--- title: Smart Contracts description: Smart contracts are self-executing digital agreements with terms directly written into code. You will understand how they function on blockchain networks, how to write basic code, and how to deploy them for decentralized applications. category: finance-economics subcategory: blockchain-and-cryptocurrency difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/smart-contracts --- # Smart Contracts Smart contracts are self-executing digital agreements with terms directly written into code. You will understand how they function on blockchain networks, how to write basic code, and how to deploy them for decentralized applications. ## Available Resources 1 Videos • 3 Books • 3 Courses • 4 Websites ## Websites ### 1. OpenZeppelin Contracts Documentation for the audited Solidity library most Ethereum projects build on, covering ERC-20, ERC-721, access control, and upgradeable proxies. Reading it shows which standard implementations to inherit instead of writing token and permission logic yourself. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://docs.openzeppelin.com/contracts/ **Tags:** solidity, smart-contracts, ethereum, security, erc-20 ### 2. Solidity by Example A sequence of short annotated Solidity contracts, from hello-world through mappings, modifiers, and known attack patterns like reentrancy. Reading them in order gives working syntax for each language feature and shows how common exploits happen. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://solidity-by-example.org/ **Tags:** solidity, smart-contracts, code-examples, ethereum ### 3. Ethereum Smart Contracts Guide The Ethereum Foundation's developer overview of what contracts are, how they are deployed and called, gas costs, composability, and their limits. It gives the conceptual model before you commit to a specific language or toolchain. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/smart-contracts/ **Tags:** ethereum, smart-contracts, blockchain, developer-docs ### 4. Solidity Documentation The language reference maintained by the Solidity team: types, inheritance, storage layout, the ABI, security considerations, and per-version changes. Use it to settle exactly how a construct behaves and which compiler version introduced it. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://docs.soliditylang.org/en/ **Tags:** solidity, language-reference, smart-contracts, ethereum ## Videos ### 1. Full Stack Web3 Development A free 32-hour freeCodeCamp course by Patrick Collins covering Solidity, smart contract testing, and full-stack dApp development with JavaScript. Builds several projects end to end, taking a beginner through deploying and interacting with contracts on Ethereum. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyMwXuJrbJQ **Tags:** solidity, smart contracts, dapp development, javascript ## Courses ### 1. Ethereum Developer Bootcamp Become an Ethereum developer! Learn blockchain basics and build decentralized apps with Alchemy's comprehensive Bootcamp. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://university.alchemy.com/ **Tags:** blockchain development, solidity, smart contracts, alchemy ### 2. CryptoZombies Learn to code Ethereum decentralized apps (dApps) with CryptoZombies, a free, interactive coding course from Loom Network. Start building today! **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://cryptozombies.io/ **Tags:** solidity, interactive coding, smart contracts, game-based learning ### 3. Advanced Smart Contracts Three modules of Solidity work covering inheritance, libraries, upgradeability patterns, ERC20 tokens, gas optimization, payment channels, and role-based access control. Requires prior programming and blockchain basics; ends with the ability to write and secure production contracts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/advanced-smart-contract-development **Tags:** courses, technology-computer-science, cryptocurrency--blockchain ## Youtubes ### 1. EatTheBlocks Learn smart contracts and blockchain development with EatTheBlocks! Your guide to building decentralized applications on YouTube. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://youtube.com/@eattheblocks **Tags:** solidity, dapps, web3, blockchain-development ## Books ### 1. Mastering Ethereum **Author:** Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood Developer book by Andreas Antonopoulos and Gavin Wood explaining the Ethereum protocol: accounts, transactions and gas, the Ethereum Virtual Machine, smart contracts in Solidity and Vyper, contract security, tokens, oracles and decentralized applications. Readers can write, test and audit basic smart contracts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://github.com/ethereumbook/ethereumbook **Tags:** ethereum, smart-contracts, solidity, evm, dapps ### 2. Mastering Ethereum **Author:** Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood An explanation of Ethereum's account model, transactions, gas, the EVM, and contract security, with Solidity and Vyper code. After it you can reason about what happens on-chain when a transaction executes, not just write contracts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1491971940?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, cryptocurrency--blockchain ### 3. Building Ethereum Dapps **Author:** Roberto Infante A project-driven guide to decentralized applications: Solidity contracts, testing with Truffle, and connecting a JavaScript front end through web3.js. You finish able to assemble and deploy a full dapp rather than isolated contracts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617295159?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, cryptocurrency--blockchain --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/smart-contracts