts...

I also started constantly consuming more videos on YouTube. Another notable one to mention is A Complete Visual Walkthrough into How Smart Contracts Work, FULL EPISODE with Anders Brownworth

There are countless other resources on YouTube and I have spent many hours every day going through these courses, writing small snippets of code on remix, while just reading through many repos on Github.

I also learned that it was essential for me to choose one area of focus and learn about it very deeply to become familiar with the terminology and core concepts. Ethereum is the most obvious choice here and you can find a large number of resources, a ton of GitHub repositories, and articles around it. This is where I started.

On Ethereum, Solidity is a language used to develop smart contracts and I needed to learn it fast. I spent many hours going through the Solidity docs and OpenZeppelin docs.

Recently, I got a chance to spend some time going through Patrick Collins’s 32-hour course on blockchain Learn Blockchain, Solidity, and Full Stack Web3 Development with JavaScript – 32-Hour Course. Patrick has done a fantastic job breaking down the basics of these core concepts in blockchain development and for most people transitioning from web2 to web3, it is a no-brainer to dive into. The course was thorough and well thought off. I even think it is worth it to go through it a couple of times to thoroughly understand the concepts.

I also found myself spending my mornings reading content on NFTs, Web3, and Blockchain, on Mirror, Substack, and Hashnode. These sites are rich in Web3 content where writers and developers dive deeper into their favorite subjects.

Newsletters like Coindesk, Decrypt, and the Defiant are good places to start to keep up with the latest news in the Blockchain and Crypto world.

And not to forget the podcasts, which I have found to be the maximum utilization of my time. What better way to do my daily chores around the house cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and walking my dog while listening to blockchain-related podcasts? This is the maximum utilization of my time! I will list my favorites in a future blog. Stay tuned!

My journey in learning blockchain, web3, and crypto continues. I learn something new every day and am enjoying every bit of it. It is still a relatively small, but rapidly growing community, but these communities are very helpful. I have seen that developers and technologists are willing to help each other out and encourage everybody to succeed!