Various blockchain platforms allow developers to develop and deploy smart contracts. Ethereum is one of the best blockchain platforms that execute smart contracts through arbitrary code. This arbitrary code helps people perform any function on the Ethereum chain as per their requirements. Ethereum is a blockchain with distributed infrastructure to facilitate your project completion via smart contracts. You can do the following functions on Ethereum using a smart contract:
- Mint your cryptocurrencies
- Build virtual organizations
- Develop dApps
- Raise funds
With so much to do with a smart contract on Ethereum, let’s now learn about creating a smart contract on Ethereum.
How to create a smart contract on Ethereum?
Before we get into the process of creating a smart contract, let us understand the execution ecosystem first. The execution environment has an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The purpose of this EVM is to work as a runtime system for smart contracts, and EVM can be understood as a world supercomputer that executes all the smart contracts on Ethereum.
Another component of the execution ecosystem is gas. In the EVM, gas is a unit for measuring the assigning fees to every single transaction processed using a smart contract. Every calculation happening in the EVM requires some specific amount of gas, and as the calculation gets complex, the need for more gas increases relatively.
Then another important component of the execution environment is Solidity. It is a programming language used for writing smart contracts on Ethereum. Solidity helps the Ethereum users perform arbitrary computations, but it is also utilized to trade the tokens and store the states.
Now that we are familiar with the fundamental components of the execution environment let’s dive into the steps of creating a smart contract on Ethereum,
Step 1
Start by installing MetaMask on your chrome browser. After it is installed, click on the MetaMask icon that is on the right side of the browser page. By clicking on that, you will be taken to a new tab of the web browser.
Continue by clicking on the ‘create wallet’ option and then agree to the terms and conditions of the wallet. Then create a password for your wallet.
After you are done with the password creation, you will receive a secret backup phrase for account restoration and backup. Then look for the checkmark next to ‘Main Ethereum Network.’
Step 2
Select any one test network from the ones mentioned below:
- Kovan Test Network
- Rinkeby Test Network
- Goerli Test Network
- Robsten Test Network
To test a smart contract, you need to have dummy Ethers in your wallet. Click on the deposit option and then the get Ether option under the Test Faucet.
To continue, click on ‘request one Ether from the Faucet.’ This will add a dummy Ether to your MetaMask wallet.
After you are done with adding dummy Ethers to your MetaMask wallet, you can begin with writing the smart contract in solidity programming language on the Remix Browser IDE.
Visit: https://remix.ethereum.org. ;
and start writing your smart contract code.
Step 4
Create a .sol extension file by opening the Remix browser and then clicking on the top left side of the browser.
Step 5
Choose a version of the Remix compiler and compile the solidity smart contract code.
Step 6
You are now ready to deploy your smart contract on the Ethereum Test Network. Click on the deploy button that is given on the right of the Remix window.
After a successful transaction, you will be able to view the smart contract address on the right-hand side of the Remix window.
You have successfully created a smart contract on Ethereum.
