Stepping into the world of blockchain is not easy. Being a blockchain developer requires a unique set of skills. Talented and experienced Solidity developers are not easy to find, and they are quite expensive. Do you want to start applying a system of smart contracts within your company? Allow us to explain who the Solidity contract developer is and how to find the right one to join your project.
Solidity is a programming language used by developers for smart contracts implementation. Coding in Solidity is not an easy task and to efficiently work with blockchain, a programmer has to gain proper experience first. If you are thinking about carrying out a blockchain project in your company, you first need to learn what skills your Solidity programmer should have mastered. There are also several ways you can engage such a developer in your project.
Smart contracts for business
A smart contract is a concept related to blockchain technology. More and more companies are considering using blockchain in their business, even though this subfield of IT is not easy to understand. There are multiple applications of the smart contracts — these programs may probably be leveraged in any kind of trade to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.
What is Solidity, and who is a Solidity developer?
You have never heard about Solidity before and have no idea who a Solidity developer is? We wouldn’t be surprised — after all, for many people the world of blockchain is rather mysterious. It is not properly regulated by law yet and is rarely used by people or businesses… But it cannot be denied that blockchain technology and smart contracts have a huge potential for business organizations of any type. If you want to leverage those solutions to improve your company’s efficiency and reduce costs, you will probably need a good Solidity developer soon.
Solidity programming language
Solidity is easier to learn for those who have experience with object-oriented languages. It has been significantly influenced by C++, JavaScript, and Python, and therefore, in a way, it is similar to those languages.
Developers that deal with blockchain use the Solidity programming language for writing smart contracts and implementing them on various blockchain platforms (the most recognizable among them is Ethereum).
Solidity programmers
As you surely already figured out, a Solidity developer is a programmer who knows object-oriented Solidity programming language. Apart from the knowledge of the language, a Solidity contracts developer should have skills and experience that enable them to build and deploy smart contracts on Ethereum-based applications.
So, you may ask: “why Solidity?” and that would be a very good question, as it is not the only programming language that can be used for developing smart contracts (other examples include e.g. Vyper). However, Solidity is the native language of Ethereum and that is one of the main reasons why you would want to use it in smart contracts development. A large community has also developed around it in recent years, which will make it easier for developers to find solutions for the problems they might encounter.
What are the desired skills of a solidity developer?
Some coding experience is a good basis for a smart contract developer. After you learn Solidity, you also need to learn a few things about smart contracts themselves. First, smart contracts are immutable — which means that once they are created, they cannot be modified. That complicates things a little, right? Once a smart contract is released, you will not be able to introduce any improvements or corrections.
A smart contract is simply a set of rules that a user has to comply with to trigger some desired action (for example, transfer of funds). Each user that decides to use it, accepts those rules. You do not want to include any bad rules in your company’s smart contract. That is why choosing an experienced Solidity contract developer is so important.
What are the other skills the Solidity programmer of your dreams should have, and what do they need to know?
Blockchain architecture
Nodes, Blocks, Chains, Miners — those are the components of blockchain’s architecture. There are also three forms of Blockchain architecture:
- a public Blockchain — open for everyone to use (like two DeFi applications: Bitcoin and Ethereum),
- a private Blockchain — closed for the open market users and available only for participants chosen by those who manage it,
- a consortium architecture — it is not decentralized, and all network users have total control.
If you want your organization to leverage blockchain, you need a developer who understands the differences between those three and will be able to advise you on your blockchain project.
Cryptography
Your data needs to be protected. There are numerous methods to secure information on the web. Cryptography is an IT field focused on designing procedures and algorithms that help to prevent reading some content by unauthorized users. Your Solidity contract developer must know how to protect sensitive data.
Tools for smart contracts development
Some tools can be used in the smart contract development process. One of the most popular is Truffle Suite. Its purpose is — just like in the case of any other framework — to make the development process easier. It provides the Solidity developer with tools for programming, testing, and deployment of decentralized applications. Of course, this is just an example. There are also tools developers can leverage for smart contracts development.
Outsourced or in-house — how to engage a solidity developer in your project
There are several approaches to choose from if you want to start a blockchain project within your company. You can decide to:
- hire a full-time Solidity contract developer in-house,
- buy smart contract development services from the external contractor,
- add an experienced Solidity contract programmer to your team for as long as they will be needed on the project.
Skilled Solidity developers are not easy to find, even on the international market, and their time is expensive. Hiring a full-time smart contract expert will probably be cost-inefficient. If you decide to order smart contract development from a blockchain-focused company, you will probably lose some control over the project — you will simply receive a ready-to-use product.
If you want to remain in control of the project and develop your smart contracts in-house, you should opt for staff augmentation. All you need to do is contact a company that offers such a service and explain what kind of expert you need for the project. You will be presented with the profiles of candidates that will suit your needs best, and you will be able to select one (or more) Solidity smart contracts developers with sufficient technical skills and experience. The programmer of your choice will then join your in-house team and help you carry out the project. Additionally, employees you already hire will have an opportunity to gain some more experience, by working with a specialist, who participated in many similar projects before.
Where to find a solidity contract developer?
In Idego, we help our clients by creating highly secure databases for safely managing information — without risking privacy. Blockchain development should be considered by every company that wants to improve data safety, but there are also many other advantages of using blockchain technology and smart contracts. Contact us and tell us about your needs. Will be happy to advise you on the right solution for you and participate in your project.
Andrzej Kopera • Sep 05
