Developing a Sample Cryptocurrency

A Step-by-Step Guide Using Truffle Framework

🚀 Complete Blockchain Development Setup

From Environment Setup to Contract Deployment

Hands-on Exercise 2: Ethereum Development on Windows

Development Environment Requirements

Essential Tools Needed:

Code Editor - Visual Studio Code
Source Control - Git integration
Unit Testing - Truffle framework
Debugging - Truffle debugger

Why Visual Studio Code?

✅ Excellent Git integration

✅ Works seamlessly with Truffle

✅ Great Solidity support

✅ Cross-platform availability

Note: Visual Studio Code is available on Windows, Mac & Linux and provides excellent support for Solidity smart contract development.

Installation Process

1Install Chocolatey

Launch PowerShell as administrator and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass
iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
            

2Install Development Tools

choco install visualstudiocode -y
choco install git -y
choco install nodejs -y
            

3Install Truffle Framework

npm install -g truffle

Important: Close and reopen PowerShell after each installation step!

Key Technologies Overview

🔧 Git

Version control system for tracking changes and coordinating work among developers

🟢 Node.js

JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 engine for scalable network applications

🏗️ Truffle Framework

World-class development environment and testing framework for Ethereum

💎 Solidity

Contract-oriented language for implementing smart contracts on Ethereum

Check Your Installation:

node -v
npm -v
truffle --version
            

Configuring VS Code for Blockchain Development

1Create Project Directory

mkdir TruffleTest; cd TruffleTest; code .

2Install Essential Extensions

Solidity - Smart contract development
Material Icon Theme - Better file visualization

🎯 Result

VS Code IDE integrated with PowerShell for complete Ethereum blockchain development environment

Pro Tip: The final command "code ." opens VS Code in the current directory!

Creating Your First Blockchain Application

🪙 Sample MetaCoin Cryptocurrency

We'll create a sample cryptocurrency using Truffle's built-in MetaCoin example:

truffle unbox metacoin

Generated Files:

📄 MetaCoin.sol

Main cryptocurrency contract

📄 ConvertLib.sol

Library for currency conversion

About Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): The EVM serves as a runtime environment for smart contracts based on Ethereum, ensuring secure and decentralized execution.

Compiling Smart Contracts

🔨 Compilation Process

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
truffle compile
            

Alternative: Use truffle.cmd compile if you encounter errors

Compilation Results:

After successful compilation, you'll see a new 'build' folder containing:

📄 ConvertLib.json - Compiled library
📄 MetaCoin.json - Compiled main contract
📄 Migrations.json - Deployment scripts

✅ Success Indicator

The appearance of JSON files in the build folder confirms successful compilation

Deploying the Contract

🚀 Truffle Development Environment

Launch the Truffle development console:

truffle develop

Development Environment Features:

🏦 10 pre-configured accounts
💰 100 ETH per account
🔐 Private keys provided
🧪 Simulated blockchain

Deploy the Contract:

migrate

Test the Contract:

test

Exit Console: Use Ctrl+D to exit the Truffle console

Summary

🎯 What You've Accomplished

🛠️ Environment Setup

✅ Chocolatey installation

✅ VS Code configuration

✅ Truffle framework

✅ Node.js and Git

💰 Smart Contract

✅ MetaCoin creation

✅ Contract compilation

✅ Local deployment

✅ Function testing

🔧 Advanced Features

✅ Web3 integration

✅ Transaction debugging

✅ Multi-network deployment

✅ Balance checking

🚀 Next Steps:

Deploy to mainnet, create custom tokens, implement additional features!