Innovations and technologies around web3 and the blockchain ecosystem are growing exponentially, signifying the importance of the ecosystem and people’s acceptance and attention to the technology. Many newest trends and buzzwords like crypto, NFTs and the metaverse are revolved around the web3 ecosystem showing its prominence in the present era. With the rise in web3 technologies, many robust web3 programming languages are introduced constantly to serve a specific purpose and cement the gap between previous languages. However, out of all the web3 languages, Solidity can be considered the forerunner, appearing first in the list of web3 programming languages.
This article lets us understand Solidity and its importance in blockchain development.
What is Solidity language?
Developed and launched by one of the pioneers of blockchain, Ethereum, Solidity is a relatively new programming language built primarily to write and implement Ethereum-based smart contracts. It is an object-oriented and Turing-complete programming language. It was introduced in 2015 by several former Ethereum contributors, including Christian Reitwiessner and Alex Beregszaszi. It is a high-level programming language influenced by JavaScript, C++ and Python that can be leveraged to develop smart contracts, dApps or web3 solutions on any EVM-compatible blockchain networks.
Solidity blockchain development
Solidity is the first programming language built solely for blockchain development. Although it was developed by Ethereum developers to write Ethereum smart contracts, Solidity developers started using the language for other web3 development. The prominent Solidity blockchain development services include:
Smart contract development
The primary use case of Solidity language is a smart contract development, and it can be used to write Ethereum smart contracts and any Ethereum Virtual machine-compatible smart contracts.
dApp development
Solidity is an apt language to create decentralized applications that cater to specific use cases. It can be used to obtain both off-chain and on-chain data and build dApp microservices.
Digital token generation
Solidity programming language can be utilized to mint, transfer and upgrade both fungible and non-fungible tokens. It can further be used to develop smart contract standards such as ERC20, ERC 1155 and ERC721.
Building DAOs
DAOs are powered and run entirely by smart contracts without the need for intermediaries. Thus, Solidity is the right choice to build DAOs, deploy governance nodes, construct the interface, and code its smart contracts.
Furthermore, Solidity can be used to build the following
- Stablecoin creation
- NFT marketplaces
- Exchange platforms
- DeFi applications
What should you keep in mind to become a Solidity developer?
To become a Solidity developer, you must primarily go through the concepts that can help you understand Solidity. The important aspects of understanding Solidity include the following:
Ethereum
Solidity was targeted at Ethereum and its virtual machine. Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized blockchain network launched with the aim of seamless smart contract execution, and these smart contracts run on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Leveraging the Ethereum network, developers can efficiently build various smart contracts, purpose-specific dApps, DeFi applications and other web3 services or solutions.
Ethereum Virtual Machine
The Ethereum Virtual Machine is the next crucial element of the Ethereum blockchain that is vital for understanding solidity for beginners. The Ethereum Virtual Machine, often known as EVM, provides a runtime environment for executing smart contracts in Ethereum. EVM is necessary to provide the needed level of security and the ability to run untrusted programs via a global network made up of public nodes.
Smart contracts
Smart contracts are one of the most important aspects while learning Solidity blockchain development. Smart contracts serve as the repository for all the business logic users require for their application life. In addition to acting as the starting point for all projects, Ethereum Smart Contracts include all the variables and functions that belong to the contract. Therefore, it is crucial to begin learning about Solidity immediately with a simple example of a smart contract.
Why is Solidity beneficial in blockchain development?
The core features of Solidity that prove beneficial in web3 and blockchain development include:
- It is a statically typed, curly-braces programming language.
- It was designed to implement smart contracts.
- It supports complex user-defined programming, inheritance and libraries.
- It is an apt programming language to create smart contracts dealing with voting, multi-signature wallets, crowdfunding, blind auctions and other applications.
Conclusion
Solidity is an object-oriented programming language launched to code and implement high-level smart contracts. Since Ethereum introduced the programming language, Solidity blockchain development has become vital in the web3 ecosystem. The fundamental Solidity syntax for building a smart contract demonstrates that it is a flexible and simple language. Before beginning a Solidity tutorial, it’s crucial to examine the language’s fundamentals closely.
Solidity offers simplicity as the go-to programming language for blockchain development, focusing on Ethereum. Learning Solidity will be relatively simple for students who want to become developers because it draws inspiration from C, C++, and JavaScript.
