Ask HN: Would like to learn blockchain tech, where do I start? What to build?

[justaguyhere]

No math or crypto background. Just a normal web programmer.

Where do I start? I've a few hundred dollars to spend on books and courses. Also, any community to join (not from investment/currency perspective, but from tech)?

What do I build, to learn and as potential show offs for future jobs?

[jeffbarg]

I think the most useful resource you have for understanding the foundation is directly reading and understanding the original Bitcoin whitepaper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

For some of the basics, you can take a look at Anders Brownworth's web demonstration: https://anders.com/blockchain/

I'd also recommend looking at the source code of some of the bigger blockchains (Bitcoin Core, Geth, etc..) and look at some smaller demo blockchain implementations:

- https://github.com/Jeiwan/blockchain_go/tree/master

- https://github.com/kendricktan/misocoin

- https://github.com/jeffbarg/Littlecoin (disclaimer: I am the author of this project)

[sgtnasty → jeffbarg]

This is really fantastic, thank you very much.

[kanon11 → sgtnasty]

I second this. We need good information about blockchain to help get more people involved and move it closer to mainstream. It's still sadly, very far away, and something needs to be done about this!

[phn]

If you're really wondering what a blockchain actually is, this video is a really good intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_160oMzblY8

If you want something a bit more hands-on, I'm currently following this course: https://www.udemy.com/ethereum-and-solidity-the-complete-dev...

I have only made it through the first section, and it does a really good job of explaining the basics of Ethereum and what a smart contract actually is.

[bitoneill]

I saved this link previously. I haven't been through it yet but looks promising.

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/the-authoritative-guide-to-b...

[Psilidae]

This may be too basic for you depending on your experience, but this is a really great explanation of blockchains that I think even people without a technical background could understand: https://unwttng.com/what-is-a-blockchain

[cryptical]

Princeton put a pre-publication draft of the book for their Coursera course.

https://d28rh4a8wq0iu5.cloudfront.net/bitcointech/readings/p...

[drdrey]

This Princeton course is fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNcSSleedtfyDuhBvOQzFzQ

[malux85]

Hey - I have a real world blockchain product, and I have a small project that I would like to mentor someone to build. Reach out if you wanna work in it and I will mentor you for free, contact in my profile

[whichcoin]

Jameson Lopp has put together a great list of resources for those looking to get started in the space.

- https://lopp.net/bitcoin.html

[jaequery]

start looking into ipfs if you havent already. there are lots of prqctical and useful things you can do with it.

[hello_newman → itamarst]

I think the old adage of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" applies here. Stay out of it if you don't have anything valuable to contribute.

[itamarst → hello_newman]

"Don't say anything at all" means implicitly encouraging the massive fraud, incompetence, and eventual losses that are the defining characteristics of the blockchain space.

[Psilidae → itamarst]

Cryptocurrencies and blockchains are not the same things.