4 Skills for Blockchain Initiates to Develop
Tech Skills
Blockchain is full of opportunity in a variety of niches for anyone desiring to contribute to the burgeoning industry. Those with the knowledge to help run, secure and develop projects and protocols are at the tip of the proverbial spear.
While there are certainly adjacent support fields necessary to blockchain, like design, marketing, operations and more; learning technology fundamentals will allow you to prosper by being an active participant.
Coding
Understanding some coding can go a long way to understanding and interpreting project concepts and guides. Projects utilize various software, coding languages and protocols to run portions of their blockchain or application.
While numerous and even redundant code languages exist, and for good reason, it can be a challenge to know where to begin. The biggest barrier to learning code languages for me was acquiring the basic syntax, and definitions of a language.
A general understanding of something like Javascript, or Python when you encounter snippets of code, will make you more likely to adapt and understand what the command does.
Many people start with learning web-design protocols like HTML and CSS, despite these not being considered “real code languages” to some. Guides and tutorials are all over the web, some better than others. I highly recommend the resources at
Even if you don’t feel successful at first, coding is a great place to put some resources.
CLI - Command Line Interface
Using a Command-Line Interface is a crucial part of working and being active in blockchain, especially at intermediate and higher levels.
Understanding how to use snippets of code within whichever OS you are running(Windows, Linux, MacOS) is a necessity for many popular projects.
How do you launch an application from the command line?
How can you check a disk for logical and physical errors from the command line?
Being comfortable with safe and easy commands can fill in gaps of your working understanding of the systems we use every day, and probably never pay attention to.
A side-note: If you’ve only ever used one Operating System like windows maybe consider grabbing an older less capable PC and loading it up with a version of Linux/Ubuntu.
Using and becoming comfortable with the command line will assist with your interpretation of code languages, but also fill in gaps for how a computer is operating under the hood.
Windows: Princeton for Windows Command-Line.
MacOS: Macpaw.com
Linux: Ubuntu
Files, Protocols, Systems, & More
With computers being “old-news” in terms of popular culture, and now being a part of everyday life for most, much of the discipline surrounding file hierarchies and organization has gone AWOL.
Thanks to savvy programmers, we have so many user-friendly features built in and using a computer has never been easier. We simply search for what we are missing, documents are saved automatically in a manner that is logical and intuitive, and we are saved by the toil of the few!
When you begin running and operating applications and executables from the command line or terminal, the importance of things like knowing a file hierarchy begins to matter again, and quite a lot.
Executing a command in the wrong file, or outside of the correct path will give you a stalwart digital wall of shame and mystery, or worse, some costly problems. Only by understanding the file systems, error messages, and other nuance will you find success as a blockchain native. When you understand and work within the computer’s logic, these commands and applications become quite simple.
These differ per the multitude of OS that exist even outside of Windows, Linux and MacOS.
Networking & Security
Networking & Security are crucial to the operation of many nodes, software, applications or anything really.
Networking is crucial for all things blockchain, as blockchain doesn’t exist without the ability to connect to and distribute data via a network. This is an area to work on, and has the greatest potential liability for mistakes.
Security too is an area that requires great focus, because the two of these in combination can make or break your future operations.
You may commonly encounter instructions that ask you to :
Open Ports
Secure Ports
Harden SSH
Redirect
Connect Via Grpc
… and more.
Because most of these tools are common in an IT tool-kit, the information is widely available, however the framework for how they all work together in the blockchain world is not as abundantly obvious, especially once you get into the more complex operations.
Final Thoughts
With the above skills commonly found online in tutorials and places like Cybrary, Codecademy, Youtube and elsewhere, there is no substitute for developing the grit and ability to teach oneself through various means, and to struggle with and maintain effort towards a solution.
You may feel as though these are too complex or difficult, but we are all human and fully capable of training our minds for intense functions.
Take a few minutes today and see what more you could be learning and growing towards. You just might be surprised.
Let us know what you think is crucial to knowing as a Blockchain Initiate, or maybe something you are currently having trouble with!
Finally finding the time to catch up on your timely articles. Such necessary information and suggestions. Thanks