How To Create Your First Smart Contract with Ethereum

Maybe you hold some Ethereum earned through mining, staking, purchasing, etc. you’d like to cash out for US dollars to build capital. The easiest way to sell the crypto coins is through an exchange. The Ethereum price rose modestly, reaching a high of $ 1,512.92,with a current market cap of $ 185.14B USD, while the price of Bitcoin remains at $ 21,794.51 (it can also power smart contracts). It’s not always a good idea to cash out on your crypto profits, so if you want to put your tokens to good use, create a smart contract. Smart contracts can be used in various fields, from banking to healthcare, as they reduce and even eliminate the need for third-party intermediaries, becoming the building blocks for an entire ecosystem of decentralized applications. 

The ins and outs of technology might seem intimidating, but it’s really not that hard to create a smart contract and deploy it to the network. The difficulty doesn’t lie in building a smart contract; it’s understanding how it fits into the larger scheme of things and creating a business use case for it – it’s a fast, inexpensive, and safe way to execute arrangements. 

Connect To the Ethereum Mainnet

There are two ways to connect to the Ethereum Mainnet: via a hosted API service or your self-hosted Ethereum node. An API is similar to a platform because different entities can interact with one another; it takes a lot of effort and coding to produce such an application, but it’s not necessary to write the interface from scratch. Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain can connect to any API by integrating with the Chainlink oracle. A hosted API service runs the Ethereum node on your behalf, so you pay only for the API calls you receive and the amount of data transferred. 

An Ethereum node is a computer that runs the necessary software to connect to the Ethereum network. Running your own node provides many possibilities and new opportunities but involves technical issues, meaning it’s challenging and time-consuming. A node entering the network for the first time is introduced by a bootstrap node, the endpoint for which is hardcoded into Geth. Ethereum tokens are necessary for deploying the code. Even if the gas cost is insignificant, there’s no way to guarantee your smart contract doesn’t have security loopholes. 

Set Up Your Ethereum Wallet

MetaMask is a non-custodial wallet, so you have complete control over your access keys (and your funds) for convenience and safety. Install it on your browser and enable it. MetaMask bridges the gap between the user interface for Ethereum and the regular web, injecting a JavaScript library referred to as web3.js. It’s mainly used as a plugin in Chrome. After reading the terms and conditions, create a strong password. Carefully store the backup phrase, as it’s the only way to recover your funds if your device crashes or the browser resets. If you lose your seed phrase, your funds will be gone forever.  

Choose A Test Network 

Network testing is similar to software testing, meaning it’s meant to try out different improvements in the blockchain. A test network can be used for experimentation without the risk of losing real funds or causing harm to the main chain. Several test networks exist in the MetaMask wallet, such as the Robsten, Kovan, Rinkeby, and the Goerli Test network, and they behave similarly to the production of blockchain. You can develop your project on any of the aforementioned test networks. If you send crypto coins to the Ethereum Mainnet by mistake, you’ll lose your assets, so make sure your tokens arrive at the test net address. 

Fund The Wallet with Ethereum 

A smart contract is a type of Ethereum account, so it has a balance and can be the target of transactions. You’ll need to have some Ethereum in your wallet. Crypto coins can be purchased on decentralized exchanges and withdrawn to the wallet. If you already have Ethereum, go to your existing wallet and transfer the funds to the MetaMask public address. Once the transaction is finalized, the balance in your MetaMask wallet will be brought up to date. In case the balance doesn’t update, check the status of the transaction you’ve just submitted. The result is in Wei, not ETH, the smallest denomination. 

Write The Smart Contract in Solidity 

Smart contracts are usually written in Solidity, an object-oriented, high-level programming language inspired by JavaScript, C++, and Python. Of course, it’s not the only language you can use. A good example is Vyper, a promising alternative that safeguards against vulnerability. An integrated developer environment (IDE) plays a key role in creating the smart contract – you can edit, compile, and debug code within the same environment. An online IDE like Remix doesn’t require installation or prerequisites to get started, so you can start developing the smart contract right away. Remember that storage resides in the browser, which means it’s not permanent. 

Now, all you have to do is to initialize the project. Create a file with the .sol extension so that it’s Solidity-compatible. ERC-20.sol is the standard template for ERC-20 tokens used for issuing smart contracts on the blockchain. In case you didn’t already know, smart contract tokens are executed in the Ethereum Virtual Machine in a decentralized manner; an ERC-20 token acts just like ETH, so one token is equal to the other. Computing the contract requires resources, meaning that certain transactions require a small amount of gas to be paid. When you’re done, choose a version from the browser and compile the Solidity smart contract. 

Use Your Smart Contract 

Finally, yet importantly, use your smart contract by pressing the deploy button (wait until the transaction is complete). The address of the smart contract will appear immediately on the right-hand side of the browser; copy and paste the address, so you don’t lose it. You can use the smart contract for simple to complex endeavors, regardless of the industry or scenario.   Prevent DDoS attacks by ensuring all nodes have sufficient storage and processing power. Even if your smart contract is bug-free, threat actors can still find a way to exploit security loopholes, so carry out periodic penetration testing.