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Ethereum development documentation

Last edit: @nhsz(opens in a new tab), August 15, 2023

This documentation is designed to help you build with Ethereum. It covers Ethereum as a concept, explains the Ethereum tech stack, and documents advanced topics for more complex applications and use cases.

This is an open-source community effort, so feel free to suggest new topics, add new content, and provide examples wherever you think it might be helpful. All documentation can be edited via GitHub – if you're unsure how, follow these instructions(opens in a new tab).

Development modules

If this is your first attempt at Ethereum development, we recommend starting at the beginning and working your way through like a book.

Foundational topics

  • Intro to EthereumA quick overview of Ethereum
    • Intro to EtherA quick overview of Ether
      • Intro to dappsAn introduction to decentralized applications
        • Web2 vs Web3The fundamental differences that blockchain-based applications provide
          • AccountsEntities in the network that can hold a balance and send transactions
            • TransactionsTransfers and other actions that cause Ethereum's state to change
              • BlocksThe way transactions are batched to ensure state is synchronised across all actors
                • Ethereum virtual machine (EVM)The EVM handles all the computation on the Ethereum network
                • GasComputational power required to process transactions, paid for in ETH by transaction senders
                  • Nodes and clientsThe individuals participating in the network and the software they run to verify transactions
                  • NetworksImplementations of Ethereum including test networks
                    • Consensus mechanismsHow the individual nodes of a distributed network agree on the current state of the system

                    Ethereum stack

                    Advanced

                    • BridgesAn overview of bridging for developers
                      • StandardsAgreed upon protocols for maintaining efficiency and accessibility of projects to the community
                      • Maximal extractable value (MEV)How value is extracted from the Ethereum blockchain beyond the block reward
                        • OraclesHow information is injected into the Ethereum blockchain
                          • ScalingMethods for preserving decentralization and security as Ethereum grows
                          • Data availabilitydocs-nav-data-availability-description
                          • Networking layerExplanation of Ethereum's networking layer
                          • Data structures and encodingExplanation of the data structures and encoding schema used across the Ethereum stack

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