Blockchain Developer: Essential Languages You Need to Master!

Blockchain developers are one of the most-paid professionals in the world today. They earn between $150,000 and $175,000 on average per year as salaried employees.

The demand for Blockchain developers will increase as the technology gains more adoption globally.

There are so many routes to becoming a Blockchain developer, you can be self-taught or take a degree, however the most important is to learn the basics of Blockchain. Having a proper understanding will make a difference in the salary and authority you’ll command in the field.

Aspiring blockchain developers may find it critical to learn the right programming languages. It is important to know the programming language that is used on the protocol you are developing.

If you are an aspiring developer this article will guide you in making an informed decision on your next career choice. You should consider learning the following programming languages and be familiar with the protocol that uses them.

Solidity

As stated in the introduction of this article, the protocol that you are building on is a key indicator of the programming language to learn. If you are building on the Ethereum Blockchain, then solidity a high-level programming language is the best language to learn.

Smart contracts on Ethereum are written with Ethereum. Solidity is designed to be easily readable and can be used to create complex applications on the blockchain.

The unique feature of solidity that set it apart is that it allows developers o define custom data structures and functions, which can then be used to create complex smart contracts.

Smart contracts written in Solidity can be used for a wide range of applications, including decentralized finance (DeFi), digital identity management, and supply chain management.

Michelson

This is a low-level language used to build smart contracts on the Tezos blockchain. Michelson is secure and verifiable. Combined with its efficient execution on the Tezos virtual machine, makes it an ideal language for building complex and reliable smart contracts.

Michelson is strongly typed and lacks features like polymorphism, closures, or named functions. Liquidity, a high-level programming language, can be written and compiled to Michelson. Michelson’s implementation is based on an OCaml GADT.

Rust

Rust is a popular programing language popular among developers in the Polkadot and Solana blockchains.

It has amazing features like safety and high performance which makes it an excellent choice for building secure and efficient blockchain applications, as well as other types of software. The demand for Rust developers across the blockchain ecosystem is growing, and learning Rust can be a valuable asset for developers who want to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of software development.

Golang

This programing language sometimes referred to as Golang, was developed by Google in 2009.  Go is a compiled language designed for building efficient and scalable software systems and designed to address the challenges of modern software development, including concurrency, memory management, and network communication.

The Go language models itself after the C programming language and is statically typed and explicit. Due to its fast startup time, low runtime overhead, and ability to run without a virtual machine (VM), developers have widely adopted it for writing microservices and other purposes. Furthermore, developers use Go for concurrent programming, which allows multiple tasks to execute simultaneously, regardless of order or partial order.

C++

This is also another low-level programming language in the Blockchain ecosystem. C++ is used to write high-performance blockchain software and some blockchains like Bitcoin, Ripple, and EOS, are written in C++.

C++ as a programming language is Developer friendly, the data inputed is secure and easy to use. It is a multi-paradigm language and its execution time is faster as compared to Java.

Ruby

Yukihiro Matsumoto developed Ruby in Japan, emphasizing simplicity and productivity. This programming language has great memory allocation capabilities and is easy for developers to handle, supporting cross-platform development. With the ability to use third-party APIs and plugins, Ruby enables developers to create blockchain programming. Additionally, it allows for multi-paradigm programming, meaning developers can use various platforms to develop blockchain applications.

Java

Blockchain developers use Java programming language in blockchain and it’s preferred because of 3 features; simplicity, scalability, and security. Java is a general-purpose language that enables the development of various applications, including blockchain-based solutions.

Java’s scalability is one of its advantages in blockchain development. Java applications can operate on different hardware platforms, processing significant amounts of data. As such, it is an ideal language for developing blockchain applications requiring high performance and scalability.

Final Note

Blockchain development as a career is very rewarding and lucrative path. The blockchain industry is still young and the demand for developers is growing daily. To tap into the market, it is important to understand the programming languages required to build on various blockchain protocols. This article gives an overview of in-demand programming including Solidity, Michelson, Rust, Golang, C++, Ruby, and Java.