Anthony Campolo introduces Web3 technologies and demonstrates integrating a Svelte app with the Ethereum blockchain, explaining key concepts and implementation details.
Episode Summary
In this talk, Anthony Campolo provides an introduction to Web3 technologies, focusing on blockchain and its integration with web development. He explains core concepts like decentralization, smart contracts, and crypto wallets, contrasting them with traditional web architectures. Campolo demonstrates building a simple decentralized application (dApp) using Svelte for the frontend and Ethereum for the backend, walking through the process of writing and deploying a smart contract, connecting it to a web interface, and interacting with the blockchain. He discusses the benefits and challenges of Web3 development, including issues of security, user experience, and the current state of the ecosystem. The talk concludes with insights into potential future applications of blockchain technology beyond cryptocurrencies, such as in social media and content permanence.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction and Overview of Web3
Anthony Campolo introduces himself and sets the context for the presentation. He explains the basic concept of Web3, focusing on how it intersects with current web technologies, especially the Jamstack. Campolo draws parallels between decentralized blockchain systems and decentralized web architectures, highlighting how blockchain can serve as a backend API. He clarifies the difference between decentralization and decoupling in web architectures, and introduces key blockchain concepts like shared ledgers and consensus mechanisms. This chapter provides a foundational understanding of Web3 and its relationship to existing web development paradigms.
05:35 - Smart Contracts and Ethereum
This chapter delves into the concept of smart contracts, particularly focusing on Ethereum’s implementation. Campolo explains how Ethereum expanded on Bitcoin’s functionality by allowing developers to embed programs (smart contracts) directly into the blockchain. He discusses the immutability of smart contracts once deployed, and how this provides a level of security and stability not typically found in traditional software development. The chapter also touches on the concept of crypto wallets and how they’re used to interact with blockchains, emphasizing the user-centric nature of Web3 technologies compared to platform-centric Web2 technologies.
10:47 - Live Coding Demo: Building a Web3 Application
Anthony begins a live coding demonstration, showing how to build a simple Web3 application. He starts with a basic Svelte frontend and then introduces the blockchain elements. Campolo walks through the process of writing a smart contract in Solidity, Ethereum’s programming language, explaining key components like structs, arrays, and functions. He demonstrates how to use development tools like Hardhat to compile and deploy the smart contract to a test network (Ropsten). This chapter provides a practical, hands-on look at the development process for a Web3 application, bridging the gap between theory and implementation.
29:24 - Interacting with the Blockchain
This section focuses on how to interact with the deployed smart contract from a web application. Campolo demonstrates using libraries like ethers.js to connect the frontend to the blockchain, explaining concepts like providers, signers, and contract ABIs. He shows how to implement functionality like connecting a wallet, signing transactions, and calling smart contract functions from the frontend. This chapter highlights the unique aspects of Web3 development, such as handling wallet connections and transaction signing, which are not typically part of traditional web development.
44:16 - Deploying the Web3 Application
Anthony demonstrates how to deploy the Web3 application using Vercel, a popular Jamstack platform. He explains how the decoupled nature of the application allows the frontend to be deployed as a static website while still interacting with the blockchain backend. Campolo discusses the trade-offs between using fully decentralized solutions and leveraging centralized services for improved developer experience and performance. This chapter provides insights into the practical considerations of deploying and scaling Web3 applications.
54:49 - Q&A and Further Resources
The final chapter consists of a Q&A session where Anthony addresses audience questions about various aspects of Web3 development. He provides recommendations for learning resources, discusses potential future applications of blockchain technology beyond finance, and talks about emerging technologies like decentralized file storage (IPFS) and social networks built on blockchain. Campolo also touches on the challenges and opportunities in the Web3 space, encouraging developers to approach the technology with both excitement and critical thinking.
66:51 - Conclusion
In the concluding moments of the talk, Anthony Campolo wraps up the discussion by emphasizing the importance of staying open-minded about Web3 technologies. He acknowledges that while there are legitimate concerns and risks in the space, such as the recent collapse of the Terra blockchain, these issues don’t define the entire industry. Campolo encourages the audience to approach Web3 with a balanced perspective, recognizing both its potential and its challenges. He expresses enthusiasm for continued conversations on the topic and leaves the door open for future discussions. This final chapter underscores the evolving nature of Web3 and the ongoing dialogue surrounding its development and adoption in the tech community.