Do you want to be a blockchain engineer? You came to the right place. We explained everything you need to know about blockchain engineers. Blockchain technology is innovative and developing quickly. In today’s market, every sector utilizing blockchain technology needs skilled Blockchain developers. Rather than cryptocurrencies, there are several blockchain use cases, such as blockchain gaming.
A rewarding career offers competitive income, long-term security, and opportunities for advancement. In the current job market, a career in blockchain engineering qualifies as profitable and promising. It is becoming more crucial to have a skilled workforce in this area as blockchain technology becomes more prominent across various businesses to demonstrate its full impact.
What is a blockchain engineer?
A blockchain engineer is a full-service professional who can design, create, analyze, implement, and operate a distributed blockchain network. They must manage specific business models involving blockchain technology.
Did you hear about the blockchain talent gap?
Blockchain engineers implement and build digital blockchains for business solutions, essentially. Blockchain engineers frequently work for data service companies or technological consultancy companies. It’s a full-time job.
You must keep in mind that an engineer will study the organization’s needs in addition to developing the answers. More specifically, these blockchain engineer positions involve installing and designing things like assets and accelerators or helping with the infrastructure setup process for the businesses.
You might also need to decipher the codes, then instruct any less experienced staff members. But if you work as a blockchain engineer, you’ll be in charge of scheduling application release dates or keeping an eye on the entire project to make sure it’s completed on schedule.
You may need to assure back-end functionality and produce any necessary infrastructure documents. However, the duties would mostly change depending on where you were employed. I’m confident that you now know the definition of a blockchain engineer when someone asks you that question in the future. We’re confident that you now understand what a blockchain engineer is.
Blockchain engineer skills
The top blockchain characteristics that one should have nowadays are listed below:
Blockchain architecture
A blockchain developer should thoroughly understand the technology’s design and operation. You should have practical experience with ideas like a consensus, distributed ledger technology, and cryptographic hash functions.
Smart contract development
In 2021 and beyond, smart contracts will be the most frequently used application. The introduction of Ethereum 2.0 serves as the main justification. To make business logic simple to apply on the blockchain layer, it is important for newcomers to realize that every blockchain seeks to integrate smart contract capabilities into its system.
Therefore, learning about the creation of smart contracts, their significance, and commercial applications is absolutely essential for developers looking to enter the blockchain industry. Learning network-specific languages like Solidity, Viper, Chaincode, etc., is typically required.
Web development
Web development is one crucial component that blockchain engineers and developers must learn to get started in the field. One needs to understand the fundamentals of web programming, both front-end, and back-end, to design decentralized applications.
Data structures
When wanting to begin a blockchain engineer career, extensive data structure knowledge is required. Most professionals in this subject frequently interact with data structures like Merkle trees or petrecia trees. Blockchain combines various data formats to create an immutable and secure system.
Cryptography
Blockchain and cryptography work together and complement one another. Knowledge of cryptography is helpful when writing blockchain programs. Additionally, because there are many different subcategories of cryptography, there are countless opportunities to develop a distinctive blockchain.
Along with asynchronous cryptography, which is utilized in blockchain to create digital signatures, other techniques like hash functions are also used.
Fundamentals of object-oriented programming (OOPs)
The majority of programming is based on OOPs, or object-oriented programming. And in that instant, it becomes a crucial part of the blockchain industry. Reusing code, solving complex issues, gaining flexibility through polymorphism, and using modularity for simple debugging are all made possible with a firm grasp.
Understand standards and eco-systems
Learn about blockchain ideas and practices and how they may be applied in your company to create an effective blockchain system, streamline your business process, and influence business outcomes.
How to become a blockchain engineer?
Above blockchain engineer skills are essential for this job title. However, in order to clarify and provide detail, the following points can be made:
Get through knowledge about blockchain basics
You must start studying the fundamentals of the blockchain before starting your career as a blockchain developer. As a result, get started by understanding various lexicons and blockchain words. The topics to start with are the definition of blockchain, how it works, decentralization, consensus protocols, smart contracts, etc.
Learn how the blockchain architecture works
A blockchain engineer needs to know how the blockchain architecture functions. In practice, ideas like consensus and hash functions ought to be simple to grasp at any moment. Well, reading the whitepapers of corporate blockchain platforms is the greatest method to acquaint oneself with them.
Have an in-depth understanding and applicative sense of the data structures
You must be well knowledgeable about data structures and possess an understanding of how to use them. To acquire what they need, blockchain engineers must play around with current data structures and make numerous adjustments.
You must comprehend how Merkle trees, Patricia trees, etc., operate for this reason. Blockchain typically makes use of numerous data structures and cryptography to guarantee a safe platform. You will never understand how the system operates without fully understanding data structures. Additionally, before you attend the interview, always review the job description for a blockchain engineer.
Be an advanced cryptography master
To keep the system secure and immutable, cryptography is required. To encrypt data securely, you need to be pretty proficient in cryptography. The complete project could fail with even a small bit of mistake.
Therefore, be sure to understand how each cryptographic method functions. To master your craft, you should even put in a lot of practice. It is not possible to become a blockchain engineer without comprehending it.
Know the basics of front-end and back-end web development
Front-end and back-end web development expertise is necessary for blockchain engineers. Even though it’s mostly for blockchain engineers, many employers still look for this qualification. Knowing the fundamentals won’t harm you in the long term.
With this, you’ll essentially be designing user interfaces (UIs), request processing, API handling, etc..
Be an expert in various programming languages
You must be proficient in several programming languages to create blockchain solutions. In practice, you will need to code technology fundamentals using these languages. You should study C++, Java, Python, and Solidity, which are all programming languages.
Foreign language proficiency is constantly valued. You can surely become a blockchain engineer with the aid of these.
Have a deep understanding of different blockchain platforms
A thorough understanding of the various blockchain systems is another requirement for blockchain engineers.
You cannot create a successful enterprise solution without a suitable platform. In a private-oriented solution, a public platform is not the ideal option.
You will find the one most appropriate for your needs among the 4 types of blockchain in the best blockchain platforms as we saw it in enterprise blockchain examples.
Possess knowledge of how different ecosystems or standards work
You need to understand how various standards or ecosystems function to become a blockchain engineer. One of the blockchain engineer skills that businesses look for when employing staff is this one.
Numerous ecosystems exist, including Hyperledger, Ethereum, Corda, Quorum, and many others. You need to research how these operate and the criteria they employ. They also appear to offer open-source scripts that you may play around with.
Be a master of the blockchain development tools
A blockchain engineer must create numerous blockchain solutions. You also need to be effective and time-efficient in that. Utilizing blockchain development tools would be the wisest course of action in this case.
All professions use tools for developers to keep track of their solutions. Therefore, you must become an expert in these development tools and understand how to use them well.
Get a degree or diploma in computer science engineering
It most likely meets the requirements for the position of blockchain engineer. A degree or diploma in computer science engineering is required. Additionally, it will undoubtedly improve your chances of being employed by a company.
A degree in the area would also greatly improve your understanding of the technical jargon used in the technology. However, if you want to be able to deal with the difficulties that come with the blockchain solution, you can also choose to have experience in software development. You can also take some courses.
Sign up for a blockchain certification program
To find out more about how the blockchain is impacting businesses all across the world, enroll in a blockchain certification program. These courses will help you gain expertise on several platforms, including Hyperledger, Ethereum, and Corda.
Best blockchain engineer courses
You may study Blockchain programming online from websites like Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, 100 Blockchains, edX, Codecademy, Educative, and LinkedIn Learning.
Here are our top 3 picks:
- Blockchain A-Z™: Learn How To Build Your First Blockchain
- Learning Blockchain Development with EOS and C++ (Udemy)
- Blockchain Technology on edX
Blockchain engineer salary
According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for a blockchain software engineer in the US is $149,999 as of July 12, 2022.
That equates to about $72.11 per hour if you need a quick pay calculator. This amounts to $2,885 each week or $12,500 per month.
Comparison: Blockchain engineer vs blockchain developer
Blockchain engineer and blockchain developer titles are usually used interchangeably. But there are some differences. We have already explained what is a blockchain developer. However, we can briefly mention these job titles’ requirements.
There are a few standard duties that any Blockchain developer must perform:
- Development of smart contracts.
- Development of decentralized applications.
- Developing the front-end designs as per the requirement of the client.
- Designing the network and architecture.
To be a successful blockchain developer, you must:
- Develop and implement the assets.
- Setting the Blockchain infrastructure.
- They work on platforms like Hyperledger and Ethereum.
- They must ensure that all the applications are secured and free from any data breach or threats.
It is impossible to clearly divide these two enterprises from one another because the new blockchain is a new field, regardless of how much difference the business requirements may produce.
Which language is used in blockchain?
You don’t have to be an expert in every programming language. Apps are increasingly developed using a variety of languages these days, each for a distinct purpose.
Here is a list of popular blockchain application programming languages:
- Solidity
- C++
- Java
- Python
- Simplicity
Is blockchain engineering a good job?
Blockchain development is one of the industries in the labor market that are growing the fastest, where there are more available positions than qualified workers. A rewarding blockchain engineering career offers various job opportunities and the chance to work on cutting-edge technology-based innovative projects.
Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the greatest tech occupations to pick if you’re seeking a career path that may be both rich and secure. The blockchain market is thriving and is expected to keep expanding in the upcoming years.
Conclusion
While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide data on blockchain engineers, they forecast a 22 percent increase in employment for all software developers between 2020 and 2030. Compared to all occupations, this growth is more rapid. As was already said, blockchain technology is becoming more and more popular. So why not start a career as a blockchain engineer and be a part of this emerging technology.
By now, it should be clear to everyone how much of a need there is for blockchain engineers and developers at the corporate level. The blockchain industry is also a fantastic leveler; anyone who is eager to learn, try new things, and implement may succeed in this field.
Here is a list of the best blockchain books in 2022 for better understanding. Also, if you need a blockchain glossary, we have already gathered it. Feel free when you want to join the blockchain world!
