I joined the @RskSmart development team at the beginning of last year (February 2016). I was an experienced software developer, but without knowledge of Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchains and related topics. So, I started studied a lot, to grasp the project, the objectives, the initial code, and its challenge.
In this post series, I want share with you what I learned, and comment some books/resources that could help me (I didn’t read everything but now, with my current experience, they look as something that add value).
The first thing to understand is the blockchain concept. It is the “new kid on the block” (pun intended 🙂 and it is a core concept to understand, in order to grasp Ethereum and RSK projects. The most succesful implementation of a blockchain is Bitcoin, so, as a developer, you will gain a lot of insight if you read about that project.
The main source for Bitcoin as software developers, is:
Mastering Bitcoin (second edition repo)
a masterpiece by Andreas Antonopolous (personal site)(twitter)(wikipedia page)(youtube channel)(blog)
This book is mostly intended for coders. If you can use a programming language, this book will teach you how cryptographic currencies work, how to use them, and how to develop software that works with them. The first few chapters are also suitable as an indepth introduction to bitcoin for noncoders—those trying to understand the inner workings of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
And I learned a lot from this book. The Bitcoin implementation of a blockchain is explained clearly, from a software developer point of view, so it is a good introduction to this new brave world. It has chapters about: How Bitcoin Works, Bitcoin Core, Addresses, Wallets, Transactions, Advanced Transactions and Scripting, Blockchain, Bitcoin Network, Mining and Consensus, Alternative Blockchains, Applications, Bitcoin Security, Bitcoin Improvement Proposals.
He is working on an new book Masrtering Ethereum, that it could be the MUST BE READ book if you want to be an Ethereum developer.
If you understand Bitcoin and its related ecosystem, you will be in a better position to manage Ethereum and @RSKSmart projects. And RSK has code that related Bitcoin network with its own.
Next posts: more books, concepts and resources
Stay tuned!
Angel “Java” Lopez
http://www.ajlopez.com
http://twitter.com/ajlopez
Angel \"Java\" Lopez on Blog 
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