Over the past two weeks of the #100DaysOfSolana challenge, I’ve gone from barely understanding how blockchain data works to actually interacting with on-chain accounts, reading balances, and building small applications using Solana’s SDK.
One thing that surprised me the most was how different blockchain development feels compared to traditional backend development. Before starting, I imagined blockchain data as something complicated and hidden behind smart contracts. But after working with Solana, I realized that accounts on the blockchain are more like a giant public database that anyone can read from.
The moment things really “clicked” for me was when I started fetching account information directly from the Solana network. Seeing lamports, wallet addresses, and transaction data in real time made the blockchain feel less abstract and more practical.
For example, reading wallet balances using the Solana Web3.js SDK felt surprisingly simple:
const balance = await connection.getBalance(publicKey);
console.log(balance);
At first, RPC calls were confusing. I had trouble understanding how the client communicates with validators and how data is fetched from the network. But after experimenting with different RPC methods, I started understanding how decentralized applications interact with Solana behind the scenes.
Another interesting thing was comparing blockchain accounts to traditional databases. In normal applications, we usually store data in MySQL or MongoDB and control access ourselves. On Solana, the data is public, distributed, and structured differently. That shift in thinking took some time to understand.
I’m still confused about some advanced topics like account ownership, program-derived addresses (PDAs), and how smart contracts manage state efficiently. But that’s also what excites me the most. I want to learn more about building real decentralized applications and writing on-chain programs.
So far, this journey has been challenging but really rewarding. Every day I learn something that changes the way I think about decentralized systems and Web3 development.
Top comments (0)