Get up and running with blockchain, smart contracts, NFTs, DAOs, and decentralization in no time with the help of this comprehensive guide
Key Features
Get to grips with Web3, NFTs, DeFi, and smart contract development
Create fungible and non-fungible tokens, explore DAOs, and more
Build powerful apps using Ethereum to secure transactions and create smart contracts
Book Description
Web3, the new blockchain-based web, is often hailed as the future of the internet. Driven by technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and more, Web3’s aim is to give individuals more control over the web communities they belong to. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this book will help you master the intricacies of Web3 and its revolutionary technologies.
Beginning with a concise introduction to blockchain and the Ethereum ecosystem, this book quickly immerses you in real-world blockchain applications. You’ll work on carefully crafted hands-on exercises that are designed for beginners as well as users with prior exposure. The chapters show you how to build and deploy smart contracts, while mastering security controls and discovering best practices for writing secure code. As you progress, you’ll explore tokenization and gain proficiency in minting both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the help of step-by-step instructions. The concluding chapters cover advanced topics, including oracles, Layer 2 (L2) networks, rollups, zero knowledge proofs, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
By the end of this Web3 book, you’ll be well-versed in the Web3 ecosystem and have the skills to build powerful and secure decentralized applications.
What you will learn
Get an in-depth understanding of Ethereum's ecosystem, its status, and key EIPs and ERCs
Gain practical skills using non-custodial wallets such as MetaMask for blockchain transactions
Write, debug, and deploy smart contracts on test networks
Discover Web3 dev tools and set up a local environment
Get to grips with tokenomics and create ERC20, ERC721, and ERC1155 tokens
Explore decentralized storage with IPFS and integrate it into your Web3 projects
Expand your NFT strategy with APIs and SDKs to lead in the NFT space
Who this book is for
This book is for blockchain developers and blockchain enthusiasts who want to build powerful and secure decentralized applications. Familiarity with the basics of blockchain, along with knowledge of how they function, is necessary to grasp the topics discussed in this book.
Author(s): Vijay Krishnan
Edition: 1
Publisher: Packt Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 459
The Essential Guide to Web3
Contributors
About the author
Acknowledgments
About the reviewers
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the example code files
Conventions used
Get in touch
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Part 1 – Introduction to Web3
1
Fundamentals of Blockchain and Web3
Getting started with blockchain
Understanding the role of cryptography in blockchain
The basic components in a blockchain
Types of blockchain
Public blockchains
Private blockchains
Consortium blockchains
Hybrid blockchains
The anatomy of a blockchain transaction
Getting started with Web3
The fundamentals of Web3
Summary
2
Getting Started With Ethereum
Getting started with Ethereum
Ethereum ecosystems and essentials
The Ethereum virtual machine
ETH
Ethereum accounts
Gas and fee structure
Smart contracts
Ethereum transactions
Consensus mechanism
Ethereum testnets and mainnet
Ethereum clients
Ethereum Improvement Proposals
Why EIPs are important
EIP workflow
Contents of a successful EIP
Popular EIPs
Ethereum Request for Comments
Popular ERCs
Creating and managing your keys
Creating public keys
MetaMask: a self-custody wallet
The state of Ethereum in 2023
2013: Milestones, forks, and updates
2014
2015
2016
2017
2019
2020
2021
2022: the Paris upgrade (the Merge)
Summary
3
Your First Ethereum Transaction
Setting up Hardhat
Installing Hardhat
Preparing your MetaMask wallet
Initiating a transfer transaction
Viewing and verifying results
Summary
Part 2 – All about Smart Contracts
4
Introduction to Smart Contracts
Understanding smart contracts
Solidity variables and data types
Solidity functions
Solidity storage and memory
Solidity contract structure
A smart contract ABI
Solidity events
Solidity logs
Factory contracts
Understanding a Hello World smart contract
Getting started with Hardhat and smart contracts
Summary
5
Creating and Deploying Your First Smart Contract
Setting things up to write a smart contract
Installing Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code extensions
The Visual Studio Code CLI
Writing your first Solidity smart contract
Compiling and creating ABIs from smart contracts
Deploying and verifying smart contracts
Debugging smart contracts
Summary
6
Smart Contract Security and Access Controls
Understanding smart contract security
Upgradability
Integer overflow
tx.origin
Gas limits and DoS attacks
Understanding smart contract access controls
Understanding smart contract security tooling and audits
Summary
Part 3 – Writing Your DApps for Web3
7
Developer Tools and Libraries for Web3 Development
Understanding the Web3 development stack
Frontend stack
Middle tier stack
Backend stack
Blockchain API stack
Blockchain stack
Understanding Ethereum clients
Introducing Infura, a node-as-a-service
Running an Ethereum node
Upgrading an Ethereum node
Infura 101
Introducing IPFS
Key problems addressed by IPFS
Understanding IPFS use cases
IPFS life cycle
How does IPFS work?
Summary
8
Writing and Testing Your First dApp on Web3
Technical requirements
Configuring and setting up an environment
Compiling, deploying, and testing the smart contracts
Running the Web3 dApp
Summary
Part 4 – Fungible Tokens
9
Introduction to Tokenization
What is tokenomics?
Token supply
Token distribution
Token utility
Token incentive mechanisms
Token governance
Common token standards in Ethereum
ERC-20
ERC-721
ERC-1155
ERC-777
ERC-223
Tokenization
Tokenizing real-world assets – examples
Creating new business models through tokenization
Summary
10
Creating Your First Token
Technical requirements
Writing your first ERC-20 token smart contract
Deploying and testing the ERC-20 token smart contract
Deploying into the Ethereum Sepolia testnet
Summary
Part 5 – Non-Fungible Tokens
11
Non-Fungible Token Standards
Technical requirements
Introduction to NFT standards
Understanding NFT standard ERC-721
Understanding NFT standard ERC-1155
Understanding NFT standard ERC-998
A quick comparison of ERC-721, ERC-1155, and ERC-998
Solbound tokens and why they are popular in the NFT industry
Rentable NFTs
The ECR-721X token standard
Gas price and NFTs
Summary
12
Creating Your First Non-Fungible Token
Technical requirements
Configuring and setting up the environment
Launching an NFT project
Deploying your ERC-721 smart contract to Ethereum TestNet
Minting your NFTs
Adding your NFTs to your MetaMask wallet
Summary
Part 6 – Web3 Advanced Topics
13
Understanding Oracles
Technical requirements
Understanding oracles
Types of oracles
Why do we need Oracles?
Understanding the oracle problem in Web3
Solving the oracle problem with decentralized oracles
Exploring Chainlink as an Oracle
Running a Chainlink node
Running a Chainlink node locally
Comparing oracles with blockchains
Summary
14
Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Zero-Knowledge EVMs
Exploring ZKPs and their integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine
Understanding ZKPs
ZKPs in cryptography
ZKPs in the blockchain ecosystem
Use cases
Introducing ZK-SNARK and ZK-STARK
Understanding the zkEVM
Summary
15
L2 Networks and Rollups
Understanding Layer 2 networks
Types of Layer 2 networks
Understanding how Polygon works
Validators
Delegators
Understandings rollups
Types of blockchain rollups
Summary
16
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations – Overview
Understanding DAOs
Popular DAOs
The future of DAOs
Will DAOs be successful?
Summary
Index
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