How documentation can create Web3 developers?

I was a naive, young and innocent software developer when years ago someone offered me my first job in Web3. I thought back then that Bitcoin and blockchain are synonyms and my reaction to the story of Satoshi was “lol, this dude had a trip”. What has changed?

I didn’t think back then that I will find my way into blockchain development. See, I used to study law which I dramatically dumped for becoming a developer. And here I was, at the new, where all the devs are speaking about… contracts. It was like a bad dream.

It took me some time to find blockchain appealing with its cryptography, and possibilities, but also current limitations and the space being predominantly taken by lots of white men who dreamt about being the Wolf of Wall Street 3.0. But that also pushed me to discover the space further.

And I’m happy to say that, still far from perfect, the blockchain space is a much more supportive and diverse space. There are more and more online courses and boot camps that offer the knowledge needed for the job, but also projects themselves are fighting with each other over selling their tech to the dev community. White Paper with short, mandatory documentation won’t make it anymore. Slowly the gate-keepers are lowering their guards and inviting Web2 devs and users to the table.

A big part of my job is to review and redesign documentation — mostly to not be just documentation anymore. Often it’s dedicated space with communities on Discord and Telegram, its own name developers’ hub, portal, space. Those need to offer much more than a script to run a node. Tutorials are essential, creating dapps, often has a browser version to test code or even learn a specific, dedicated to the project language.

In recent years, I was created as a Developer Advocate and the whole branch of developer relations evolved into the days when projects finally know how to speak with developers. I envy today's developers with the blockchain space much better prepared for their involvement. It makes the process so much easier!

My recent discovery is the take that Algorand took on their documentation. They launched Challenges, where you choose between 2 popular languages (JavaScript and Python) and solve challenges within the browser to catch achievements. The gamification sold me right up, the badge can hook me up on Playstation, Steam, and now — on the blockchain after my working hours.

I have seen similar projects on Coursera or Udemy, but they are often paid and focused on a broader spectrum — which is great for a longer time commitment, but not so much if you just want to check one, specific project. I would love to see more projects following this idea to introduce their tech.

You can’t anymore think that great tech will defend itself because, in the sea of great projects and ideas, every obstacle counts. If Algorand lets me easily play around within the browser — why would I bother to invest in a project, were setting up “Hello, World” will take me half an hour?

Feel free to drop in the comments documentation that caught your attention and actually attracted you enough to test it.