• King's College London logo
  • Quant Network

A Beginner’s Guide to Becoming a Blockchain Developer with Overledger

Discover the basics of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies to unlock exciting new career paths.

2,652 enrolled on this course

A black and white city skyline with orange lines connecting each building.
  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    6 hours

Understand the main components of distributed ledgers and blockchains

With the rise of the digital economy, it’s no surprise that cryptocurrencies and blockchains are growing in popularity.

This three-week course from King’s College London and Quant Network will empower you with an understanding of how blockchains and distributed ledgers work as well as their advantages over centralised ledgers.

Once you’ve completed this course, you will have the foundational knowledge that you need to become a blockchain developer.

Be introduced to cryptocurrencies

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence. On this course, you will learn how to develop programs to send and receive payments for BTC, ETH, and XRP.

Importantly, you will also learn about the groundbreaking distributed ledger technology that these cryptocurrencies are built on.

Learn how to build programs that interact with distributed ledger technology

Applications built on distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are more transparent, promote decentralised control, and are more resilient to software crashes as well as malicious actors.

On this course, you’ll gain the skills needed to create your own applications and programs that can interact with and be built on DLTs.

Study with the specialists at King’s College London and Quant Network

The King’s College Department of Informatics has a long-established leadership in the Distributed Artificial Intelligence domain, which is closely related to blockchain.

Coupled with the DLT know-how of Quant Network, these experts are the perfect guides to help you become a blockchain developer.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Introduction to Distributed Ledger Technologies

    • Ledgers

      We first must gain an understanding on what centralised and distributed ledgers are. Only after which can we understand what distributed ledger technologies can offer.

    • Distributed Ledger Technologies

      Now that we have introduced ledgers, centralised ledgers and distributed ledgers, we can start to dive deeper into the different components of distributed ledger technologies.

    • Week Wrap Up

      We complete this week with a discussion and quiz.

  • Week 2

    Distributed Ledger Technology Data Structures

    • Introduction

      A brief introduction on why asset tracking models are important in distributed ledger technologies

    • The Unspent Transaction Output Model

      In this section, you will learn how the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model affects how transactions are formatted, how the current state is structured and how smart contracts are written

    • The Accounts Model

      In this section, you will learn how the Accounts model affects how transactions are formatted, how the current state is structured and how smart contracts are written

    • Week Wrap Up

      We complete this week with a discussion and quiz.

  • Week 3

    Cryptography in Distributed Ledger Technologies

    • Introduction

      In this section, you will be introduced at a high level to the relevant cryptography background.

    • Cryptography in Distributed Ledger Technologies

      In this section, you will be learn about the cryptography that is used in distributed ledger technologies and why it is used.

    • Course Wrap Up

      We complete this week and this course with a summary, discussion and quiz.

When would you like to start?

  • Date to be announced

Add to Wishlist to be emailed when new dates are announced

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Demonstrate an understanding on what is a ledger and what advantages ledgers implemented in a distributed manner have over ledgers implemented in a centralised manner.
  • Develop knowledge of the main components of distributed ledger and blockchain technologies.
  • Code your first programs utilising blockchain technologies.
  • Identify the differences between the two main distributed ledger technology asset tracking models, the first being the unspent transaction ouput (UTXO) model, and the second being the accounts model.
  • Investigate the different uses of cryptography in distributed ledger technologies.
  • Design blockchain applications that use Quant's Overledger API Gateway.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for computer scientists or software engineers who would like to explore avenues in blockchain and distributed ledger technology that could lead to new opportunities.

Who will you learn with?

Luke is the head of innovation at Quant Network, a leading company for developing blockchain interoperability solutions.

He has been identified as a key influencer in the UK blockchain industry in 2021

Carmine is a Professor of Computer Science at King's College London, where his research interests include algorithmic game theory, microeconomics and trading in financial markets

Researcher at INESC-ID and Ph.D. student at Técnico Lisboa, studying the intersection of blockchain interoperability and security.

Who developed the course?

King's College London

King’s College London, established in 1829 and a founding college of the University of London, is one of the world’s leading research and teaching universities, based in the very heart of London.

Quant

Quant is the future of finance. Today.

We unlock the power of blockchain for everyone, by delivering interoperable ecosystems and real-world solutions that simply work: lowering costs, enabling new business and mitigating risk.

We work with financial institutions, regulators, multinational companies, and the consultants and fintech developers who support them, to deliver enterprise-grade technology built with security and compliance front of mind.

To find out more, visit quant.network

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

Learner reviews

Learner reviews cannot be loaded due to your cookie settings. Please and refresh the page to view this content.

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...

You can use the hashtag #BlockchainIsBetterWithOverledger to talk about this course on social media.