Blockchain Course: Introduction to Blockchain and Solana programming

Content: This session covers the history of blockchain, why the technology was created and the problems it solves. Students will learn core concepts such as decentralization, transparency and immutability.

Practice: In the hands-on part, students will create their first blockchain wallet, get familiar with wallet addresses and private keys, and learn how to manage digital assets safely.

Content: This session focuses on popular applications of blockchain in the Web3 ecosystem. Students will learn how blockchain is applied in areas such as DeFi (staking, DEX, lending/borrowing), NFTs, GameFi and cross-chain bridges.

Goals: Students gain an overview of how blockchain is being used in practice and of the industry's growth potential.

Content: This session gives an overview of the Solana blockchain and the key features that give Solana high performance and low costs.

Goals: Students will also learn about Solana's role in the Web3 ecosystem and the notable applications being built on the platform.

Content: This session takes a deep dive into Solana's architecture, including core mechanisms such as Proof of History (PoH), how it processes transactions in parallel and how the Solana network achieves high speeds.

Goals: Students will understand how Solana differs from traditional blockchains such as Ethereum.

Content: Students will be guided through installing the tools they need, such as Rust, the Solana CLI and the Anchor framework.

Practice: In the hands-on part, students will write and deploy their first smart contract, getting familiar with how programs work and how to send transactions to interact with the blockchain.

Content: This session introduces the concept of the Program Derived Address, which lets programs manage data securely.

Practice: Students will practice creating PDAs and using them to store state in a smart contract.

Content: This session focuses on managing tokens on Solana. Students will learn how to create and use an Associated Token Account, and how to interact with the SPL Token Program to transfer and manage tokens.

Content: This session introduces the Cross Program Invocation mechanism, which allows one smart contract to call another.

Goals: This is the foundation for building complex systems and connecting multiple programs in the Solana ecosystem.

Activities: This session is the midterm test, designed to help students consolidate what they have learned. It covers basic blockchain concepts, Solana's architecture and smart contract programming techniques.

Looking ahead: At the end of the session, the instructor will present the requirements and guidance for the final project.

Content: Students will learn about Versioned Transactions and how Solana handles complex transactions.

Going further: The session also introduces Address Lookup Tables, which optimize transaction size and improve scalability.

Content: This session focuses on how instructions are executed within a transaction and on the constraints of the Solana runtime.

Practice: Students will also learn about Sysvar accounts and how to use system data in a smart contract.

Content: This session introduces the Anchor Framework and how to use an IDL (Interface Definition Language) to define and interact with smart contracts.

Goals: Students will understand how to connect the blockchain backend and the frontend through the IDL.

Practice: In this session, students will build a simple web interface to connect a Solana wallet and send transactions.

Goals: Through this, students understand how a complete dApp works, from the frontend to the blockchain.

Content: This session introduces the Surfpool tool and how to use it when developing and testing smart contracts.

Practice: Students will practice optimizing their development workflow and debugging applications.

Activities: This end-of-course session is the final contest, where student teams present and demo their dApps. The teams present their idea, their system architecture and how their application works on Solana.

Assessment: Projects are assessed on completeness, application of knowledge and presentation skills.

Content: The last session focuses on professional ethics in the blockchain industry.

In practice: Students will learn about common scams such as rug pulls, phishing and scam tokens, and how to recognize and avoid them when taking part in the Web3 market.