Programming with Crypto: 4 Languages to Learn the Fundamentals

When talking about Blockchain technology people will mostly relate this to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. Theoretically, they are right and this new technology wave started all with Bitcoin which is an online digital currency. Currently, this new online invention called Blockchain is almost a decade old. As a result of this, the demand for technical people with knowledge of a programming language is growing exponentially. With this rising demand in digital talented people also comes with a new opportunity for Blockchain education. For example: What are the programming languages used for Blockchain technology?

Growth of Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain projects

Before we dive more into the programming languages used for Blockchain, some history on cryptocurrency first. With the growth of cryptocurrencies, the number of blockchain projects is on the rise as well. As a result of this, the demand for experts in this kind of technology is growing and can’t meet the supply. To be part of this new technology wave it’s very smart to start some sort of Blockchain education as fast as possible.

Blockchain technology will be part of our future and Blockchain education or study programs are part of this future also. According to Upwork, which is an online job seekers platform, recently posted that Blockchain is the no.1 fastest-growing skill in the online technical market.

Bitcoin and Blockchain: How it all started

First, let’s go back in time to 2009. At that time, Bitcoin was born by its creator Satoshi Nakamoto and is the first distributed Blockchain network on this planet. This newly-born technology is considered revolutionary and quickly gained a lot of followers and enthusiasts. What makes Blockchain unique?

Blockchain allows digital information to be distributed but not copied, over the internet. In this case, it uses Bitcoin, a form of digital money, to be transferred over the online web. A blockchain uses blocks of data which are called a chain. These blocks are part of a distributed network of computers. The data is secured by cryptographic principles and are related to each other. When data is added to a block, a timestamp occurs and the record cannot be changed anymore.

This doesn’t sound very spectacular but still, this technology has some disrupting possibilities. First, it has no central owner and is thereby a democratic system. Second, it has transparency and the information added to the ledger can be seen by anyone who is interested in it. These two properties make this technology so unique and are the main reason why people trust this technology.

Programming with Crypto: What are the basic skills needed?

So if you still want to be part of this exciting technology(and why not), there are some basic skills which will help you making progress fast. A bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering to start with. Additionally, other such qualification or experience in the technical environment is the foremost requirement to get into the blockchain market. This will sharpen your technical skills and help you to easily understand and work in the fast world of technologies and tools.

The fundamentals of Blockchain technology

Secondly, it’s important that you know more about Blockchain technology in general like Dapps, smart contracts, distributed networks, and cryptocurrency. It’s a pre if you already own some crypto and are familiar with using it. Also, it’s recommendable to have an interest in business education or something related. As a matter of fact, this scene is quite entrepreneurial and there is a big chance your first job will be at a Blockchain start-up.

Like I already explained, this Blockchain world is quite ‘techie’. To be part of this you must have some kind of interest related to this technology. So as a result, if you are feeling overwhelmed by this ‘tech-speak’; don’t be! Next in this article, I will give you the basic resources and programming languages used for crypto. Also, these programming languages will give you a head start in Blockchain education.

Programming with Crypto: What are the most popular languages?

C++

Let’s start with the granddaddy of all programming languages, which is C++. Bitcoin Core, which is the common and mostly used Bitcoin client, also was build in C++.

C++ was created by Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C language. The C++ language was designed to have the flexibility and efficiency of the C but with some major differences. The biggest difference between C and C++ is that while C is process-oriented, C++ is object-oriented.

Object-oriented means that, in C++, the data and functions are wrapped into one neat little package called “objects”. As a result of this and once an object is created, it can easily be called and reused in other programs. This reusability comes with a great benefit: reduction of coding time. Nowadays similar programming languages like Java and C#.Net are using this sample principle. These so-called objects are related to each other and are part of a bigger data-model. Below a simple class object written in C++:

Javascript

The next popular language on the online web today is Javascript and could be very handy in your Blockchain education. Especially if you are a starter in programming than it’s very wise to learn the basics of this language first.

Along with HTML and CSS, Javascript is one of the three core technologies in World Wide Web Content Production. Javascript is usually used to create highly interactive webpages. Furthermore, the Bi-annual Developer Economics survey by SlashData says that JavaScript is the most popular programming language and used by 9.2 million programmers globally.

Something to know

If you are new to programming and lack of experience these books will guide you the way. BitDegree is a trusted resource in Blockchain education. Below books related to this article:

C++ Template Tutorial: the Beginners Guide

Javascript basics

Python Course: Become a Highly In-demand Programmer

Learn Solidity: The Ultimate Solidity Course To Kickstart Your Career

Become a Blockchain Developer: Ethereum + Solidity project

Javascript & web development

Javascript is a language that is strongly related to web development and is very useful when building apps on the blockchain. For example, if your project needs an interface on their blockexplorer big chance Javascript knowledge is required.

The syntax of Javascript is very similar to its big brother Java, but there are some differences. In addition, Javascript was originally used on web clients and is sort of a lightweight language compared with Java. Java is a very explicit language that is very strict in its syntax and it’s a so-called OOP language. To leverage your Blockchain education I strongly recommend this article which is a tutorial about setting up a blockchain in Javascript.

Python

Guido van Rossum, a Dutch programmer, created Python back in 1991. Python is based on a simple philosophy: Simplicity and Minimalism. One of the more notable ways that they incorporated simplicity into their language is by using white spaces to signify code blocks instead of curly brackets or keywords. Let’s see what this means.

Let’s check out a simple “hello world” program.

print(‘Hello, world!’)

Yup, that’s it!

To visualize things better, below an example of an object written in Python which handles a block on the Blockchain.

Python can be described as a clean and simple crypto programming language and this is the reason why it’s often used by a lot of Blockchain programmers. As a matter of fact, the userbase is big and there are a lot of external libraries available online.

Solidity

The last crypto programming language in the list is Solidity. Additionally, for anyone who wants to learn how to make DAPPs (Decentralized Applications), learning Solidity is an absolute must. Also, Solidity was developed by Gavin Wood, Christian Reitwiessner, Alex Beregszaszi, Yoichi Hirai and several former Ethereum core contributors to enable writing smart contracts on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum.

According to Coinmonk Solidity can be described as :

Solidity is a contract-oriented, high-level language for implementing smart contracts. It was influenced by C++, Python and JavaScript and is designed to target the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Back to Ethereum, this is the first blockchain which introduced smart contracts. Not only Ethereum, but many others followed with their own unique solution of smart contracts on the Blockchain. In particular, these smart contracts are written with the Solidity language which is Turing complete.

Below an example of a “storage” object which is defined with Solidity:

Conclusion

This new exciting technology of Blockchain is still in its infancy but the total cryptocurrency market is growing exponentially. To benefit from this opportunity, it’s a very wise move to learn the fundamentals of programming with crypto. Nowadays people with strong technical or digital skills can make a difference and earn a good income from it. Moreover, if you are a beginning college student or looking for a change in career, this new and rising industry could be the next opportunity.