Basics of Blockchain You Must Know

Phase 1 — Daily Schedule:
7:00 AM — Wake up, exercise (30 min)
8:00 AM — Review the day's learning goals
9:00 AM — Learn + practice (2 hours)
   - Week 1: What is a blockchain?
   - Week 2: Blocks & hashes
   - Week 3: Consensus
   - Week 4: Wallets & keys
12:00 PM — Lunch break
1:00 PM — Hands-on practice (2 hours)
   - Explore block explorers, read tx data, set up test wallet
3:00 PM — Mentor check-in / doubt session (30 min)
4:00 PM — Assignment work (1 hour)
5:00 PM — Review notes, plan tomorrow
6:00 PM — Break / exercise
8:00 PM — Read blockchain docs / blogs (30 min)
10:00 PM — Wind down

Week 1 Review:
□ Can I explain blockchain in plain English?
□ Do I understand the difference between a blockchain and a database?
□ Do I understand why decentralisation matters?

Week 2 Review:
□ Do I know what a hash function does?
□ Do I understand how blocks link together?
□ Can I draw a 3-block chain?

Week 3 Review:
□ Do I understand what consensus means?
□ Can I compare PoW and PoS?
□ Do I understand what a 51% attack is?

Week 4 Review:
□ Do I know the difference between public and private keys?
□ Can I create a test wallet?
□ Can I read a transaction on a block explorer?

Phase 2 — Daily Schedule:
7:00 AM — Wake up, exercise (30 min)
8:00 AM — Review the day's learning goals
9:00 AM — Learn + practice (2 hours)
   - Week 5: What is Ethereum?
   - Week 6: Solidity basics
   - Week 7: Deploy & test
   - Week 8: Gas, security & wallets
12:00 PM — Lunch break
1:00 PM — Hands-on practice (2 hours)
   - Write contracts, deploy to testnet, inspect transactions
3:00 PM — Mentor check-in / doubt session (30 min)
4:00 PM — Assignment work (1 hour)
5:00 PM — Review notes, plan tomorrow
6:00 PM — Break / exercise
8:00 PM — Read Solidity docs / blogs (30 min)
10:00 PM — Wind down

Week 5 Review:
□ Do I understand why Ethereum matters?
□ Do I know what a smart contract is?
□ Can I explain EVM in one sentence?

Week 6 Review:
□ Can I write a Solidity contract?
□ Do I understand functions and state?
□ Have I deployed a "Hello, World" contract?

Week 7 Review:
□ Do I understand what a testnet is?
□ Have I deployed to Sepolia or Mumbai?
□ Can I inspect a deployment on a block explorer?

Week 8 Review:
□ Do I understand what gas is?
□ Can I spot basic reentrancy pitfalls?
□ Have I connected a MetaMask wallet to a contract?

Phase 3 — Daily Schedule:
7:00 AM — Wake up, exercise (30 min)
8:00 AM — Review the day's goals
9:00 AM — Learn / build (2 hours)
   - Week 9: Real use cases
   - Week 10: Mini project
   - Week 11: Portfolio & interviews
   - Week 12: Applications
12:00 PM — Lunch break
1:00 PM — Hands-on build (2 hours)
3:00 PM — Mentor check-in / feedback (30 min)
4:00 PM — Applications & follow-ups (1 hour)
5:00 PM — Review progress, plan tomorrow
6:00 PM — Break / exercise
8:00 PM — Read Web3 news / blogs (30 min)
10:00 PM — Wind down

Week 9 Review:
□ Do I understand at least 3 real use cases?
□ Do I know which domain interests me most?
□ Have I read one whitepaper or case study?

Week 10 Review:
□ Is my mini project deployed?
□ Is it on GitHub with a README?
□ Can I demo it to a friend?

Week 11 Review:
□ Is my portfolio published?
□ Have I done 5 mock interviews?
□ Can I explain my project clearly?

Week 12 Review:
□ Have I applied to 20+ roles?
□ Have I attended interviews?
□ Have I followed up?

Blockchain cheatsheet — the terms you'll hear:

Block:
A bundle of transactions linked to the previous block.

Hash:
A fixed-size "fingerprint" of data. Change one byte,
hash changes completely.

Consensus:
How nodes agree on what the next block should be
(PoW, PoS, etc.).

Wallet:
A tool that holds private keys and lets you sign
transactions.

Public key / address:
What you share to receive funds.

Private key / seed phrase:
What you must NEVER share. Whoever has it,
controls the wallet.

Gas:
The fee paid to execute a transaction or contract.

Smart contract:
Code deployed to a blockchain that runs
automatically when called.

dApp:
A decentralised application that talks to a
blockchain via a wallet.

L2 (Layer 2):
A faster/cheaper chain built on top of an L1,
e.g. Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync.

Starter contract — Hello.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

contract Hello {
    string private message;

    event MessageChanged(string newMessage, address changedBy);

    constructor(string memory initialMessage) {
        message = initialMessage;
    }

    function setMessage(string memory newMessage) public {
        message = newMessage;
        emit MessageChanged(newMessage, msg.sender);
    }

    function getMessage() public view returns (string memory) {
        return message;
    }
}

Deploy this on Remix to the Sepolia testnet
to see the full flow: compile → deploy →
interact → inspect on Etherscan.

Weekly Learning Tracker:

Week: _____
Topics covered:
1. 
2. 
3. 

Contracts written: _____
Testnet deploys: _____
Articles read: _____

What I learned:
1. 
2. 

What needs more practice:
1. 
2. 

Next week's focus:
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