Help New Bitcoiners Learn the Technical Side of Bitcoin?

[kanftka]

Hey…

Note: This topic is for anyone who has ever asked:
1. Where should I begin if I want to understand how Bitcoin works at a technical level?
2. Where do developers and protocol researchers begin??
3. What materials, or hands on projects can I use to understand things like Bitcoin Core, scripting, consensus, mempools, etc.??


Personally, I’ve been spending more time in the Development & Technical Discussion section lately, here reading, scrolling, trying to follow what is being talked about with the little technical knowledge I have. And if i am being honest, a lot of it flies over my head.. Not because I don’t care or don’t want to learn, but because I honestly don’t know where to begin.. Lol…

And I know I am not alone.

Many Bitcoiners here especially newer ones, have a strong understanding of the fundamentals. They understand why Bitcoin matters, how it fixes the problems of inflation and government controlled money, the importance of decentralization, and all of that.. etc... But when it comes to understanding how Bitcoin actually works at a technical level, like what mempools are, how mining really operates, what consensus rules look like in code, how UTXOs function, or how a soft fork is deployed and a lot more I can’t list all.. A lot of people are completely lost. They want to understand, but they don’t know how to start. There is no clear path.

That is why I created this topic..
I want an open discussion:
For those who already understand Bitcoin on a deep technical level, the devs, the protocol researchers, the contributors… what would you recommend to someone who wants to learn? Not just reading the whitepaper and hope for the best, help with the actual resource that helped you level up when you started.

Please if possible drop links, book names, blog posts, even just personal advice. Where did you start?

I know not everyone wants to become a developer,and that is fine. But there are many of us who really want to understand more than just the basics. And right now, I think the gap between the interested one and the involved is really massive.

Let’s use this topic to make things a little easier for the next set or wave of curious minds like myself…

Lastly, if you’re reading this and you feel the same, that desire to understand but unsure how to move forward, then feel free to post too.

Ask anything.

[ABCbits]

This question have been asked many times on this forum, so i'll just give short answer. I'm just a geek though, not actual expert/professional.

1. Where should I begin if I want to understand how Bitcoin works at a technical level?

The common suggestion is to start by visiting "learn me a bitcoin" website[1] or reading Mastering Bitcoin book[2]. Both of them are available for free and legal.

2. Where do developers and protocol researchers begin??
3. What materials, or hands on projects can I use to understand things like Bitcoin Core, scripting, consensus, mempools, etc.??

Jameson Lopp website have long list of technical information[3]. If you're looking for discussion or progress of certain topic, Bitcoin Optech[4] is also decent source.

[1] https://learnmeabitcoin.com/
[2] https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook
[3] https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/technical-resources.html
[4] https://bitcoinops.org/

[Churchillvv]

This question should set you straight!

What is your reason for wanting to learn the technical part of bitcoin ? to impress the Bitcointalk community? or to have the root knowledge of bitcoin that in future you can be part of the guys who will inculcate the newer guys bitcoin tech?

You have to have a good purpose for what you want then the resources @ABCbits provide above will be very useful to you, and the dedication to read them and practicalise what you read will give you the clear part.

As time goes by you will find more resources to read while reading the above resources, Learnmeabitcoin.com is more like an ELI5 approach.

[BitMaxz]

I just want to add more source from the link provided by ABCbits above to learn more about technical and development.

Here's the link: https://github.com/yjjnls/awesome-blockchain

All you need must be there, including other crypto like Ethereum and Monero.
To learn development, you can try read this: DIY Build Your Own Blockchain.

[d5000]

One resource I have enjoyed a lot when I read it (several years ago, it's an old article) is Bitcoin the Hard Way.

It is not for complete newbies, more for people which have already a bit of technical background (know how a programming language works) and already understand the basic concepts, but want to know how everything works "under the hood". So it's a possible next step after reading the resources provided by ABCbits.

Basically the article is a collection of short Python scripts, which show you how to create a transaction manually without any software, connect to real Bitcoin nodes to broadcast it to the network, and so on. So you can see how a transaction really looks like, and what are the steps the nodes take to ensure communication between them flows smoothly.

Another resource I enjoyed are some ELI5-style comics and presentations from X accounts, which are shared often in this forum and give a short introduction into difficult topics, such as:

https://x.com/BTCillustrated/
https://x.com/Bitcoin_Devs