5 non-negotiable skills for Blockchain developers

If there is a technology that surpassed people’s apprehension and is slowly making its way into mainstream adoption, it is blockchain. Gartner analyses the business value of blockchain will grow to slightly more than $176 billion in 2025 and will exceed $3.1 trillion by 2030. From streamlining vaccine supply chain to being a backbone of cryptocurrency boom, blockchain has come a far way from people still trying to understand the underlying ledger distribution.

Therefore, the need for blockchain engineers has seen an upward swing in the job market. According to Hired, the demand for blockchain engineers increased by 517% a couple of years ago.

Who is a blockchain developer?

A blockchain developer develops smart contracts, defines and establishes the architecture or the framework of blockchain systems and develops the necessary protocols for the systems to be followed. A blockchain developer has a mix of skills in cryptography, computer networking, algorithm development and the latest—Ethereum or Bitcoin, etc.

Skills that are absolutely non-negotiable:

Blockchain architecture: There are three types that you need to pay attention to: Consortium-, public- and private- architecture. A developer should have a thorough understanding of a blockchain ledger. One should also know the work associated with smart contracts. A developer should have skills that could be implemented  in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, insurance, law, etc. Important areas such as consensus algorithms, peer-to-peer networks and blockchain mining should be on the fingertips.

Cryptography: It is a latest trend in cybersecurity to employ protocols that block unwarranted access to data and also takes support from quantum. Cryptography is a essential tool to learn in a blockchain development. To secure a cryptocurrency transaction it is important to understand blockchain.

Data structures: Blockchain development rests on data structures. A thorough understanding of data structures will help in building networks and their implementation. This along with the above mentioned cryptography will help build an airtight and secure system.

Focus on business requirements: There is a flaw that IT leaders have always pointed out to their peers: Implementing technology without understanding the business requirement. It is essential for technology leaders and their team to understand the business perspective, have a clarity on what to solve for and the importance of business outcomes. These rules remain the same for blockchain as well. It is important to assess the data flows, the various connections between multiple stakeholders that the system is going to benefit and then simplify it down to the very last member.

Languages: Every technology has a compatible language that it can be developed in. A blockchain developer needs to have a thorough knowledge and efficiency in Python. The versatility and the wide variety of libraries has made Python a considerably well established language among millions of developers. It can be used for both front end and back end development. Along with Python, a blockchain developer should learn Ruby, C++, Java as these are foundational courses and helps solve complex problems.