We’ve all heard of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. These inventions are based on a technology called the blockchain, which is essentially an encrypted online ledger. In simplest terms, blockchain is decentralized ledger technology that allows users to create a permanent record of transactions. In terms of skills, what do you need to know to become a blockchain engineer?
What is a Blockchain Engineer?
Back in 2008, somebody created a method of using cryptography to prevent the deletion or modification of data in a ledger. Although any data on a computer could certainly be changed, cryptography allows for data that cannot be changed without detection by assigning a digital signature (essentially a huge number) to the data. If anyone changes the data, checking the digital signature would reveal a difference from the expected signature. This makes it nearly impossible to change the data without detection.
Additionally, the creator of this ledger technique found a way to duplicate the entire ledger across multiple computers easily, allowing further protection against changes. This ledger, called a blockchain, was then used for the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Every Bitcoin transaction since its creation has been recorded in this ledger.
After the creation of the original blockchain, people came up with enhancements and alternative cryptocurrencies. Aside from Bitcoin, the most popular one today is Ethereum. You can build apps that make use of Etherium and store your own data, called tokens, in the Ethereum blockchain.
This is what blockchain engineers do: they create software and apps, typically financial apps, that store data in a blockchain. Etherium isn’t the only one, though; Solana is another, which is both a blockchain and a cryptocurrency. Amazon Web Services also has a hosted blockchain in their cloud called Amazon Managed Blockchain.
There’s a nuance here: some blockchain developers build applications that make use of a blockchain, known as decentralized apps (DApps); they’re different from the software developers who build the blockchains themselves.
What Skills Do You Need to Become a Blockchain Engineer?
A blockchain engineer needs to learn a varying set of skills before entering the profession, focusing on finance, software development, and blockchain concepts:
- Finance: Although blockchains are usually associated with cryptocurrency, they can also be used to store information related to conventional currency, and as such are an important part of today’s financial industry. For example, banks can use blockchain technology to securely store customer ledgers and enjoy the same benefits of cryptocurrency, including the inability to change the data without detection. Ledgers like this are useful throughout the entire finance industry. That means you’ll want to learn as much about finance as you can, including pricing models and risk assessment. Plan to stay abreast with the latest developments in blockchain applications especially within the finance industry.
- Programming Languages: At the core, a blockchain engineer is a software developer. That means you’ll need to master programming in various languages, including JavaScript, Python, and Go. These are the most common programming languages that make use of Ethereum and other blockchains. Frameworks exist for other languages, but you’ll want to start here. Start with one language, such as Python, and after you’re fluent, learn JavaScript and finally Go. (For JavaScript, learn both backend programming with node.js, as well as front-end programming.)
- Front-end technologies: This refers to apps that run inside the browser. This is a good place to learn JavaScript, as that’s the language browsers use. Additionally, learn front-end programming frameworks; again, pick one to master, and then become familiar with the others. The current big three are:
- General blockchain technology: While you don’t need to be able to create your own blockchain, you need to be intimately familiar with all aspects of how it works and how to use it:
- Smart contracts: These are items of code that live in a token and can be executed. They have their own programming language. In other words, with smart contracts, you can create software inside the blockchain itself. This is an important part of blockchain engineering and development. Learn now only how to do this, but when and why. By exploring the “why” you’ll begin to fully grasp how the entire blockchain infrastructure functions.
- Different token standards: In Ethereum there are different standards for tokens and contracts. The main ones to learn are ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-777, and ERC-1155.
- Decentralization concepts. We mentioned that blockchains are replicated across multiple computers. Further, there’s no central “official” computer running a blockchain. As such, they call this technology decentralized. This works well, but can get a bit complicated and messy, which is why it’s important to master the concepts.
- Other Blockchains. Ethereum is the most popular, but not the only blockchain used. Solana is another popular one. (Pro-tip: Learn and master Ethereum first, as it’s the most popular. Then you’ll be able to easily pick up others such as Solana.)
- Blockchain software development tools
- Solidity: This is the name of the language you use for developing the small apps that run inside Ethereum smart contracts. (It’s similar to JavaScript.) You can get started with Solidity and the entire Ethereum ecosystem here.
- Web3.js: This is a tool for creating apps that make use of Ethereum.
- Hyperledger: This is a Linux Foundation project that brings together tools for developing distributed ledgers.
- Other Blockchain contract languages: For example, Solana uses the Rust programming language, which is a general purpose programming language.
You’ll also need to learn additional technologies such as:
- Networking and distributed systems: Blockchains operate across large networks, and understanding the concepts here is vital to creating successful software that uses blockchain technologies.
- Cloud platforms: Focus on AWS at first, including the different services for managing and running containers. Also learn about the different blockchains the cloud providers include (called “blockchain as a service”) and how to write code that makes use of them. (Amazon has one, previously mentioned. Google and Azure do not; however, IBM and Oracle both offer cloud services that include blockchains.)
- Docker: This is the most popular container technology and it’s used extensively in cloud development in general, as well as blockchain apps.
- Web3: Right now, this is more of a buzzword than an actual technology. But it essentially refers to the collection of decentralized applications and blockchain technologies. In the next year or so, this concept will likely become more solidified; as such, you’ll want to pay close attention to it.
Pro tip: In your searches, you might find a mention of a tool called “Truffle Suite” that helps you write code that interacts with Ethereum. Unfortunately, this tool has been discontinued. It’s possible some companies hiring blockchain engineers still use it; however, you probably don’t want to spend time learning it.
Do You Need a Degree to Become a Blockchain Engineer?
Although it’s certainly possible to become a blockchain engineer without a degree, you’ll have much better chances of landing a job with at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, math, or finance. (If you go the math or finance route, you’ll want to make sure you take plenty of computer programming courses.)
Most universities do not offer degrees specifically in blockchain technology, and many might not even have any courses in it. That means you’ll need to add on to your degree by either self-study or through a bootcamp.
Conclusion
Blockchain is one of the biggest achievements in software development in the past two decades. In the next several years we’re certainly going to see a boom of blockchain engineer and developer positions, even if the cryptocurrency market keeps fluctuating; as a technology, the blockchain itself has a lot of potential for everything from gaming to finance. This is an exciting time to enter a field that is going to continue to grow and now is the perfect time to embark on a journey of learning and mastering blockchain technology.
