A self-study cohort program organized on Programming Bitcoin.
It's an in-depth tutorial series using bitcoin-cli and bitcoind in regtest via the command-line. We'll be there to support you as you cover very basic to advanced
bitcoin-cli operations and learn with a community of enthusiastic people.
It's a comprehensive Bitcoin technical handbook, that also leaves the reader with a handmade python Bitcoin utility library.
Apply here: https://www.bitshala.org/apply
In short during the cohort, you go through the material from Programing Bitcoin each week as detailed in Cohort Structure and Timeline and meet every week to discuss the material and any questions you might have. You'll also get exercise questions to help you understand the content better.
Programming Bitcoin is a comprehensive technical handbook that teaches you how to use Bitcoin Core through the command line. The series covers all the essential Bitcoin operations that can be performed using the bitcoin-cli and a local bitcoind regtest node. Starting from basic transaction construction to advanced scripting, this tutorial is a must-read for aspiring Bitcoin developers.
Upon successful completion of the cohort program, participants will receive a certificate recognizing their proof-of-work.
Programming Bitcoin is a comprehensive Bitcoin technical handbook that covers all the basic building blocks of Bitcoin engineering, via hands on python code as exercise, after each chapters.
A Complete follow-though of this will leave any experienced developer to quickly get started on building on Bitcoin Layer 1. They can either follow python, or choose a library in their own preferred language.
The Program will consists of
- Weekly chapter assignments from the book.
- Weekly assignment questions for each participants.
- End of week exercise completion target of the weekly chapters.
Participants are expected to have a basic knowledge of Bitcoin. Prior to joining the cohort, it is recommended to cover the material in the book Mastering Bitcoin.
Basic python skill assumed. Brush up via this youtube.
The cohort program will comprehensively cover chapters 1 to 14 of Programing Bitcoin.
Cohort mode is self-study. Participants are expected to find committed weekly reading time, proactive in asking questions, exploring more literatures on open web, prepare their assigned questions and explain to peers in weekly study groups, complete and post exercises consistently by end of week.
After the cohort, participants are encouraged to stick around the discord channel and keep following up on their possible paths. Make friends, share ideas, start group side projects.
The cohort program spans 8 weeks and follows the schedule outlined below:
| Week | PB Chapters | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Week 0 (20 Oct) | Introduction | - |
| Week 1 (21 Oct - 27 Nov) | Chapters 1 and 2 | Finite Fields and Elliptic Curves |
| Week 2 (28 Oct - 3 Nov) | Chapters 3 | Elliptic Curve Cryptography |
| Week 3 (4 Nov - 10 Nov) | Chapters 4 and 5 | Serializations and Transactions |
| Week 4 (11 Nov - 17 Nov) | Chapters 6 and 7 | Scripts and Transaction Validation |
| Week 5 (18 Nov - 24 Nov) | Chapters 8 and 9 | P2SH and Blocks |
| Week 6 (25 August - 1 Dec) | Chapters 10 and 11 | Networking and SPV |
| Week 7 (2 Dec - 8 Dec) | Chapter 12 and 13 | Bloom filter Segwit |
| Week 8 (9 Dec - 15 Dec) | Conclusion and Next Step |
The structure of the cohort program is designed for self-study. Each week, participants will be assigned to a group to receive questions related to the scheduled chapters. Participants are expected to study the material, prepare answers to their questions, and actively participate in the weekly group discussion sessions, where they will explain their answers to other participants.
Following the group discussion, Bitshala Teaching Assistants (TAs) will be available for doubt-clearing sessions, providing an opportunity to ask additional questions and clarify any doubts that arose during the study session.
After the group session, participants will be given programming exercises based on the weekly study content. Participants are expected to complete and submit the exercises within the designated time-frame.
The cohort begins on the 27th October 2023. Note the important cohort program timings:
Weekly Group Session: Fridays, 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM (IST).
Weekly Exercise Submission Due: Before Sunday, 12:00 AM (Midnight, IST).
To apply for the cohort program, please apply here. We look forward to providing you with an incredible learning experience at Bitshala!
Join our public Discord to stay connected with all Bitshala activities. We have a private channel for this cohort and will send further instructions on how to join once you've filled this form. Feel free to message us on Bitshala's discord server for any help! (or @raj on Bitshala's discord server for private concerns)
- Read this explainer tutorial on how to reach "Join a Server section" in Discord.
- In the "Join a Server section" in Discord, use this invite code -
atjEPVTdsQto join our server. (not posting web links to keep bots away :p)