Best EVM learning resources based on your level of expertise

Best EVM learning resources based on your level of expertise

If you are a Solidity developer struggling to wrap your head around the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), this one is for YOU.

EVM can be a tricky topic to tackle, but it's also an imperative one if you want to excel in the web3 world as a developer.

As a smart contract developer working on EVM chains, understanding EVM will set you apart from others and help you write more robust, efficient contracts

Why?

Because thatโ€™s what sets you apart from others & helps you write better, secure & efficient contracts.

While there are a few approaches to learning EVM effectively while being consistent with it for a significant amount of time (๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ), the very first one is quite imperative, i.e.,

๐Ÿช„ Understand your current level of expertise in EVM and Get Started.

Last year, I embarked on a journey to learn the core concepts of EVM, low-level opcodes, and advanced Solidity.

I spent hours gathering the right resources, dividing them into specific levels, documenting my own learnings, and also creating an EVM-Opcodes Puzzle Game.

While I'll delve into all the details of my EVM learning journey soon, this one is more about Getting you started with the right resources, ASAP.

Select your EVM Level and Get Started. ๐Ÿ‘‡

Level ZERO: You just heard about EVM

So you have been dabbling around the world of smart contracts and the Ethereum blockchain, and you just came across the fact that there is something called an EVM that lies at the heart of it all.

And, this ignites your curiosity.

Well, you are now officially at the very first step towards learning about this super interesting machine called the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

๐Ÿ’ก
Note: Even if you are not a technical person, the Level-Zero resources are super simple and will help you get an eagle-eye perspective of what EVM is.Moving forward with the next steps is completely your choice but no harm in getting started, right?

Articles

  1. Preethi Kasireddy's Tweet Thread on EVM being Turing Complete
  2. The ABCs of Ethereum Virtual Machine
  3. A Beginner's Friendly guide for EVM by BYBIT Learn
  4. One more Tweet Thread by Preethi on explaining EVM/Ethereum as a State machines
  5. Another Tweet thread HERE
  6. Basic Intro to EVM by Matt Hussey
  7. Getting Deep into EVM by Vaibhav Saini

Videos

  1. What is EVM by Whiteboard Crypto?

2. Another amazing intro level can be found HERE and another one HERE

Level 1: Understanding EVM Architecture & Components

Alright, now that you have the gist of what EVM is, it's time to move to Step 1.

It must be noted that things do get a bit technical from here but also super interesting.

Articles

Videos

  1. Ethereum Explained: THE EVM Jordan McKinney [ A must watch ]

2. EVM - Some Assembly Required by Alex

Level 2: Diving Deep into the world of EVM

At this point, you should have:

  • an eagle-eye perspective of what EVM is, and
  • A good understanding of some of its core components like stack, memory, storage, etc.

At Level 3, you put all this together and dive in deep into EVM working mechanisms.

This is the most crucial LEVEL and the 2 imperative things to keep in mind at this level are:

Iterations and Patience

Iterations because you might have to (and should ) iterate over the resources linked below multiple times to create a strong mental model around it. Trust me, there is nothing wrong with iterating until you understand adequately.

Patience because it might be frustrating to iterate over the same articles again and again. However, in the end, what matters is whether or not you understand it adequately enough to teach it to other developers.

So be patient, this level will take some time.

Alright, here is the list of resources for this LEVEL. ๐Ÿ‘‡

EVM Article Series

  1. Openzeppelin's Series

2. Noxx's Series

3. Howard's EVM Series

5. Decipher EVM articles

  • Journey of Smart Contract from Solidity Code to Bytecode - 1st Section
  • Journey of Smart Contract from Solidity Code to Bytecode - 2nd Section
Ethereum Virtual Machine - Article Series
EVM Part I: The ABCs of Ethereum Virtual MachineA beginner-friendly quick-start guide to the Ethereum Virtual Machine and its working mechanisms.Decipher with ZaryabMd Zaryab AfserEVM Part II: The Journey of Smart Contracts from Solidity code to Bytecode - 1st SectionAn extensive guide to understandโ€ฆ

4. Parts from official Solidity Documentation

Stand-alone Articles, Tweet Threads

  1. On EVM Storage

2. Others

Videos

  1. EVM: From Solidity to bytecode, memory and storage by Ethereum Engineering Group Meetup

2. Ethereum Under the Hood by ETHWarsaw

3. Demystifying EVM Opcodes from ETHGlobal


Level 3: Playing with EVM and Opcodes

The EVM learning journey is incomplete without testing your knowledge of EVM and Opcodes.

Try these puzzle/CTF games if you believe you are already in LEVEL 4 of the EVM learning curve.

Here comes Decipher EVM Puzzles game for all Smart Contract Devs
A collection of EVM puzzles that helps you understand EVM opcodes effectively by simply solving puzzles.

Get started with your EVM learning journey now.

Hope this was of some help. ๐Ÿ˜Š

Drop your fav EVM resources in the comment.

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