Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum

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Course Description

In this Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum training course, we introduce the fundamentals of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. We will discuss when to apply these approaches to existing or greenfield architectures.

Attendees will be able to see the power of the approach by building and working with a simple blockchain from scratch. With this context, we will move on to discuss the Bitcoin network and currency in detail and the design choices that it makes.

The second half of the course introduces the Ethereum network and its notions of smart contracts, gas and related tech, including the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). We discuss distributed apps and look at some recent high-profile case studies.

The Solidity programming language is introduced from scratch as well as a typical development environment for new smart contracts. Finally, we show to integrate Ethereum smart contracts with existing applications by using the Web3j library to bridge Java applications with the Ethereum network and blockchain.

 

Software Spec:

• Laptop with an IDE (ideally Java 8) and the ability to install new software.

Course Outline

Day One

A: Blockchain Bootcamp

1. Fundamental Concepts

•       Hashing
•       Public Key cryptography
•       Hash chaining (e.g. Git)
•       Cryptographic glossary

2. An introductory blockchain

•       Append-only ledgers
•       Proof of work and difficulty
•       Specification for a simple example – FirstBlockchain

Lab: Build & implement FirstBlockchain

Lab: Try to forge entries in someone else’s implementation of FirstBlockchain

B. Bitcoin

1. Bitcoin concepts

•      Full nodes, mining and PoW
•      Addresses, wallets & client tools

Lab: Setting up Bitcoin Wallets

•       Exchanges
•       Economics of Bitcoin
•       Future Directions

C. Ethereum

1. Ethereum concepts

•       Setting the Scene
•       Fundamentals: Ethereum, EVM, Smart Contracts & Gas
•       Client tools & wallets

Lab: Setting up Ether wallets

•       How Ethereum differs from Bitcoin
•       The “Why” of Ethereum
•       Distributed apps and ICOs
•       Case Studies

Day Two

2. Introduction to Solidity

• Meeting Solidity

Lab: Set up your Ethereum (Rinkeby) working environment

•       Solidity types – value, reference, array
•       Keywords
•       Storage
•       Accounts and related data types
•       Functions and contracts
•       Transactions and blocks
•       Builtin functions

2. Developing Solidity Contracts

•       Deploying a contract to a testnet
•       Working with the JS web console

Lab: A first Ethereum smart contract

•        Zeppelin contracts and ERC20
•        Case study: Example Production contract
•        Case studies: Pitfalls of Solidity contracts

Lab: Building an ERC20 contract

3. Web3j

•        Introducing web3j
•        CompleteableFuture and Reactive design of web3j programs
•        Web3j proxies for contracts
•        Interacting with the Ethereum blockchain with Web3j
•        Integration and practical considerations

Lab: Managing contracts on the Ethereum blockchain with web3j

Learning Path

• Please contact us for suggestions.

• Introduction to Blockchain and Corda

Ways to Attend

• Attend a public course, if there is one available. Please check our schedule, or register your interest in joining a course in your area.
• Private onsite Team training also available, please contact us to discuss. We can customise this course to suit your business requirements.