Learn to Build Smart Contracts and Onchain Apps
Introduction
Welcome to Base Learn, your guide to learning smart contract development. Base Learn's curriculum has been expertly crafted to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to build and deploy smart contracts on Base, or any EVM-compatible chain, including Ethereum, Optimism, and many more. Plus, you'll be eligible to earn NFTs as you complete each module, showcasing your mastery of the material.
Whether you're a curious novice or a seasoned pro looking to stay ahead of the game, our dynamic lessons cater to all levels of experience. You can start with the basics and work your way up, or dive straight into the more advanced concepts and push your limits to new heights.
Begin your journey today!
What you can learn in this program
Base Learn covers the following topics. If you're looking for quickstarts, or deeper guides on advanced topics, check out our Base Builder Tutorials!
Ethereum Applications
- Describe the origin and goals of the Ethereum blockchain
- List common types of applications that can be developed with the Ethereum blockchain
- Compare and contrast Web2 vs. Web3 development
- Compare and contrast the concept of "ownership" in Web2 vs. Web3
Gas Use in Ethereum Transactions
- Explain what gas is in Ethereum
- Explain why gas is necessary in Ethereum
- Understand how gas works in Ethereum transactions
EVM Diagram
- Diagram the EVM
Setup and Overview
- Install and create a new Hardhat project with Typescript support
- Describe the organization and folder structure of a Hardhat project
- List the use and properties of hardhat.config.ts
Testing with Hardhat and Typechain
- Set up TypeChain to enable testing
- Write unit tests for smart contracts using Mocha, Chai, and the Hardhat Toolkit
- Set up multiple signers and call smart contract functions with different signers
Etherscan
- List some of the features of Etherscan
- Read data from the Bored Apes Yacht Club contract on Etherscan
- Write data to a contract using Etherscan.
Deploying Smart Contracts
- Deploy a smart contract to the Base Sepolia Testnet with hardhat-deploy
- Deploy a smart contract to the Sepolia Testnet with hardhat-deploy
- Use BaseScan to view a deployed smart contract
Verifying Smart Contracts
- Verify a deployed smart contract on Etherscan
- Connect a wallet to a contract in Etherscan
- Use etherscan to interact with your own deployed contract
Hardhat Forking
- Use Hardhat Network to create a local fork of mainnet and deploy a contract to it
- Utilize Hardhat forking features to configure the fork for several use cases
'Introduction to Remix'
- List the features, pros, and cons of using Remix as an IDE
- Deploy and test the Storage.sol demo contract in Remix
Deployment in Remix
- Deploy and test the Storage.sol demo contract in Remix
Hello World
- Construct a simple "Hello World" contract
- List the major differences between data types in Solidity as compared to other languages
- Select the appropriate visibility for a function
Basic Types
- Categorize basic data types
- List the major differences between data types in Solidity as compared to other languages
- Compare and contrast signed and unsigned integers
Test Networks
- Describe the uses and properties of the Base testnet
- Compare and contrast Ropsten, Rinkeby, Goerli, and Sepolia
Deployment to Base Sepolia
- Deploy a contract to the Base Sepolia testnet and interact with it in [BaseScan]
Contract Verification
- Verify a contract on the Base Sepolia testnet and interact with it in [BaseScan]
Control Structures
- Control code flow with
if
,else
,while
, andfor
- List the unique constraints for control flow in Solidity
- Utilize
require
to write a function that can only be used when a variable is set totrue
- Write a
revert
statement to abort execution of a function in a specific state - Utilize
error
to control flow more efficiently than withrequire
Storing Data
- Use the constructor to initialize a variable
- Access the data in a public variable with the automatically generated getter
- Order variable declarations to use storage efficiently
How Storage Works
- Diagram how a contract's data is stored on the blockchain (Contract -> Blockchain)
- Order variable declarations to use storage efficiently
- Diagram how variables in a contract are stored (Variable -> Contract)
Arrays
- Describe the difference between storage, memory, and calldata arrays
Filtering an Array
- Write a function that can return a filtered subset of an array
Mappings
- Construct a Map (dictionary) data type
- Recall that assignment of the Map data type is not as flexible as for other data types/in other languages
- Restrict function calls with the
msg.sender
global variable - Recall that there is no collision protection in the EVM and why this is (probably) ok
Function Visibility and State Mutability
- Categorize functions as public, private, internal, or external based on their usage
- Describe how pure and view functions are different than functions that modify storage
Function Modifiers
- Use modifiers to efficiently add functionality to multiple functions
Structs
- Construct a
struct
(user-defined type) that contains several different data types - Declare members of the
struct
to maximize storage efficiency - Describe constraints related to the assignment of
struct
s depending on the types they contain
Inheritance
- Write a smart contract that inherits from another contract
- Describe the impact inheritance has on the byte code size limit
Multiple Inheritance
- Write a smart contract that inherits from multiple contracts
Abstract Contracts
- Use the virtual, override, and abstract keywords to create and use an abstract contract
Imports
- Import and use code from another file
- Utilize OpenZeppelin contracts within Remix
Error Triage
- Debug common solidity errors including transaction reverted, out of gas, stack overflow, value overflow/underflow, index out of range, etc.
The New Keyword
- Write a contract that creates a new contract with the new keyword
'Contract to Contract Interaction'
- Use interfaces to allow a smart contract to call functions in another smart contract
- Use the
call()
function to interact with another contract without using an interface
Events
- Write and trigger an event
- List common uses of events
- Understand events vs. smart contract storage
Address and Payable in Solidity
- Differentiate between address and address payable types in Solidity
- Determine when to use each type appropriately in contract development
- Employ address payable to send Ether and interact with payable functions
Minimal Token
- Construct a minimal token and deploy to testnet
- Identify the properties that make a token a token
The ERC-20 Token Standard
- Analyze the anatomy of an ERC-20 token
- Review the formal specification for ERC-20
ERC-20 Implementation
- Describe OpenZepplin
- Import the OpenZepplin ERC-20 implementation
- Describe the difference between the ERC-20 standard and OpenZeppelin's ERC20.sol
- Build and deploy an ERC-20 compliant token
The ERC-721 Token Standard
- Analyze the anatomy of an ERC-721 token
- Compare and contrast the technical specifications of ERC-20 and ERC-721
- Review the formal specification for ERC-721
ERC-721 Token
- Analyze the anatomy of an ERC-721 token
- Compare and contrast the technical specifications of ERC-20 and ERC-721
- Review the formal specification for ERC-721
- Build and deploy an ERC-721 compliant token
- Use an ERC-721 token to control ownership of another data structure
Wallet Connectors
- Identify the role of a wallet aggregator in an onchain app
- Debate the pros and cons of using a template
- Scaffold a new onchain app with RainbowKit
- Support users of EOAs and the Coinbase Smart Wallet with the same app
Building an Onchain App
- Identify the role of a wallet aggregator in an onchain app
- Debate the pros and cons of using a template
- Add a wallet connection to a standard template app
The useAccount
Hook
- Implement the `useAccount`` hook to show the user's address, connection state, network, and balance
- Implement an
isMounted
hook to prevent hydration errors
The useReadContract
Hook
- Implement wagmi's
useReadContract
hook to fetch data from a smart contract - Convert data fetched from a smart contract to information displayed to the user
- Identify the caveats of reading data from automatically-generated getters
Configuring useReadContract
- Use
useBlockNumber
and thequeryClient
to automatically fetch updates from the blockchain - Describe the costs of using the above, and methods to reduce those costs
- Configure arguments to be passed with a call to a
pure
orview
smart contract function - Call an instance of
useReadContract
on demand - Utilize
isLoading
andisFetching
to improve user experience
The useWriteContract
hook
- Implement wagmi's
useWriteContract
hook to send transactions to a smart contract - Configure the options in
useWriteContract
- Display the execution, success, or failure of a function with button state changes, and data display
The useSimulateContract
hook
- Implement wagmi's
useSimulateContract
anduseWriteContract
to send transactions to a smart contract - Configure the options in
useSimulateContract
anduseWriteContract
- Call a smart contract function on-demand using the write function from
useWriteContract
, with arguments and a value