Original author: Ronin
Original translation: AididiaoJP, Foresight News
Web3 developers not only need to have programming skills, but also need to be able to make life easier or improve work efficiency through programming. In the field of encryption, with specific programming skills and accumulated practical experience, you will gain:
High-paying jobs in the company
Automate mission-critical tasks at work or track large amounts of data
Understand product development technology
We often see developers making very impressive incomes from creating bots or other software, often in the 6-8 figure range.
This article will guide you on how to get started learning Web3 development and the programming corpus you need to know.
Learning programming by doing, having the right opportunities to practice will enable you to achieve your goals faster than others.
I have been passionate about programming since I was a child, initially as a way to explore technology and develop critical thinking skills, and later as a tool to achieve greater goals.
Let’s get started now.
What is a Web3 developer and why should you learn Web3 development?
Web3 developers are able to handle everything from smart contracts to backend and frontend development, need to understand how to automate specific processes, and generally have the ability to quickly resolve critical issues.
Why should you learn Web3 development? The main reasons are as follows:
Set up automation tasks and solve various types of problems.
Review, use or modify existing software.
Get paid well by participating in projects or building them yourself.
Act as a white hat hacker to find vulnerabilities and profit from them.
Personally, I learn Web3 development for personal development and building my own products, but I want to emphasize:
To excel in the Web3 industry, one must understand its technical and economic principles, which will be embedded in developers’ daily work through smart contracts or rollups.
Despite the massive amount of speculation in the crypto market, developers are still actively building and earning high salaries through development.
Because there are fewer Web3 developers, the degree of internal competition in the entire industry is not high, and there are more job opportunities than traditional industries.
Next, let’s take a deeper look at the salary levels that Web3 developers can expect.
Web3 Developer Salaries
If developers are proficient in backend development and Solidity (or Rust) development, their average salary is usually between $5,000 and $20,000 per month. If you can get into a medium-sized project and do not hold a management position, this salary level can be used as a reference.
A friend of mine does freelance work on Twitter, providing automated auditing services. His monthly income can sometimes reach $50,000, which is also a case worth referring to.
I used ChatGPT to find the highest reward for a white hat hacker, which was about $10 million. In 2022, Wormholes core bridge paid a white hat hacker about $10 million. It is usually difficult to measure the reward for security vulnerabilities in money alone, and the value of the time saved is immeasurable.
By using various software tools, I save 5-7 hours of work every day. So mastering programming and software technology will greatly improve work efficiency and save time.
Additionally, most useful Web3 applications lack clear and concise user interfaces, so it is crucial to understand how to launch and improve them.
What programming languages do you need to learn?
In the Web3 industry, programming languages are a very important part of the job. Each task may require a different programming language, so it is important to understand the purpose of each programming:
Python
Python is the best programming language for creating automation programs
Its use cases in Web3:
Great for writing automation scripts (airdrop scripts, MEV monitoring, other tasks)
Used as a backend for dApps (except dApps built with FastAPI or Django)
Great for data science (e.g. collecting statistics from dApps)
Why is it your best choice right now?
Easy to get started, one of the easiest programming languages for me
Lots of readily available learning materials (YouTube, forums, other platforms)
A large number of ready-made Web3 corpora make software construction easy
Overall, Python is a great language for learning how to automate everyday tasks or collect basic data.
Basic back-end and front-end skills (HTML, CSS, JS)
This part is the most basic requirement for a project, because UI is the first impression that every project leaves on users.
Even if you understand all the details of smart contracts or backend, it is still not enough because the frontend such as wallet signature is directly related to
JavaScript plays the most important role here and must be mastered, while basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is usually sufficient.
Its use cases in web3:
Understand the structure and properties of the website in order to integrate wallet signatures or other Web3 tools
Perform various tests on what is built on the backend
Solidity
Solidity is one of the main development languages in the Web3 industry, and almost all smart contracts are built with it.
It can be said to be the origin of Ethereum smart contracts
Its use cases in Web3:
Used for Ethereum L1 and almost all EVM-compatible L2 (ARB, OP, Base, etc.)
Also used to build L3 solutions
Basically all DeFi and NFT projects are related to it
It is the most valuable language in Web3, but it also brings some challenges. One of the main issues is that it is very difficult to learn, and the risk factor of working is quite high. Simply forgetting to write a function can put the entire protocol at risk, causing the liquidity pool to lose millions of dollars. The good thing is that the salary of Solidity developers is quite high.
Rust
Almost all blockchains that are not compatible with the EVM require the use of the Rust language.
Its use cases in Web3:
Build projects on Solana, Cosmos, Near, Polkadot, and more.
For Sniper and MEV use
Overall, it’s a cool programming language, but it has even fewer learning resources than Solidity. In this case, your best learning materials will be ChatGPT and the official documentation.
How to start? The road to efficiency from scratch
I started by learning Python and JavaScript, which were sacred foundations for me before I entered the Web3 industry.
It was a good foundation for understanding key concepts and how code works, after which I started learning other programming languages.
I worked with ChatGPT to develop a launch plan to accomplish the first step:
Learn the basics of programming
Our goal: Get used to code syntax and programming logic
Best Resources:
Python for Everyone on Coursera:
CodeAcademy「Learn JavaScript」：
Applied knowledge and practice:
use
Practice and consolidate
use
For similar purposes
Practicing for 30-60 minutes every day will give you a solid foundation after which you can start writing specific software with the help of artificial intelligence.
Understand the basic web front-end
Our goal: to understand how pages are built and how scripts run.
Best Resources:
Completed Web Design Certification:
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/freecodecamp-certifications
By reviewing all materials
CodeAcademy HTML and CSS:
https://www.codecademy.com/catalog/language/html-css
Applied knowledge and practice:
Build a simple single page landing site for virtual products
Try to use as many features as possible and then connect them all together in practice.
Understand what blockchain is and how it works
Our goal: to master the basics of Web3 without writing code.
Best Resources:
Ethereum documentation:
Book: How to Do DeFi (Great for understanding DeFi)
Applied knowledge and practice:
Spend some time on Etherscan or a similar explorer to understand how blockchains work and the basic logic of how they operate.
Interact more with dApps to understand how they work and what happens on the backend.
Solidity introduction and practical experience
Our goal: Write, deploy, and interact with ERC-20 tokens
Best Resources:
Book: Solidity in Foundry
Learn most of the material
Learn from Patrick Collins videos:
Learn by doing:
Safety and testing
Your next task is to delve deeper and continue testing.
Only practice can bring real results, there are no other shortcuts in Web3 coding, and the same is true in life.
Read various blogs about Web3 coding and stay curious.
Most importantly, always check your code for security.
It is absolutely crucial to check every line of code on your web page.
Be sure to try to apply this knowledge to your own practice.
Start automating and make coding a part of your daily life.
Once you get started, you can try almost any field of development work.
Artificial intelligence is also very helpful in this regard. Below I will share how to use artificial intelligence to improve learning and work efficiency.
Start learning and building, and over time you will surely succeed.
How to use artificial intelligence in learning?
AI is the best tool to optimize and accelerate Web3 coding learning.
I personally use ChatGPT a lot, but there are other AI tools that can do the same or even better.
What kind of problems can be solved by artificial intelligence:
I ask for explanations on complex topics
I request code examples to solve specific problems
I check the code for bugs or errors
If I can’t find a solution, I always turn to AI
I asked myself what else I should learn to solve problems faster
If you study alone without any way to communicate or improve, you will encounter much more difficulties.
Now, when you encounter a problem that you can’t solve, you can simply use ChatGPT to lay out clear steps to help you solve it, rather than solving it for you.
If the AI keeps writing code for you, you won’t understand the structure or specifics of how those functions work.
Combining the learning platforms I shared, continuous practice, and using AI to solve your own problems is one of the most effective ways to get results and become the best.
How to Land Your First Job: The Beginners Checklist
If your goal is to become a developer, this is the best way to find out what you need to learn.
All you need to do is find an entry-level position on Web3.career or crypto.jobs .
Then, look at the job requirements and think about what else you need to learn.
Example of a Junior Web3 Developer job listing:
Understanding Solidity and writing smart contracts
Understand JavaScript/TypeScript, React
Getting familiar with Hard Hat/Creating Tokens
Understanding ERC standards (ERC-20, ERC-721)
Understand the basic concepts of blockchain (transactions, gas, DeFi)
Ability to use Git and GitHub
Write down everything listed in the job posting and go over each point one by one.
Then, let AI simulate the HR interview process and generate typical interview questions.
This way, you can stress-test potential questions and prepare answers before the interview.
TL;DR
When the market is dull, the best thing to do is to develop skills that can generate income.
We are in a high-risk field, and objectively speaking, those who do not have a stable income often do not get the final result.
Because they fail to fully seize opportunities when they arise.
Becoming a Web3 developer is one of the best choices.
Using programming and really understanding it can give you an advantage.
On top of that, you can earn a pretty decent salary and have the ability to create your own projects.
Take me for example, I am a construction worker. If I want to expand my business to several times or even dozens of times of before, it is almost impossible to rely solely on my original strategy.
Maybe you have a developer friend who can help you out.
But you still need a basic understanding, at least so you dont get scammed in the process.
It is also crucial to develop a procedural strategy for daily repetitive tasks.
Create bots to complete tasks or increase efficiency.
AI can help you find different opportunities.
Now that you have time, use it as effectively as possible.
If a developer makes more in one month than you do in three years of work...
Isn’t this worth your consideration?
Think about it, but dont just think about it.
If your answer is “Yes, it is”…
Then the best way is to start learning programming today.
