Ethereum From Zero to Smart Contracts
Start from scratch and build toward your first deployed Ethereum smart contract. Covers the EVM, Solidity basics, testing with Hardhat, and connecting a dApp frontend.
About This Course
Ethereum is the most widely-deployed smart contract platform and the foundation of much of the DeFi and NFT ecosystem. This crash course gives you the conceptual grounding and practical skills to understand how Ethereum works and start building on it.
We start with Ethereum fundamentals — the EVM, gas, wallets, and accounts — then move into Solidity, write real contracts, test them with Hardhat, and finish by connecting a contract to a browser frontend using ethers.js. No prior blockchain experience required, but some programming background is expected.
All code is available on GitHub. The full course playlist is embedded on this page.
Prerequisites
- •Basic programming experience (JavaScript recommended)
- •Node.js installed
- •No prior Solidity or EVM knowledge required
Who This Course Is For
New to blockchain development
You want a structured, practical entry point into smart contract development on the world's largest smart contract network.
JavaScript/frontend developers
You already know JavaScript and ethers.js feels approachable — this course connects your existing skills to on-chain development.
Curious about DeFi and NFTs
You want to understand how the tech behind DeFi protocols and NFT projects actually works — from the contract layer up.
What You'll Learn
Ethereum & the EVM
Understand how the Ethereum Virtual Machine works, what gas is, and how transactions are processed.
Solidity Fundamentals
Write smart contracts in Solidity — syntax, types, visibility, functions, and events.
ERC Standards & OpenZeppelin
Use battle-tested contract implementations from OpenZeppelin for ERC-20 tokens and other common patterns.
Testing with Hardhat
Write and run automated tests for your smart contracts to catch bugs before deployment.
Deploying to a Testnet
Deploy contracts to an Ethereum testnet, verify on Etherscan, and understand the deployment lifecycle.
dApp Frontend Integration
Connect your contract to a browser frontend using ethers.js — read state, send transactions, handle wallet connections.
Course Curriculum
Module 1Ethereum Fundamentals
- •What is Ethereum and how does it differ from Bitcoin?
- •The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) explained
- •Gas, fees, and how Ethereum measures computation
- •Wallets, accounts, and the concept of addresses
- •Externally owned accounts vs. contract accounts
- •Testnets and why you should use them
Module 2Introduction to Solidity
- •Solidity syntax and file structure
- •State variables, functions, and visibility modifiers
- •Data types: integers, strings, arrays, and mappings
- •Constructors and initialising contract state
- •Events — emitting and listening on-chain
Module 3Writing & Testing Smart Contracts
- •Your first ERC-20 token contract
- •Contract inheritance and using OpenZeppelin
- •Payable functions and handling Ether
- •Writing unit tests with Hardhat and ethers.js
- •Common Solidity pitfalls and how to avoid them
Module 4dApp Integration
- •Connecting a frontend to a deployed contract with ethers.js
- •Reading contract state from the browser
- •Sending transactions from a connected wallet
- •Deploying to a testnet and verifying on Etherscan
- •What comes next: DeFi patterns, NFTs, and advanced contracts
Watch the Course
The full Ethereum crash course playlist is embedded below. Watch here or open on YouTube.
Ethereum From Zero to Smart Contracts
Resources & Links
Course Repository
Events & Registration
Start building on Ethereum
Watch the course, follow along with the GitHub code, and join the next live session on Luma.
Register on Luma