Blockchain technology has revolutionised the way we store and transfer data, making it a popular field to work in. As blockchain technology continues to evolve, there is also an increasing demand for blockchain developers who have the skills to create innovative services, work with smart contracts, and build applications leveraging the capabilities of blockchain.
If you are interested in becoming a blockchain developer, this article will guide you on how to learn blockchain development and the skills you need to acquire. The Bitcoin SV Academy and its courses are also great resources to help understand the disruptive potential of a truly scalable blockchain.
What is blockchain?
Before we dive into how to become a blockchain developer, let's first understand what blockchain is.
In 1991, Stuart Haber and W Scott Stornetta described a cryptographically secured chain of blocks for the first time in the Journal of Cryptology with an article titled, 'How to time-stamp a digital document'. It took until 2008 for someone to propose a working model for such a blockchain with Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper.
As defined by Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper, blockchain is a digital ledger which records transactions securely and transparently. It facilitates peer-to-peer transactions between different entities, and the white paper explicitly mentions business use cases.
This business aspect has been overshadowed in the past in favour of anti-state and anti-bank narratives. However, business, which requires regulation and legal compliance, is central to the impact of blockchain technology today.
Blockchain technology has a wide range of applications, from digital currencies to supply chain management and healthcare, making development in this area a much sought-after skill. If you are interested in the entrepreneurial aspects and enterprise applications of blockchain, we recommend the business course stream of the Bitcoin SV Academy.
Why you should build on the Bitcoin SV blockchain
The Bitcoin SV blockchain is unique regarding its on-chain scalability, which allows for micro- and nano-transactions at a fraction of a cent, massive on-chain data storage and true peer-to-peer data transfers and communication.
Similar to the Internet, which offers more and more added value and usefulness by allowing everything and everyone to connect to it, this is also the case with blockchains. Therefore, the most valuable blockchain is the one that can leverage the most transactions at the cheapest cost, allowing for true peer-to-peer communication and unlimited on-chain scalability.
So far, there is no better solution to leverage the full potential of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system than what Satoshi Nakamoto outlined in his white paper. No other blockchain has implemented the model described in the white paper more truly than Bitcoin SV. Thus, the Bitcoin SV blockchain is the most suited to become a universally accepted infrastructure for all purposes that benefit from utilising a blockchain.
Skills needed to become a blockchain developer
Blockchain development is a specialisation in the field of development. This means that those who seek to become blockchain developers must first acquire basic developer skills. Ideally, you should have a strong foundation in computer science, programming, and mathematics, before further specialising in blockchain development.
Proficiency in some programming languages like C++, Java, Python or Solidity is a must. You can take online courses or attend programming boot camps to learn the basics.
If you are looking at taking the Bitcoin SV Academy’s introduction to Development course, you should be able to make sense of the code snippets. As most of the tools are in JavaScript, it would be helpful to know some Java. But the course is written in such a way that you should be able to make sense of the concepts without knowing JavaScript or node/js. The focus is to explain concepts and usage more than writing code in this course.
If you already have the basic skills for blockchain development, the course will set you off on a trajectory of mastery.
How to learn blockchain development
For those interested in building applications on the Bitcoin SV blockchain, the BSV Academy recommends a specialised blockchain development course stream consisting of four individual courses, which in total should take about 24 hours to complete.
The Bitcoin Theory course is a beginner-level introduction to the fundamental concepts behind the design of Bitcoin, as prescribed by its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin Development course offers a deeper dive into the skills and concepts needed to build successful applications with Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Basics: Protocol and Design course provides a foundation of terminology and concepts used in Bitcoin. Finally, the Bitcoin Primitives: Digital Signatures course covers the fundamental building blocks of the Bitcoin protocol – digital signature schemes.
Completing these courses can provide students with valuable insights and knowledge to understand and leverage the power of Bitcoin, regardless of their experience level. Additionally, certificates of completion are available to showcase mastery of each course, which can be useful when pursuing job opportunities or clients in the Bitcoin space.
