stage-0-getting-started.md

Stage 0: Getting Started

Next: Stage 1: Project Discovery

Applications are being accepted but the program hasn't officially begun...

Join Us!

Come join us in the R&D Discord. You can find us in the #apprenticeship-program channel. Say hello! Make sure you check out some of the other channels too. There's a lot going on here.

Suggested Reading

Here are some starting points for learning about the Ethereum protocol.

Please feel free to open a pull request expanding this list.

Ethereum Basics

• Conceptual Overview: https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/268/ethereum-block-architecture
  • Higher resolution pictures
• Ecosystem Portal: https://123eth.org/
• Basic technical details of Ethereum Blockchain Protocol (Vitalik Buterin): https://youtu.be/gjwr-7PgpN8
• NFTs: https://ethereum.org/en/nft/

Yellow Paper

• Yellow Paper: https://ethereum.github.io/yellowpaper/paper.pdf (accompanying cheat sheet: Cheat sheet link)
  • Walkthrough of the Yellow paper: https://www.lucassaldanha.com/ethereum-yellow-paper-walkthrough-1/
  • Visual Guide to the Yellow Paper: https://takenobu-hs.github.io/downloads/ethereum_evm_illustrated.pdf

EVM and Data Structures

• Recursive Length Prefix: https://medium.com/coinmonks/data-structure-in-ethereum-episode-1-recursive-length-prefix-rlp-encoding-decoding-d1016832f919
• Write Up on Hexary Trie by ftruzzi: https://gist.github.com/ftruzzi/fe6c6735dbbfafa4994985879254a871
• EVM Opcodes: https://ethervm.io/
• RLPx Transport Protocol (i.e. How nodes communicate): https://github.com/ethereum/devp2p/blob/master/rlpx.md
• JSON-RPC Documentation(i.e How to interface with nodes): https://eth.wiki/json-rpc/API

Contributing to Ethereum Ecosystem

• EIP-1 (i.e. how Ethereum Improvement Proposals Work): https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-1
• Coding Languages & Repositories: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/#clients

Current Research and EIPS

• Research Forums: https://ethresear.ch/
• Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians: https://ethereum-magicians.org/
• EIPS: https://eips.ethereum.org/

Future of Ethereum

Scaling

• Block Chain Scalability: https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/05/23/scaling.html
• Stateless Ethereum: https://blog.ethereum.org/2019/12/30/eth1x-files-state-of-stateless-ethereum/
• Kate Commitments: https://hackmd.io/yqfI6OPlRZizv9yPaD-8IQ?view#Background

Sharding

• Overview: https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/shard-chains/
• Why Sharding? (Vitalik Buterin): https://vitalik.ca/general/2021/04/07/sharding.html

Proof of Stake

• Overview: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/consensus-mechanisms/pos/
• Why Proof of Stake? (Vitalik Buterin): https://vitalik.ca/general/2020/11/06/pos2020.html
• The Merge: https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/merge/
• Clients (Coding Languages of Ethereum 2): https://ethereum.org/en/eth2/get-involved/#clients

NFT Building Blocks

• ERC-721 Non-Fungible Token Standard: https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-721/
• ERC-1155 The Crypto Item Standard: https://blog.enjincoin.io/erc-1155-the-crypto-item-standard-ac9cf1c5a226