Initially, most people transitioned into the crypto space because of the vast financial opportunities. To some, they missed an opportunity to buy a token at its early, while others are looking for a chance to grow their salary base, or see an opportunity for a killer app. There's no shame in that! But we do hope you come for the money and stay for the paradigm shift as well.
Blockchain promises to upend the current top-down information systems in our world. Currently, most users of the internet surrender their personal data to centralized databases and services.
To achieve this paradigm shift, blockchain relies fundamentally on two fields of computer science: Distributed Computing{target=_blank} and Cryptography{target=_blank}. We will cover these topics in the first section of the course.
This paradigm shift requires changes from the developer and the user. In the next section of the course, we'll go over what the protocol-layer changes of blockchain mean for you as a developer. We'll then introduce you to Solidity, the language for developing smart contracts, as well as the tools you'll need to build. We'll also discuss the changes for the user, including how requiring private key signatures dramatically changes user workflow.
While there's enormous promise with blockchain development, it requires an awareness of the paradigm shift and an expertise in the fundamental concepts underpinning it. Otherwise, we are inevitably going to recreate the same, centralized monolith we have today.
- Things That Matter Outside DeFi (Vitalik Buterin){target=_blank}
- Y Combinator: Building for the Blockchain (2017){target=_blank} Dated but interesting!
- Why It's Hard to "Get" Bitcoin: The Blockchain Spectrum{target=_blank}
- The Promise of Blockchain: Vinay Gupta{target=_blank}
- Cryptocurrencies (Last Week Tonight){target=_blank}