What It Really Means to Be a Blockchain Developer

이준범 — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 02:08:36 +0000

What exactly does a blockchain developer do?

⁉️ Smart contracts? Mainnets? Wallets? Nodes?

Since I began blockchain development in 2017 and have worked in many different areas since then, I’ve come to realize that “blockchain developer” isn’t a single role but rather splits into multiple fields—each demanding its own technologies and way of thinking. Here, I’ve distilled the six key domains I’ve tackled.

I’ll briefly introduce what skills each area requires, along with its level of difficulty and its appeal.

I hope this is helpful for anyone curious about blockchain development, considering a switch to become a blockchain developer, or wanting to understand how the field breaks down.

👇 View the full article:
What It Really Means to Be a Blockchain Developer(https://0xshardlab.substack.com/p/what-it-really-means-to-be-a-blockchain)

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junbeom-lee-6a3750234/

Key insights from implementing zk-SNARK from scratch

이준범 — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 01:57:04 +0000

I recently took on the challenge of implementing a zk-SNARK — not just studying the theory, but writing the full end-to-end code myself.

Going through the full flow — from R1CS to QAP, trusted setup, and pairing-based verification — helped me understand how all the pieces fit together in a much clearer way.

Here are the key insights I gained through that process:

1️⃣ Break down the logic you want to prove into multiple constraints
For example, the equation (x + 1) * (x + 2) = 12 can be broken into: Let a = x + 1, b = x + 2, then enforce a * b = 12.

2️⃣ Combine all constraints into a single polynomial and check it at one point
Each constraint is turned into a polynomial, and they’re all combined into a single equation. Instead of checking every constraint one by one, you only need to check that this combined equation equals zero at a single random point.

3️⃣ Verify computations without revealing actual values — by committing them on the curve
To prove 1 + 2 = 3 without revealing any values, you commit to g¹, g², and g³, and verify that g¹ * g² = g³ (i.e., g^(1+2) = g^3) using a pairing check.

I wrote a post summarizing the full implementation process for anyone trying to understand zk-SNARKs not just conceptually, but also through actual working code

📄 Documentation: https://0xshardlab.substack.com/p/zk-snarks-understand-it-then-build
💻 Implementation: https://github.com/shard-lab/protocol-camp/tree/main/zk/zksnark

Forem: 이준범

What It Really Means to Be a Blockchain Developer

Key insights from implementing zk-SNARK from scratch