Skills Needed To Become A Blockchain Developer

But what's with "blocks"?

A blockchain consists of blocks - each containing a transactional data unit. The blocks are stored sequentially and linked together by cryptographic hash. The hashing process makes it difficult to change a block's data once it has been added to the chain, which results in a highly secure and unchangeable system.

Getting its start with Bitcoin, blockchain is increasingly proliferating into industries like banking, healthcare, education, telecommunications, retail, energy, and financial services. Global giants like Oracle, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft are also recognizing and promoting the benefits of blockchain. IBM is leading the way and has equipped supply chain networks with blockchain technology. Laying the groundwork for revolutionary development in specialized and advanced sectors, blockchain has resulted in a slew of new work prospects for techies and programmers. Companies need qualified and skilled blockchain developers to build their networks and applications. Let's get an in-depth understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and skills required to be a specialized blockchain developer.

1. Blockchain Architecture Skills

Blockchain architecture is central and critical to comprehend. Blockchain developers should thoroughly understand how blockchain works and the basis of the architecture. They should be proficient in cryptography, consensus, distributed ledgers, hash functions, smart contracts, and other concepts central to understanding blockchain's core workings. Developers should also be well-versed in the four types of blockchain architecture: public, private, consortium, and hybrid.

• A public blockchain architecture ensures everyone who wishes to be involved can access the information and use the platform (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum systems are public). The complete information is accessible to people in a public blockchain, meaning anyone can participate in the entry process. However, it is inefficient because it takes a long time for each additional entry to be accepted into the blockchain infrastructure. 
• Private blockchain architecture is managed only by members from a single business or approved clients who have been invited to participate. Since it is managed by only one organization, it is exclusive and has more anonymity. A private blockchain is more centralized, whereas a public blockchain is open-ended and decentralized. 

• The consortium architecture is not decentralized, and all network participants have complete control over it. As a result, it is appropriate for use cases involving multi-organizational groupings. 
• Hybrid architecture, or the best of both worlds, combines public and private blockchains. A blockchain revolution allows organizations to create a private permission system alongside a permissionless public system. Transactions are not accessible to everybody in such blockchains but can be made public for verification purposes. It is critical to note that even though a single entity owns the hybrid blockchain, it still cannot be altered by that organization. 

2. Data Structure Skills

A blockchain network consists of data structures and is the primary skill a blockchain programmer or developer should have. Each block is considered a data structure that clusters transactions for the public ledger. Blockchain developers must frequently work with data structures and understand how the blockchain network uses them. Blockchain developers should also be familiar with various data structures, such as graphs, heaps, hash, Patricia and Merkle trees. 

3. Smart Contracts Skills

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts enabling two parties to exchange goods and services without an intermediate entity. Smart contracts have become essential to blockchain implementations, and developers should thoroughly understand what they are and how they administer and support the business rationale. The decentralized structure of blockchain adds to the productivity of smart contracts.

Developers who want to make a career in blockchain development should know intelligent contracts and their relevance in business. Blockchain developers should also be well-versed in the programming languages commonly used for smart contracts, such as Chaincode, Viper, and Solidity. Solidity is the best introduction to the blockchain world, and JanBask Training provides the perfect platform for aspiring developers.  

4. Cryptography Skills

Cryptography is a method used to design processes and algorithms to prevent a foreign entity from decoding, reading, and learning content from personal messages throughout a communication session. Effective cryptography is essential to providing a secure blockchain environment, and developers should have a solid foundation in cryptographic concepts and practices, including keys, wallets, and digital signatures.

A wallet is essential for any cryptocurrency transaction. Every wallet has a key, which indicates the wallet's owner. Also, encoding digital security measures, such as block ciphers, message integrity, and authenticated encryption is an essential skill to master. With computers becoming smarter and more sophisticated, cryptography is predicted to gain relevance as one of the top blockchain developer skills in demand.

5. Programming, Programming Languages, and Web Development Skills

Knowing how to create a set of instructions for an application to follow are essential to a developer's toolkit. Because of the emergence of cybersecurity, developers should learn how to write hack-proof code. Learning Java, C++, Solidity, and Python, the most commonly used languages in creating blockchain domains, is an excellent place to start with. You can enroll yourself in Python learning and certification to get started now. Also, a bonus is languages like JavaScript, Scala, Simplicity, Ruby, Go, Rholang, Rust, and PHP.

Blockchain and web development are hand-in-glove, especially with blockchain emphasizing decentralized applications. Blockchain developers should be well-versed in web development and its features. Since they spend a significant amount of their time on web apps, they will need to learn about web development and designing, programming apps, and more. In-depth knowledge and understanding of web development best practices will help you create compelling apps faster. Since most companies hire blockchain developers for web and app development projects, thorough design knowledge of developing web applications, understanding the tools and technologies that support them, and what it takes to optimize and secure them are fundamental to web developers.

6. Blockchain Interoperability Skills

Blockchain interoperability allows different blockchain protocols to communicate actively with each other. Therefore, different chains can interact and share data, making it easier to use different blockchain networks. Let's consider the familiar analogy of emails. We send emails every day, and one of the essential functions of all email systems is someone with an Outlook account can send emails to someone with a Gmail account.

One of the most fundamental ways to accomplish interoperability between blockchains is to make data capacity transfers seamless and more effortless. Blockchain interoperability is accomplished by using application programming interfaces (APIs), which are developed to accommodate information to be exchanged with each other. Newer projects are slowly buying the idea as they try to build platforms that can communicate with each other without the interference of a third party.

 

Blockchain interoperability should go a long way in eliminating intermediaries or third parties synonymous with centralized systems. The ability of different decentralized networks to communicate with one another without any intermediaries should thus go a long way in giving a push to fully decentralized systems. Many developers are already working on optimal solutions with the ever-growing need to enhance the connection between various blockchain networks. The number of blockchain interoperability projects is on the rise as a result as blockchain developers look to accelerate blockchain mass adoption.

Polkadot blockchain, Blocknet, Aion Online, Wanchain, and Cosmos Blockchain are some of the top blockchain developer course projects looking to enhance blockchain interoperability.

If you are an aspiring blockchain developer and don’t know where to start, enroll at JanBask Training or join a demo class. You can also talk to one of our counselors for guidance.