How to Become a BlockChain Developer Tutorial: Perfect Guide [STEP-IN]

Last updated on 08th Jul 2020, Blog, Tutorials

Who is a Blockchain Developer?

In the past few years, I’ve actually been asked this question on numerous occasions as to “who exactly is a blockchain developer and what kind of development is he concerned with?” Well, I guess it’s easy to get confused, with so many types of developers out there in the industry. So let’s remove this confusion by actually defining a blockchain developer.Basically, any developer that is involved in the development of blockchain technology can be tagged as a blockchain developer. Now blockchain developers can be classified into two distinct types. Let’s take a moment to discuss both these types.

Core Blockchain Developer

As discussed earlier, a core blockchain developer is generally involved in the design, architecture, and security of a blockchain system. In brief, their roles include the following:

• Design of blockchain protocols
• Design of consensus protocols and security patterns for the network
• Design of the network architecture
• Supervision of the entire network

Blockchain Software Developer

Blockchain Software Developers have a separate set of roles. These roles have nothing to do with consensus design or architecture of the system. Much like how a normal web developer uses the protocols and design structure set up by a core web architect to build web apps, blockchain software developers build decentralized applications or Dapps using blockchain technology. Their roles include:

• Development of Smart Contracts
• Development of interactive front-end designs for Dapps
• Backend development pertaining to Blockchain
• Supervision of the entire stack running their Dapps

Now that, I’ve told you guys about the different types of blockchain developers and their respective roles, let me tell you guys about the technical knowledge and skills required for you to bootstrap your career as a blockchain developer.

Prerequisite Skills Required to be a Blockchain Developer

Fundamental skill and Knowledge in Technical Field

There are a few skills that one should learn to become a blockchain developer. An individual should have a good knowledge of Information technologies, Information security, and computer science. The basic understanding of an aspiring blockchain developer should be clear in distributed systems, networking, cryptography and data structures.

• Distributed systems and Networking
  Blockchain is a distributed ledger that works across the network, and an individual should know how the network and distributed system works. A good understanding of how peer to peer networks work is a must. It helps in creating a good foundation in the network of computers which can range from routing to topologies of the network.
  All the connected computers are used for processing in the Blockchain. Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus is an essential key feature in the security of the Blockchain that one should understand. Just a basic understanding of the working and the basic concept will be enough for a beginner to start.

• Cryptography
  The foundation of Blockchain is cryptography and from where the name of the cryptocurrency originated. Hash functions and digital signatures are created by using the public-key cryptography in the Bitcoin blockchain. A good background in mathematics skills can also help in the field of Blockchain for a developer. Block Ciphers, Message Integrity, and Authenticated Encryption are few concepts that one should have a clear understanding. Payments are secured on e-commerce sites by Hash Function.

• Data Structures
  One should also understand the data structure to learn about the complex nature of Blockchain. In the Blockchain, the data is stored in the form of blocks and not in the form of tables. Databases are replicated across the whole network, which is called distributed ledger. The integrity of data in the blocks is maintained by using cryptography.
  A blockchain developer should know how Data Structures work such as linked lists, graphs, hash maps, search trees and many more. The skill of building the data structure from scratch is also essential for the blockchain developer. Knowledge of programming languages like C++, C-Sharp, C, Scala, Java, Python is also required. An individual can learn all the necessary knowledge about algorithms and data structures from the repository on GitHub.

• Cryptonomic Understanding
  A good blockchain developer should have a good understanding of the fundamentals of Blockchain. Cryptonomic is a word that is a mix of Cryptocurrency and Economics. Cryptocurrencies are affected by the valuation of currency and many monetary policies. One can also learn about the game theory to be more explicit about the working of cryptocurrency in the market and its valuation.
  It will help one to understand how cryptocurrencies are kept in check without being monitored by any central bank. An individual should learn how the economic structure is working around the cryptocurrency.

Smart Contracts

The smart contracts are the programs which help in automating the transactions. It helps in increasing the capabilities of Blockchain without any need of middlemen or lawyers to settle the deal. The smarts contracts are made with specific conditions or in particular situations.

When these particular situations or conditions are met, then the transaction will be automatically processed when required. Currently, Auditing and optimizing of smart contracts cannot be done by many developers. A developer should be very well aware of all possibilities of execution of a smart contract. He should be able to ensure that smart contracts are only executed when it is expected.

Decentralized Applications

There are some decentralized applications (DApp) that are built on blockchains. There are various platforms for a blockchain developer to build a DApp. Here are some of the popular Decentralized Applications:

• Hyperledger: The main goal of Hyper ledger is to develop technologies in the cross-industry Block chain using an open-source collaborative platform.
• EOS: The main goal of the EOS block chain is to support industrial-scale applications. It is a decentralized operating system that has more scalability and higher transaction speed such as Ethereum.
• NEO: Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang founded Antshares in 2014, which was renamed NEO in 2017. NEO is not limited to one language, unlike Ethereum. A beginner can use Various programming languages such as Java and C# can be used to build DApps on NEO. It will work as a platform for digital businesses in the future.
• Ethereum: In 2015, Vitalik Buterin created Ethereum, which is currently the most popular platform for development. The Ethereum is fueled by the cryptocurrency called Ether. The language used in the Ethereum is called Solidity. Solidity is a smart-contract oriented language. Robustness is similar to a programming language like JavaScript and C++.

Learn to Simplify

A blockchain developer should be able to innovate using the design thinking methodology. Blockchain is used to simplify the processes in the business, which helps in driving outcomes of companies.

Understand Blockchain Security

A developer in Blockchain should have security skills like elliptic curve digital signatures, Merkle proofs, cryptographic hashing, private key, and public-key cryptography and many more. Frameworks in security are getting evolved for regulatory needs, legal needs, and compliance needs.

Know the Platforms

There are multiple frameworks in Blockchain and learning all of them can create confusion. One should know how to select the right blockchain platform for particular cases. Different blockchain platforms such as R3 Corda, Ripple, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric are some of the excellent blockchain platforms that a beginner can start to learn about.

Distributed ledger expertise

A developer should be an expert to build distributed ledger technology. It will help in accelerating the development of smart contracts.

Master of Interoperability

The mindset of blockchain developers should be open source because there is a risk of deployment in various technology platforms of interconnecting ledgers. Business outcomes can be driven, and latency is reduced by integrating with systems of an enterprise.

Embracing Blockchain Expertise as a Service

During the formation of the consortium, skills of negotiation and collaboration are critical. Blockchain as a Service is a new latest thing in the market that a blockchain developer should be able to take benefits from.

Learning to Drive Business Outcomes

A developer needs to understand the result expected by a business. One should build direct connections and explore data flow between customers, suppliers and trading partners across the ecosystem.

Blockchain Developer Salary

We are currently living through the early years of the “blockchain era.” The demand for blockchain developers and engineers keeps on increasing without pause. The numbers don’t lie and they are truly staggering. According to research done by management consulting firm, Janco Associates, the median salary for a blockchain developer is now as much as $127,000. Experienced developers can command as much as a staggering $172,000. In the future, as the demand rises, these numbers are going to rise as well.

Indeed.com, one of the biggest job portals in the world, published some interesting statistics regarding the rise of Blockchain jobs. It looks like the number of blockchain jobs increased from December 2016 to December 2017 by a staggering 207%. But that’s not the end of it. According to the stats, this number has increased by, a scarcely believable 631% since November 2015.

Cryptocurrency was such a hot topic in 2017, that 15 of the 18 more popular industry jobs specifically mentioned “cryptocurrency” in the description.

Showing how hot cryptocurrency has become in 2017 after being generally overshadowed by blockchain in 2016, 15 out of the 18 most popular industry jobs specifically mentioned “cryptocurrency” in the description.

Because of this rapid surge of interest, the biggest industries are desperately looking for high-quality talent in a field which, as of now, is extremely limited. In fact, this was pointed out by Vice president of product at Indeed.com, Terence Chiu, when he told CoinDesk:

“While the number of opportunities and searches are still quite small, Indeed data shows that companies are increasingly seeking experts to focus on this new technology – and job seekers have been quick to react.”

Obviously, the hottest job in this space is for blockchain developers and that is exactly what we are going to focus on here today. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

Blockchain Developer Salary: “Complete Beginner”

• Description: “Complete beginner”
• Experience: 0 years software experience, 0-1 years blockchain
• Salary: ~$110,000 per year

Blockchain Developer Salary: “New Developer”

• Description: “New developer, new to blockchain”
• Experience: 1-2 years software experience, 0-1 years blockchain
• Salary: ~$120,000 per year

Blockchain Developer Salary: “Experienced Developer”

• Description: “Experienced developer, new to blockchain”
• Experience: 2-4 years software experience, 0-1 years blockchain
• Salary: ~$124,000 per year

Blockchain Developer Salary: “Advanced Developer”

• Description: “Advanced developer, new to blockchain”
• Experience: 2-4 years software experience, 0-1 years blockchain
• Salary: ~$143,000 per year

Blockchain Developer Salary: “Blockchain Master”

• Description: “Blockchain Master”
• Experience: 6-10 years software experience, 2-4 years blockchain
• Salary: ~$153,000 per year

Conclusion

As we can see how the Block chain has grown so much in just a few years, no one can deny that the Block chain is the best technology that many industries will be based on in the future. The skills required to become a block chain developer ranges from understanding technical knowledge to study fundamentals of working of cryptocurrency and block chain structures.

Many large companies have already started using the applications of Block chain in their businesses and reaping its benefits. After almost a decade later, many products and services will be based on block chain technology only, and it is the right time for anyone to begin their career as a block chain developer.

There is a rise in careers in block chain technology and block chain has tremendously changed the very face of the technology industry forever.