Web3 Deep Understanding - Expanded Project Guides

Web3 Deep Understanding - Expanded Project Guides

This directory contains comprehensive, deep-dive project guides expanded from the Web3 Deep Understanding project-based learning path. Each project is designed to build fundamental understanding of blockchain and decentralized systems from first principles.

Philosophy

Web3 represents a paradigm shift from centralized to decentralized systems. These projects don’t just teach you how to use Web3 technologies—they teach you why they exist and how each component works at a fundamental level.

The traditional web (Web2) has fundamental problems:

  • Trust: You must trust centralized entities (banks, tech companies) not to manipulate data
  • Censorship: Single points of control can deny access
  • Ownership: You don’t truly own your digital assets; you rent access
  • Privacy: Your data is harvested and monetized without consent

Web3 solves these through cryptographic guarantees and decentralized consensus—code that enforces rules without requiring trust in any party.

Project Index

Phase 1: Cryptographic Foundations

# Project Language Difficulty Description
01 Cryptographic Hash Function Visualizer Rust Intermediate Implement SHA-256 from scratch with step-by-step visualization
02 ECDSA Digital Signature Implementation Rust Expert Complete ECDSA using secp256k1 curve for Bitcoin/Ethereum signatures
03 Merkle Tree Library Go Intermediate Build Merkle trees for trustless verification and light clients

Phase 2: Blockchain Core

# Project Language Difficulty Description
04 Build a Blockchain from Scratch Go Advanced Complete blockchain with blocks, transactions, and P2P networking
05 Proof of Work Miner C Advanced Multi-threaded PoW miner with difficulty adjustment
06 HD Wallet (BIP-32/BIP-39) Rust Expert Hierarchical deterministic wallet with mnemonic seed phrases
07 Bitcoin Transaction Parser Rust Advanced Decode raw Bitcoin transactions, scripts, and SegWit data

Phase 3: Smart Contracts & Execution

# Project Language Difficulty Description
08 Simple EVM Implementation Rust Master Minimal Ethereum Virtual Machine with stack, memory, and storage
09 ERC-20 Token from Scratch Solidity Intermediate Complete ERC-20 implementation with deployment and interaction

Phase 4: DeFi & NFTs

# Project Language Difficulty Description
10 Automated Market Maker (AMM/DEX) Solidity Expert Uniswap V2 clone with constant product formula
11 NFT Marketplace Solidity + TypeScript Advanced Complete marketplace with listings, auctions, and royalties
12 DAO Governance System Solidity Advanced Full governance with proposals, voting, delegation, and timelock

Phase 5: Scaling & Infrastructure

# Project Language Difficulty Description
13 Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup Rust + Solidity Master Simplified rollup with fraud proofs and deposit/withdrawal bridges
14 Smart Contract Security Scanner Python Expert Static analysis tool for common vulnerabilities
15 Decentralized Storage Client Go Expert IPFS-like content-addressed storage with DHT and P2P transfer

Phase 6: Security & Tooling

# Project Language Difficulty Description
16 Multi-Signature Wallet Solidity Advanced Gnosis Safe clone with M-of-N signatures and owner management
17 Flash Loan Implementation Solidity Expert Flash loan pool with arbitrage bot example
18 Block Explorer TypeScript Intermediate Etherscan clone with indexing and transaction decoding

Capstone Project

# Project Language Difficulty Description
19 Full Ethereum Client Rust Master Complete Ethereum client with P2P, sync, EVM, and JSON-RPC

Beginner Track (if new to Web3)

  1. P01 → P03 → P09 → P18

Blockchain Developer Track

  1. P01 → P02 → P03 → P04 → P05 → P06 → P07

Smart Contract Developer Track

  1. P01 → P03 → P09 → P10 → P11 → P12 → P16 → P17

Protocol Engineer Track

  1. All projects in order, culminating in P19

Security Researcher Track

  1. P01 → P02 → P08 → P09 → P10 → P14 → P17

Core Concepts Matrix

Concept Area Projects That Cover It
Cryptography P01, P02, P06
Data Structures P03, P04, P07
Consensus P04, P05, P13
State Machines P08, P09
Economics/Game Theory P10, P12, P17
Security P02, P14, P16, P17
Networking P04, P15, P19
Scaling P13

Essential Resources

Books

  • “Mastering Bitcoin” by Andreas Antonopoulos
  • “Mastering Ethereum” by Antonopoulos & Wood
  • “Serious Cryptography” by Jean-Philippe Aumasson
  • “Designing Data-Intensive Applications” by Martin Kleppmann

Online Resources

Security


Remember: in Web3, you don’t have to trust—you can verify. And once you’ve built these projects, you’ll know exactly what you’re verifying.