A software engineering student who was tired of Java involution decided to study blockchain in graduate school and won the first place in the hackathon among many bigwigs.

A non-professional student majoring in finance accidentally came into contact with cryptocurrency while working as a side job for a game company. Now he pets cats and drinks coffee in the village, living a remote and free life as an independent developer.

A senior Java engineer in traditional finance was deeply shocked by the concept of decentralization in a technical blog. From then on, he learned while working and embarked on the road of Web3 transformation.

These stories really happened in the "Solidity Development on Polkadot" course which just ended. The course was jointly launched by OneBlock+, Polkadot and PaperMoon, and attracted a total of 219 developers to sign up for the course. Among them, 21% are Web3 developers, 25% are students, and 36% are transitioners from the traditional Web2 industry.

OneBlock+ specially interviewed three outstanding student representatives from different backgrounds to listen to their real journey from confusion to clarity, from tradition to innovation. Their stories may be your next starting point for entering Web3.

Alan: A graduate student who is tired of Java involution wins first place in the hackathon

In this course, many students have grown rapidly through project practice. Graduate student Alan is one of them. He won the first place in the course hackathon, but laughed and said that he was "just a little newbie". As an undergraduate in software engineering, he was tired of the involution of Java, but now he has found his own starry sea in the Web3 world. His transformation began with a rethinking of direction.

Q: Your postgraduate research direction is related to blockchain. Was this planned from the beginning?

Alan: There was no clear plan at the beginning, but interest is indeed the best guide.

When I was an undergraduate studying software engineering, I systematically learned the Java development technology stack, but as I got to know the Web2 industry more deeply, I gradually discovered that domestic JavaWeb development was like a vortex or a quagmire - the overwhelming publicity of training institutions attracted a large number of practitioners. Except for those with excellent talents and academic qualifications, ordinary developers faced more internal difficulties, and the space for technological innovation was gradually narrowing. This lifeless "sense of stagnation" made me start to rethink my direction.

It happened that I came into contact with Web3 and blockchain technology through the recommendation of a school teacher. This decentralized innovation model and underlying technical logic immediately attracted me. At the same time, I decisively applied for a postgraduate degree in blockchain based on my interest. Although I am currently focusing on theoretical research, I have always been looking forward to the opportunity to put the technology into practice.

Q: What is the biggest challenge in learning the course "Solidity Development on Polkadot"?

Alan: Before joining the course, I had accumulated basic development experience through graduation projects and several DApp demo projects, so I deliberately filled in the technical blind spots when studying: such as in-depth research on underlying principles, contract upgrade mechanisms, security audit techniques, and basic DeFi theories.

The real difficulty lies in L2-related content, especially the debugging of the Polkadot virtual machine. Since we have never been exposed to the underlying operating logic of the Polkadot ecosystem before, we often encounter compatibility issues when deploying projects, such as contract call exceptions and cross-chain data synchronization delays.

Figure: Alan's study notes

Q: From a blockchain novice to winning first place in the course hackathon, what learning methods do you recommend?

Alan: For hackathons, inspiration may be more important than technical ability. Compared with other big players, I am really a newbie.

As a newcomer, when choosing the topic, I thought: community-organized competitions may resonate better with scenarios related to "community governance", so I designed a plan around "DAO proposal optimization" and was fortunately recognized.

Regarding creative accumulation, I have participated in the Airdrop studio and experienced many Web3 projects, which made me realize that experiencing products is the source of inspiration. Whether it is DeFi, NFT, GameFi or SocialFi, each sub-field has unresolved pain points, and the core of hackathon is to use technology to solve real needs.

Q: What attracts you about Polkadot compared to other chains?

Alan: Polkadot's potential lies in its unique shared security model and interoperability. Through the design of relay chains and parachains, Polkadot not only solves the scalability problem of blockchain, but also enables seamless communication and value transfer between different blockchains. This means that it can support an ecosystem of specialized blockchains, each optimized for specific use cases.

This multi-chain vision goes far beyond the limitations of a single blockchain and provides unlimited possibilities for future Web3 applications. As a developer, I am very optimistic that Polkadot can become the infrastructure for the next generation of the Internet.

Q: What advice or experience would you give to students who are just getting started with blockchain?

Alan: I have three main points of experience to share with my student friends.

First of all, the most important thing is to make more friends who love this field. Since students do not have much social experience, it is best to make friends with like-minded people to learn and explore together, broaden their horizons, and share experiences (more friends are also welcome to communicate and learn with me);

Secondly, experience different tracks. Compared with the more mature business model of Web2, the tracks that can be developed in the field of Web3 are very rich. Search and explore more, and you will always find something that interests you.

Finally, participate more in community activities, which is also the biggest gain of my participation in this course. In community activities, you can make friends, learn about cutting-edge technological developments, and even gain some material rewards. It is a great process for the growth of newcomers.

Fugui: From accounting major to Web3 freelance developer

Fugui, who majored in accounting but switched to coding, turned Web3 into a freelance lifestyle. An experience at a remote hackathon made him decide to stay in the countryside and become an independent developer, living an ideal life of petting cats, drinking coffee, and chasing squirrels. Let's take a look at the lifestyle of this "rural coder".

Q: Is your professional background related to Web3? What was the opportunity that led you to join Web3?

Fugui: To be honest, what is the relationship between accounting and Web3? The analysis methods are also very different, and I am not a computer science major. But recently I have been studying whether DAO organizations can be evaluated using the ESG evaluation system.

I joined Web3 by chance. As a personal hobby and side job, I worked with a group of friends to do game modeling, skins, scripts (I was responsible for scripts), etc. for overseas game companies. For convenience, the company paid us with game coins (in the beginning, we had to sell on Taobao or in groups).

Later, the game coins can be exchanged for BTC, which is much more convenient! Because of the exchange rate fluctuations, I developed a market-making robot to protect the maximum interests of my friends. Since then, I have stepped half a foot into Web3 and built it based on my own needs.

Q: How did you become an independent Web3 developer? What attracts you to this profession?

Fugui: I once traveled to a certain village and participated in a Web3 hackathon remotely. I made a private ledger called Tally and won a prize. At that time, I thought: why not just stay in the village? Petting cats, drinking coffee, chasing squirrels, free and easy!

So I said goodbye to my previous 996 life and slowly started to do remote development - to put it nicely, I am an information merchant, to put it bluntly, I am a software dealer (haha). I take work on both Web2 and Web3, but gradually move towards Web3.

Traditional Web2 is not very friendly to small and medium-sized developers. For example, I recently completed a state-owned enterprise project. The contract was signed (I had to find a qualified company agent), and the project was completed, but the settlement had to wait until the beginning of next spring. Web3 is much more convenient, and the settlement is basically timely.

Moreover, in the long run, Web3 has many application scenarios to be developed. There is no absolute monopoly in the industry, and there is room for growth. Even in rural areas, rural DAOs are now emerging.

Q: As an independent developer, what types of projects have you mainly worked on?

Fugui: I am an application layer developer, and I have relatively few pure Web3 projects. The current product lines are mainly focused on data visualization (on-chain data analysis, quantitative assistance, etc.) and BERT model development for AI projects (also known as AI LLM).

There are always gains and losses in development. Last year, I failed to develop a full-chain game with my friends. Recently, I am preparing for the development of Web3 public infrastructure! In this hackathon, I developed the OneBlock-Academy dapp project (a one-stop teaching platform for Web3). In fact, I originally wanted to develop a Web3 decentralized social media platform, but this kind of project requires too much third-party service support and cannot be realized for the time being, so I used the teaching platform to do some technical verification.

Figure: Fugui’s hackathon project

Q: As an experienced developer, what motivated you to take this course?

Fugui: I think I haven't written Solidity seriously for a year or two. In fact, Solidity has undergone earth-shaking changes in practical applications: from traditional self-constructed contract services to the extensive use of third-party libraries and service contracts, and at the same time, a large amount of inline assembly is required at the optimization level.

In addition, Polkadot launched the PolkaVM virtual machine based on the RISC-V architecture, which may be the future development direction of on-chain virtual machines. Therefore, it is still necessary to relearn Solidity.

Q: What is the biggest difficulty in learning the course "Solidity Development on Polkadot"?

Fugui: The biggest difficulty may be in environmental adaptation. The new PolkaVM is quite different from the traditional EVM, and the current supporting ecosystem is not perfect enough (such as wallets, testing frameworks, etc.). This is not something that a single developer can solve, and it requires the joint efforts of the entire Polkadot ecosystem.

Q: What attracts you about Polkadot compared to other chains?

Fugui: I started paying attention to Polkadot around 2017. It is a typical representative of heterogeneous multi-chains, and in my opinion it belongs to the technical iteration of the entire blockchain ecosystem 3.0 (BTC 1.0, ETH 2.0).

Polkadot's biggest advantage is the parallel complementarity of multiple chains and the ease of developing highly customized chains. From the current Web3 practice cases, many applications take the route of "from DApp to customized chain" (the typical representative is dYdX Chain). Compared with other chains, the Polkadot ecosystem is the easiest to achieve this goal.

Q: For those who want to become independent Web3 developers, what qualifications do you think are necessary or what suggestions do you have?

Fugui: There are no special conditions! Just do it if you want to. With the empowerment of AI, you can do it even if you have no basic knowledge! If you really can’t do it, just find a “class” to join and go to GitHub to find projects to be a code bounty hunter. Many Web3 projects have co-construction bounties.

In the long run, it is recommended to anchor a goal, plan your own product route and capabilities or business scope, and accumulate and develop little by little. As a freelance developer, it is not only about cultivating technical development capabilities, but more importantly, learning to understand the world, communicate with the world, and finally change the world.

John: A senior Java engineer's journey to Web3 transformation

John, who has many years of Java background, has worked in the e-commerce and Internet finance industries. Despite his heavy workload, he still chooses to study Web3 in his spare time. With his strong time management and execution capabilities, he has completed the transformation from Web2 to Web3 step by step. His experience may provide some reference for you who are on the road to transformation.

Q: What made you start paying attention to Web3? What made you decide to join Web3?

John: I am a Java engineer with many years of experience, mainly working in the fields of e-commerce, Internet finance and third-party payment. I am exposed to encryption algorithms, security protocols and distributed systems on a daily basis, which laid the foundation for my understanding of Web3.

What really made me pay attention to Web3 was that I accidentally discovered the cryptography behind Bitcoin and Ethereum while researching a technical blog. I was deeply shocked by the paradigm of building trust and decentralized collaboration through code.

Especially for people who work in payment systems, seeing a technology that can achieve value transfer without relying on centralized institutions is very subversive. I realized that Web3 is not only a technological wave, but also has the potential to reshape the future of finance, organization, and even social collaboration. This huge potential and revolutionary thinking are the fundamental motivation for me to devote myself to Web3.

Q: When switching from Web2 to Web3, are you studying full-time or self-studying while working? How long is the learning cycle?

John: I am currently using the "self-study while working" model. My main job is Java development, which is very demanding, and I occasionally take on side projects, so I can only use my spare time to systematically study Web3. This does require strong time management skills and self-motivation.

It has been nearly 6 months since I started to learn relevant concepts and systematically studied Solidity and blockchain principles. According to my experience, for Web2 developers with a basic knowledge of programming, career change and learning can be divided into two stages:

Phase 1 : 3-6 months of basic introductory period to master the core principles of blockchain (consensus mechanism, account model), Solidity language and development tools (Foundry/Hardhat).

The second stage : endless in-depth practice. Web3 technology is iterating rapidly, and true "career change success" is not achieved overnight, but a long-term process of continuous learning, continuous follow-up of cutting-edge projects, and deepening understanding in practice.

Q: Is your previous technical experience helpful for Web3 development?

John: Very helpful! My experience with Web2 technology was an accelerator for my transition to Web3.

As a Java engineer, I have profound experience in backend architecture, distributed systems, API design, and database management, which provide a solid foundation for me to understand the underlying architecture of blockchain (such as node communication, state machine replication, and data storage).

Although Solidity is a new language, the essence remains the same. Object-oriented programming, data structures, design patterns and other software engineering best practices are also crucial in Web3 development. For example, it is much easier to understand Solidity's memory, storage, and calldata after understanding Java's memory model.

Therefore, a solid Web2 technology background greatly shortened my learning curve, allowing me to focus on understanding the core concepts of Web3, such as Gas mechanism, smart contract security, and decentralized governance, instead of struggling with basic issues such as programming syntax.

Q: What is the biggest challenge in learning the course "Solidity Development on Polkadot"?

John: The biggest challenge mainly comes from the technical level, especially the difference in development and debugging experience. After getting used to the powerful breakpoint debugging, hot reload and detailed logging system of mature IDEs (such as IntelliJ IDEA) in Web2, the debugging process of smart contracts seems relatively "primitive" and unintuitive after switching to Web3.

The biggest pain point is that when the code passes the local Foundry/Hardhat test and is deployed to the test network for real environment interaction, once a problem occurs, the chain of locating the error becomes very long. For example, just to adjust a function parameter or fix a small logic, you may need to go through the cycle of "modify-compile-deploy-send transaction", unlike in Web2 where you can easily log or attach a debugger to observe the status of each step.

This not only consumes time, but also tests one's mentality. It requires developers to be more rigorous and patient, and to learn to use tools such as on-chain browsers and event logs to assist in "solving the case."

Figure: Projects implemented by John during his study

Q: What attracts you about Polkadot compared to other chains?

John: What attracts me most about Polkadot is its native support for cross-chain interoperability and heterogeneous sharding architecture, which is committed to solving the core pain point of the traditional blockchain, the "single-chain island effect".

Traditional chains, such as Ethereum, are independent ecosystems. To interact with other chains (such as Bitcoin) for value or information, they often need to rely on complex cross-chain bridges with additional trust costs. However, Polkadot, through its relay chain and slot design, allows blockchains with different characteristics and uses to be combined like puzzle pieces, communicating natively and securely. This is very novel and dynamic.

This means that developers can build more complex and powerful DApps, such as a DApp whose computing logic runs on a high-performance computing parachain, while assets are securely stored on another parachain focused on assets. I am very excited about the grand vision and high scalability of this "interconnection of all chains".

Q: What advice do you have for newbies who want to switch from traditional development to Web3?

John: My suggestion is to adopt a two-step strategy of "theory first, practice later" and avoid getting bogged down in code details right from the start.

Step 1 : Spend time to build a solid foundation of basic knowledge. I highly recommend Peking University teacher Xiao Zhen's open course "Blockchain Technology and Applications" to help you establish a correct understanding of key areas such as cryptography, consensus mechanisms, and economic models. This is like practicing inner strength, allowing you to grasp the unchanging core principles when facing the ever-changing Web3 technology, and understand why, rather than just becoming an API call engineer who can write Solidity.

Step 2 : Hone your skills through high-quality practical courses. For example, the "industrial-level" tutorials provided by OneBlock+ will familiarize you with mainstream development tools, explain the best practices for smart contract security, and quickly transform theoretical knowledge into development skills for landing projects.

In addition, it is essential to maintain patience and curiosity. Actively participate in the community, do small projects, and deploy a complete DApp from scratch. The gains in this process will be irreplaceable.

Conclusion

Three backgrounds, three paths. The world of Web3 is inclusive enough: whether you are a student tired of involution, a cross-disciplinary explorer, or a traditional developer seeking breakthroughs, there are opportunities for you here.