Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
How to Transition from Web2 to Web3
A guide to getting into Web3 and Blockchain Development
Introduction
Hello there! My name is Dany and I'm a Full Stack Web Developer and currently transitioning from Web2 to Web3. My goal is to work in Web3 Full-Time and put all my time to make the Web more decentralized.
I'm on this journey for about 4 months now and want to share my story and my tips with you. You may heard of this thing called Web3, about decentralization, Crypto, Blockchain, and NFTs. Maybe you also ask yourself “Should I get into Web3” or “How i can get into Web3”.
These are the questions I want to answer right here, right now.
It's important to note that this guide is especially for people that are already in the tech space and want to transition. For people that want to get started in tech, I will do a separate post in the future!
Agenda
- Find a reason
- Community is key
- Learn the fundamentals
- Resources
- Build Projects
Find a Reason
For me, this is the most important step. If you find a reason you will never lose motivation. And you will need Motivation in a space that changes every single day. Web3 is still very early. Something you learned last week could be obsolete by now. If you lack motivation this could break you.
My motivation is decentralization. My goal is to fully decentralize our web for one simple reason. I want that the internet is run by us, the users, and not by big tech companies and the government. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, etc. can do whatever they want with your account. One day you upload a video, the next day you are banned and your account is deleted. They can do this even without a reason. They own you and our data.
Web3 wants to change this. Web3 is a vision that the users own their data and no one is excluded. We are just at the beginning and we have many open questions, like how to prevent users to upload harmful content with a central authority. I'm optimistic that we will find a solution for this in the future because I see so many nice and talented people in this space. Web3 isn't about money or scam. It's about the user.
Community is key
This is true in every field. I think it's especially true in Web3. A few weeks before I dived into Web3 completely I started to use Twitter on a daily basis. It was one of the best decisions I made so far. I met so many nice, helpful and talented people out there! People that I call friends today.
You have to know I'm more of an introverted person but on Tech Twitter I love to engage and talk to people. I know that Twitter can be very toxic but Tech Twitter is 100% awesome. Everyone tries to help, to motivate, teach, and to spread happiness.
Although Web3 is pretty new you can already find many resources from where you can learn. It was overwhelming for me. Which one is the best? Which one suits me?
Learning Platform and a community
Then i found LearnWeb3DAO (Twitter: @LearnWeb3DAO). I can't express how happy I am to found this platform and this community.
First of all, they offer a platform where you can learn Web3, from the very beginning to very advanced topics. All on your pace.
Their website: https://www.learnweb3.io/
Right now they offer their 4 core tracks:
- Freshman
- Sophomore
- Junior
- Senior
That was exactly what I searched for. A structured learning path from the very beginning.
Each track has multiple levels where you learn the core concepts of Blockchain and they also provide nice resources for you.
On top of that, you can access their Discord Server. And that was the best thing I did while getting into Web3. At the time of writing this, we have reached over 19.000 Members. There are thousands of people that are learning Web3 and some even already working in this industry. Whenever you are stuck and have questions there will be someone who can help you.
Also, we have multiple events and community calls each month. For example last month we had an event where multiple people showed us their projects. Or we had a Giveaway Event where people can win prizes. But the most important part is the people. Believe me when I say that it's really like a family.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to join and participate in a community.
Sure you could do everything on your own and you may succeed. But it will take longer, it will be harder and you will not have this much fun. Community is key!
Learn the fundamentals
If you are a developer and familiar with HTML, CSS, and JS you are halfway there! Web3 is not something that is completely new and will replace Web2. It's an addition. It's like Typescript and Javascript. Typescript adds nice features. In this case really amazing, world-changing features.
There are many great resources out there to learn Web Development fundamentals and more blog posts about it. We live in a world where you can learn about development just from the internet. And that for free. If there is one course I would recommend for learning Web Development from scratch it would be that: https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-web-developer-zero-to-mastery/
Blockchain and Solidity
Now it's time to dive into Blockchain development. You may heard of Ethereum and it's for sure the most well-known Blockchain. And it's the one I would suggest to start with. The ecosystem is fantastic and you will find a ton of resources for it. The community is quite big and really nice.
For Ethereum, you need to learn Solidity. Even if you don't want to write Smart Contracts on your own it's really important to understand what's happening under the hood. In my opinion, the best way to learn a programming language is through coding.
https://cryptozombies.io/ is a website where you will learn basic and advanced Solidity by building a Zombie Game. How cool is that? It's really well written, easy to understand and you can practice by building a game.
Resources
There are a ton of resources you can use to learn about Web3 and get into it. I guess you can already imagine what is my number one resource. Yes! Its LearnWeb3DAO. I think I already said why it's awesome. But we have more!
Here are some great video content creators:
Patrick Collins ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/PatrickCollins
Smart Contract Programmer ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJWh7F3AFyQ_x01VKzr9eyA
Chainlink ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/chainlink
Dapp University ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/DappUniversity
Alchemy ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/AlchemyPlatform
Blockgeeks ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/BlockGeeks
EatTheBlocks ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/EatTheBlocks
Austin Griffith ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_HI2i2peo1A-STdG22GFsA
Whiteboard Crypto ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/WhiteboardCrypto
Nader Dabit ⇒ https://www.youtube.com/c/naderdabit
Twitter is also awesome. Especially Tech Twitter. And especially Web3 Tech Twitter!
Here are some very nice Web3 content creators you can follow. They all provide constant and good content:
Abel => Awesome content, amazing threads
Kacie => One of LearnWeb3DAO founders, working in Web3
Haardik => One of LearnWeb3DAO founders, working in Web3
Sneh => One of LearnWeb3DAO founders, working in Web3
Peter => Daily Web3 content and an amazing person
Oscar => Provides Web3 content on a daily basis and explains it very well
Balddev => I love his content, always about Web3 and how to create a better web
Nader Dabit => A legend, already working in Web3 for me a must-follow
Vitto => Super sympathetic guy, also working in Web3
Rahat => Amazing Web3 and mostly Polygon Content
Anish => Talented young developer and share his learnings
Param => Daily Web3 Content, amazing threads
Suhail => Amazing young developer, Solidity Pro
Francesco => His threads are awesome, Web3 enthusiasts and Docker Captain
Etisha => Amazing content, super sympathetic, know how to provide value
Krishna => Provides amazing Web3 content
I could list over 100 people here but for now, this should be a good starting point. And if you are active in this bubble you will connect with all the others in no time!
Build Projects
As developers, the best way to learn is to actually build projects. You will do this in the Tracks of LearnWeb3DAO but you should also build something on your own. If you go through Youtube you will find many, many tutorials where you will build NFT Marketplaces, a simple Token, NFT Collection, DAOs, etc.
In the beginning, this is excellent because you will learn a lot because the creator will explain the code and what's going on.
But don't get stuck in tutorial hell. Build things on your own.
Many people (including myself) are struggling, in the beginning, to build a project without a tutorial. That's totally normal. One tip from me would be to take tutorials and after you finished the tutorial project you extend it with your own features.
You will gain self-confidence and that will help you a lot while building something completely on your own. You don't have to invent the wheel. Just make multiple small fun projects or maybe one bigger project that you are passionate about.
Take your time
You don't have to make a hard cut, quit your job, and jump right into Web3. Begin slowly, and engage on Twitter and Discord. Just be curious and always willing to learn new stuff. Every single day. And this will take time. Some people can invest one hour a day, some can put in 8 hours a day. I have a Full-Time Job and a family. I stand up very early every morning (Also at the weekends), to invest time to learn and build in Web3 and to engage with people on Twitter and Discord. Everyone has different circumstances. Find your way, use your time wisely and you will get your foot into this industry. Sooner or later.
Summary
I hope this rough roadmap gives you the starting point to make the leap and start to explore this wonderful world of Decentralization, Blockchain, Crypto, NFTs, and co.
If only one of you now is motivated to get into Web3 I'm more than happy! My goal is not only to develop in this space. My goal is also to help people get into this space. There are so many nice and talented people in this space. I'm sure you will be the next! Let's build a better Web. A better future. A decentralized future!
Let's connect on Twitter and learn together. I post every day about Web3 and share my learnings with you.
Don't forget to put on your biggest smile and enjoy your life!