EthBuilders Meetup FAQ
General
What is the meetup about? Who can come?
This is a regular gathering for Etheruem developers of all levels to learn, present, and work either solo or in collaboration with one another. Our community is a welcoming space where any Ethereum or related technology question is fair game, be it beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Some of our members may know other chains as well.
Where do meetups happen?
ONLINE. See the meetup: EthBuilders.NYC
Are there any costs/expenses?
Nope.
How do I keep updated on meetup events and happenings?
Please join our Slack!
SECURITY
Where there is money, there are scammers.
Practice common sense safety. Better to be stingy and a jerk than be caught in a scam.
Some rules:
- Don't ever share any personal information with anyone asking
- Don't ever send any sort of coin to anyone asking.
Slack
Join our slack group.
Learning
How can I learn more about blockchain?
Check out this video on Blockchain explained in 5 levels of difficulty from Wired
The Explain Like I'm Five series has a Bitcoin edition, and it's a good read for non-technical audiences. If you'd like the high-level ideas without necessarily becoming a programmer, start here.
The "Halloween Paper" by Satoshi Nakomoto is a short and sweet read of the coin that launched a thousand movements. It uses math symbols and is written like an academic paper, but is densely packed full of powerful ideas that we are still exploring today.
The Ethereum White Paper By Vitalik Buterin Gives the overview of Ethereum, a programmble blockchain.
IRL: In Real Life
If you like learning by talking to real people, coming to a meetup or a hackathon is the best way to learn. Depending on your city, here are some great meetups we know about.
EthBuilders (that's us!) a group devoted to learning about blockchains, for all levels https://www.meetup.com/EthBuilders/
Or check out the BUIDL Network for a meetup in your area: https://www.meetup.com/pro/BUIDL
How can I get started with Ethereum development?
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Coming to these meetups and asking / answering questions is a good first step.
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For Ethereum, the Homestead Guide is the first and still best comprehensive documentation. It's how I (@cryptogoth) first learned to develop for Ethereum in 2015, working through the Democracy example for online voting.
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There is also Mastering Ethereum, written by the author of Mastering Bitcoin (Andreas Antonopoulos) and co-creator of Ethereum (Gavin Wood). Like Mastering Bitcoin, the book is free and open source.
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If you'd like to a contribute to an open source project (e.g. for Hacktoberfest), we'd love to have your help on the Democracy.js framework
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Or you can start with cryptozombies. That's how @tesla809 learned initially. Its a codecademy-like interface to learn the basics.
Most blockchains are forks of the Bitcoin source code, and all blockchains use the basic ideas pioneered from Bitcoin.
For Bitcoin, and blockchains in general, the Master Bitcoin book is a great place to start. If you want to understand the nuts-and-bolts of transactions, what actual bytes are being sent over the network for the Bitcoin protocol, and step-by-step examples you can try on the command-line, this is the book for you.
Depending on which blockchain you are interested in developing for, there are different resources. If you like working through a book, the best online books are below, although they are each slightly dated. They are still correct and will teach you the fundamentals, but they won't contain the latest developments for each chain.
Videos to explain basics
Want to understand the basics Simply Explained has some great videos:
Want to get some intution and play with a blockchain?
Try Blockchain Demo.
Anders Brownworth built a great tool that lets you play the pieces that build up a blockchain.
Want a crash course on how Ethereum's Solidity smart contract langauge works? Try cryptozombies.
Its a codecademy-like interface to learn the basics.
Prefer videos to learn how to build Dapps?
Learning Solidity has great lessons related to the language.
Dapp University has great lessons on the tools to build things.
Eat The Blocks is similar to Dapp University.
Do you have any projects which I can contribute to?
Yes! check out our repo.
We will be posting smart contracts and projects weekly.
We wil also be creating a bigger ongoing project as a community. Check out our slack group under #project-zero.
More on that later.
Sponsorship
How can my company be a sponsor?
Join our slack and message the admin
Or message the admins on meetup.
Trading and Finances
Q: I want a lambo. Tell me how to get one.
A: Me too.
Where does the dollar value of Bitcoin / Ethereum / (insert your favorite chain here) come from?
To keep it simple, the value of the token is derived from the value of the network.
It is same way the value of the iPhone is derived from how many things you can do with it securely (via apps).
The value of the token is also influenced by what people percieve it to be and the willingness and ability to buy the token. That is an entirely different conversation on information asymmetery, the efficiency of markets to process information and the madness of crowds.
What does the blockchain actually solve?
Blockchains solve an issue in economics called the "Principal Agent Problem".
Blockchains are useful in increasing the ability for people to cooperate with one another, a term called social scalability.
What problem do smart contract platforms solve?
Smart contract platforms solve issues related to counterparty risk and goverance.
Do I need a blockchain to create a decentralized application?
If you only care about peer to peer (p2p) communication, check out Libp2p.
Libp2p is to p2p apps as to what expressJS is to web apps. Libp2p is series of modules that allow you to scaffold together a peer to peer application without having to rebuilt the entire stack yourself.
We will add a simple flow chart to help you understand what tools might be useful depending on your needs.
Misc Events
I will pay you money to come speak at my event?
Sure, please message the admins on Meetup.com or Slack
I don't have money. But the event is prestigous.
Message the organizer. The organizer will decide.
Will you host an event at the meetup for my company?
Depends on what your project is and if the members like it. At the discretion of the organizer.
Start ups
How do I find a technical co-founder?
Come to the meetup. Talk to people. We are friendly.
Admin
How can I give a presentation or demo?
Message the admins on Meetup.com or Slack
Hey, my question isn't on this FAQ!
Come to our meetup enough times or submit a pull request.
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