EzeniIa

Smart Contract Development Guide

Learn the fundamentals of writing secure, auditable blockchain contracts with modern tooling.

Guide Outline

1. Introduction
2. Environment Setup
3. Writing Contracts
4. Security Best Practices
5. Deployment

1. Introduction to Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are self-executing code run on blockchain networks. They follow strict rules defined by developers and automatically execute actions when conditions are met.

"The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions." - Vitalik Buterin

Why Learn Smart Contracts?

Build decentralized applications
Create trustless systems
Control token economies

Environment Setup

Open terminal and install required tools:

npm init -y
npm install hardhat
npm install @nomiclabs/hardhat-ethers @nomiclabs/hardhat-waffle

✅

Solidity Compiler

Install via npm install @nomiclabs/solc
Local Blockchain

Use Hardhat Network for testing

Writing Your First Contract

{`pragma solidity ^0.8.0; contract MyFirstContract { uint256 public value; constructor() { value = 42; } function setValue(uint256 _value) public { value = _value; } }`}

🔧

Solidity syntax resembles JavaScript but runs on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Security Best Practices

Security is critical in blockchain development. Always audit your code and use tools like EzeniIa CodeScout.

Deploying Contracts

Network Setup

Select a network in hardhat.config.js:

module.exports = {
  solidity: "0.8.20",
  networks: {
    hardhat: {
      chainId: 31337
    }
  }
};

Deploy Script

Create a script in scripts/deploy.js:

async function main() {
  const Contract = await ethers.getContractFactory("MyFirstContract");
  const contract = await Contract.deploy();
  
  await contract.deployed();
  console.log("Contract deployed to:", contract.address);
}

main()
  .then(() => process.exit(0))
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
    process.exit(1);
  });

Next Step: Contract Testing

Use npx hardhat test to verify your deployment works as expected.