Progress update: developer training and the current technical landscape
In 2018, the Tezos Foundation announced a commitment to fund developer training with the goal of bringing at least 1,000 new developers into the Tezos ecosystem by the end of 2019. As we head into Q4, we are happy to share that over 840 developers have been trained in the past eight months.
Bringing more developers into the ecosystem is one of our highest priorities at TQ, a sentiment shared throughout the community and reflected in how the Tezos Foundation deploys grants. Through the 1,000 Developers initiative, the Foundation has supported education-focused projects and organizations around the world. This growth and interest from developers internationally is a vote of confidence for the Tezos protocol.
Developer tooling, new high level programming languages, and frameworks for writing smart contracts are being announced or updated nearly every week, laying the groundwork for a robust, diverse developer pool. The effects of establishing this foundation were already apparent at TQuorum: Berlin.
The conference, held on August 22nd, saw current and aspiring Tezos developers from around the world come together for a day of workshops and technical deep dives, covering topics like zk-SNARKs implementations, building Python-based applications, and different frameworks for smart contract development.
That day, on the main stage, TQ President Alison Mangiero gave us an update on the initiative:
Let’s unpack that number.
The training programs
Tezos Commons Capstone — 300
Tezos Commons developed their Capstone course as a readily accessible introduction to Tezos development tool. This free resource introduces the basic theories behind blockchain systems development and the Tezos protocol, and ends with participants building their own distributed application for the Tezos network. Over 300 developers have completed the Capstone course so far.
B9lab — 226
TQ Tezos, Nomadic Labs, Smart Chain Arena (developers of SmartPy), and Marigold (core developer team for LIGO) worked with the mentors at blockchain education and talent provider B9lab to develop curriculum for two parallel Tezos development tracks: Tezos 101 and Tezos Blockstars.
The Tezos 101 program introduces the fundamental computer science elements of blockchain protocols and covers the basics of how Tezos works. Tezos Blockstars provides advanced training for developers with a bit more experience looking to hit the ground running. The Tezos Foundation is sponsoring 500 seats in this end-to-end, developer training bootcamp. The first cohort (which began mid-August) has 226 participants and a second cohort is planned for November of this year.
Tezos Korea — 120
Tezos Korea’s recent Busan blockchain bootcamp saw 120 developers enroll and participate in the training program, with 47 earning high marks. The bootcamp covered the basics of blockchain development, writing and implementing smart contracts, and building simple decentralized applications.
Tezos Southeast Asia — 94
Tezos Southeast Asia strategically partnered with several top-tier universities and research institutions in the region to host several different Tezos training programs. Nearly 100 developers have completed the NTU Masterclass in Singapore and the Tezos training courses at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and Vietnam National University in Vietnam.
Nomadic Labs and Chain Accelerator — 61
In partnership with Nomadic Labs, the European startup accelerator Chain Accelerator has hosted several Tezos training programs, including a Tezos Basics course, an advanced Tezos Certification, an in-person workshop co-hosted with Tezos Israel, and a multi-day training program in Paris. An additional Paris workshop is planned for the near future. Onboarding and supporting more core developers is a high priority for the long-term growth of the Tezos protocol to prevent application development from outpacing core development.
TQ Tezos, IDEO CoLab x CoinList hackathon workshops — 41
Earlier this year, world-renowned design firm announced the launch of its Startup Studio, of which TQ Tezos and the Tezos Foundation are founding partners. IDEO popularized the ideas of design thinking and human-centered design, and established the Startup Studio as a way to help growing projects in the blockchain space cross the chasm towards mass adoption. To date, 41 developers have participated in training sessions TQ developed for participants in IDEO CoLab’s joint hackathon with CoinList as part of the Startup Studio program.
We believe that the blockchain industry has now reached the point where human-centered design and collaboration are needed to realize its full potential and make the leap from millions of enthusiasts to billions of everyday users.
— Startup Studio announcement
Total — 842
Across all of these programs, approximately 842 developers have received or are in the midst of receiving training to develop on Tezos. New developers are enrolling in Tezos-focused education programs every day, and even more are finding projects within the Tezos ecosystem that they like and are starting to ship code.
Recent announcements like the partnership with Satoshi’s Treasure and working with Truffle Suite to integrate their developer toolkit (the first time either project has expanded beyond BTC or Ethereum, respectively) further encourage new developers to join the Tezos ecosystem, and show the growing interest in the Tezos protocol from other communities.
With a second cohort of students in the B9lab Blockstars program, the growing Tezos communities in Africa, Europe, and South America, and the recent establishment of the Tezos India Foundation, the Tezos ecosystem is looking well on track to gain at least 1,000 new developers in 2019:
Stay tuned.
