Rust Entrance Exam, my journey to the Academy
~dwulf
Harry Potter Academy of Polkadot Magic
On January 10th the Academy begins for 4 weeks in Buenos Aires. Dr. Gavin Wood will be teaching and going over all the core issues of the Polkadot eco-system.
This is my 2nd attempt to get registered, the first time I was a little shaky on if I would be able to get my passport in time, now more than ever I have to obtain it as this opportunity is not remote, it is live and on site, but I registered anyway as I am in good spirits and am hopeful there will be no snags.
Yes entry is free but not free, there will be a test of core Rust comprehension to enter the academy.
Pain Points
As with all things of a technical nature one has to illustrate technical aptitude before being allowed to participate, sure Web3 is flipping the bill but as I have learned over the years, one still needs a level of skills to pay those bills. After all I didn’t expect a free lunch.
This will come in the form of a Rust test, most likely to test our understanding of first principles and code concepts. I am new to Rust, but my stack has been JavaScript and Python with C/C++ in my youth.
Not to fear, dwulf has got your back. At minimum, you will need to be familiar with Chapters 1 through 11 and specifically Chapter 13 and 19 of the ipso facto Rust Book.
We will explore the minimum Rust Book details, first, but bleed into the rest of the Rust Book. I want to keep hyper focused on Rust in relation to Substrate at first.
The instructors for the Polkadot Developer Academy are explicitly clear on the level of expectation Rust is to play. Not only in the Academy, but into the crux of Substrate itself. Rust, is devoid of conventional memory errors simply based on its implementation to the compiler.
I must say, coming from JavaScript and Python, Rust is much more hard core and above all strict. Too JavaScript developers coming into Rust, I would advise to learn TypeScript well and Python developers will have to be more strict in their coding standards.
The Academy Road Map
Module 1 Cryptography
Module 2 Interdisciplinary Concepts for Decentralized Systems Developers
Module 3 Blockchain and Consensus
Module 4 Substrate
Module 5 Polkadot, Cumulus, and Parachains
Module 6 Pallets and FRAME
Module 7 XCM-Cross Consensus Message Format
Groking the data
I think I am solid on Module 1 through 3, the meat and potatoes are in Module 4 though 7. Once I master Pallets and FRAME, XCM. I think XVM Cross Virtual Machine, EVM and WASM can interact with each other, but that is beyond the scop of the Academy.
Astar Ambassador Program
It seemed the logical place to go, around 3 years ago I applied to be a Polkadot Ambassador, and even did a few meetups in Oregon area. A very low turnout for just Polkadot and Substrate, and almost no independent Rust developers. Mostly, people that came were “accidently” rich, trying to figure out how to deal with the IRS, if at all. One guy had his house taken away by the IRS.
As a ambassador I tried to teach using polkadot.js wallet and keep that wallet non-KYC, until an appropriate KYC like alternative could be a para-chain (like Kilt’s Decentralized ID, aka. DID). But most of it was simply over everybody's head, with the Polkadot.js the Stash and Controller addresses became confusing.
Flash forward today, I joined Astar’s Ambassador Program, to delve into a better understanding of not only Rust and Substrate for the Academy, but also the relation of EVM and WASM with Ink! for smart contracts.
With the recent negotiations and partnership with Astar and NTT DOCOMO (Japan), I am hoping to promote Astar technology in the USA, and contract out to develop Ink! contracts for business clients.
Making a name with The Polkadot Name System
But speaking of KYC and a case for branding one’s label, I would like to consider the Polkadot Name System (PNS), during my write up I got a chance to listen to the Polkadot Ambassadors audio, and PNS came up.
I don’t know much about it, other than they assign DID brands to a ‘.dot’ domain. I like this idea because, it is a way on-chain to know a person’s authentication without their personal identification, you can readily surmise that a user with a PNS brand, is more or less that user or LLC entity of that user.
The biggest crime with KYC mandates is personal information is “compromised” and often in the clear, even encrypted, some one else holds the decryption keys, and it is not the user, but the 3rd party exchange, or broker.
With a name system, a user can buy a shingle to identify the user by showcasing their brand, and not giving access to social security numbers, birth dates, residency, and mother’s maiden names.
If regulators want to take issue with it, I would argue it is a fair compromise to blanket KYC over everybody. Those that want to brand, and self identify, to establish trust (there's that word again) are able to and those that don’t want to brand themselves and feel that is too doxing for them, won’t.
Come together, over Substrate
So that brings me back to my Rust Substrate journey, being an ambassador for Polkadot, Astar, etc. only illustrates my interest in growing in this ecosystem and at the end of the day I just want to be recognized and work with better minds within this ecosystem.
I think the best way is to build out a Git repo, so contributions can be measured and recorded, shows activity and aligns will with the Polkadot Payroll system being built. Of course, our activity on Medium is also a way to illustrate contributions but I think eventually Github will be the main path to get paid.
It is a bit techy, but the nature of these blockchains are technical. I think with Ink! and smart contracts this will enable us to build user friendly systems.
Conclusion
Going deep into Rust and specifically on Substrate and Ink! Quite frankly the best time to get in. My only thing is to strengthen AWS, and Linode cloud services and conventional DevOps. Rust is needed, yes, but spinning out validators for staking and validating requires good management of non-metal servers also, because your personal pinhole to the Internet may be subject to your ISP.
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