Hands-on training on cardano-cli and the EUTXO model

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Carlos Souza

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

workwithcardano@gmail.com

Additional applicants

None

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

5

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

This project depends on very few and reliable projects, such as

1. cardano-node and cardano-cli https://github.com/input-output-hk/cardano-node
2. Aiken or Helios, depending on which one is chosen to be used as the example for the validator. This is a soft-dependency, since it doesn't matter too much how the validator code for this example is generated since the video will focus on the cardano-cli commands needed to interact with a script address.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

Education

[METADATA] SDG rating

4- Quality Education

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

One of the first and biggest obstacles faced by developers new to the Cardano ecosystem is learning the EUTXO accounting model and understanding how it plays into building transactions.

As suggested by creator of the plu-ts library Michele Nuzzi on the "Learn Cardano Podcast" , his #1 tip for new developers is as follows:

“..download the cardano-cli, get some tADA and start messing around with the creation of transactions through the cli. The cli gives you a nice interface. You know exactly what is going inside the transaction, outside the transaction and all the auxiliary data. If you want to learn how to write a Dapp, you should first learn how to create a transaction because transactions are quite different in the EUTXO model”

In a recent tweet by one of Mocossi Planet’s ambassadors, they expressed that 

“(...) the real secret is understanding how to build and compose transactions.” 

which was later acknowledged by other recognized developers in the ecosystem, which added comments such as

“The on chain validator is the easy part. Figuring out the architecture around it is the hard one indeed.”

This project aims to address this problem by creating a series of high quality, hands-on videos paired with open-source tools to teach the basics of building and submitting Cardano transactions and working with Cardano’s EUTXO accounting model.

The goal is to launch a total of 4 new videos teaching how to use the cardano-cli to build and submit different types of transactions. The first video of the series has already been completed, but there are 4 videos remaining in this series. The content for the new videos will be as follows (the titles are not finalized):

1. Video #1: How to transfer ADA from one address to multiple addresses using the cardano-cli. (one-to-many)
2. This video will teach how to send ADA from one address to two different addresses in a single transaction.
3. Video #2: How to transfer ADA between multiple different addresses using the cardano-cli (many-to-many).
4. This video will teach how to transfer ADA from two addresses to two other addresses, all belonging to different wallets.
5. This video will also teach how to transfer all ADA from the different example addresses used in the videos back to a single address. This is done so that tADA used in this video throughout the different wallets is not lost and can later be re-used for other test transactions, and helps prevent the Testnet Faucet from being unnecessarily drained.
6. Video #3: How to interact with a Smart Contract using the cardano-cli
7. This video will teach how to send to and spend ADA from a Script Address using the cardano-cli. The validator for this address will be a simple vesting validator written in either Aiken or Helios (TBD). For this video, the main focus will be on how to interact with a script address from the cardano-cli and not so much on the implementation of the validator.
8. Video #4: How to set up a Cardano Node
9. This video will show how to set up a Cardano Node for the preview testnet, which can be used in the previous videos. The node setup process will use a series of scripts to facilitate building the necessary tools and downloading the proper configuration files to have a proper Preview Testnet Cardano node running, and ready to be used by the exercises in the previous videos.

Video 1 of the series is launched ✅ and is not included in this proposal.

The tools involved in the video are currently in progress and can be found under the following Github organization https://github.com/wowica

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

This video series will focus on showing developers new to the Cardano ecosystem the power and flexibility of the EUTXO model through one of the most basic development tasks in a Blockchain: submitting a transaction.

The content of the videos, paired with the open-source tools made available via Github will help developers get started with the fundamental concepts for building projects in Cardano.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of the project will be measured by the number of developers who will refer to the videos and source code in order to get started working with Cardano.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The outputs and results of this project will be shared on the following platforms:

1. Youtube - the videos will be publicly available on the following channel: https://youtube.com/@workwithcardano 
2. Github - all of the code used in the videos will be available under the following Github Organization https://github.com/wowica
3. Twitter - the links for the videos and source code will be shared via tweets from the following account https://twitter.com/workwithcardano

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

I have over 15 years of experience in the software development industry, many of which were dedicated to training other developers. I have over 70 hands-on lessons published on the Pluralsight platform covering various technology topics such as programming languages, libraries, frameworks and cloud services.

Since starting my Cardano journey, I have been contributing to the ecosystem in a number of ways. Here are a few examples:

1- Single operator for the JUNGLE Stake Pool [JNGL]

• Over 200 blocks minted.
• 95.9% performance according to Pool Tool
• Member of https://singlepoolalliance.net/ and https://www.xspo-alliance.org/

2- Contributed to open-source through work and/or contribution to the following projects:

• An open-source, proof of concept Cardano Block Explorer written in Elixir and LiveView https://github.com/wowica/watcher
• Lucid - https://github.com/spacebudz/lucid/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Acaike+
• Aiken - https://github.com/aiken-lang/aiken/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Acaike+is%3Aclosed
• Helios - https://github.com/Hyperion-BT/helios/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Acaike+
• Oura - https://github.com/txpipe/oura/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Acaike+
• Fracada dApp - https://github.com/ADAOcommunity/fracada-dapp/pulls?q=is%3Apr+author%3Acaike+
• RoundTable (by providing a Testnet GraphQL server) - https://github.com/ADAOcommunity/round-table/blob/acc0848540c34da7f15f3d7e4c77f334311d5640/src/cardano/query-api.test.tsx#L43

3- Published technical videos on the Work With Cardano Youtube channel, including the first video on the series which will be completed through the help of this Catalyst project - https://youtube.com/@workwithcardano

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goal for this project is to help onboard new developers into the Cardano ecosystem by teaching them the essential concepts and tools in Cardano such as the EUTXO accounting model and the cardano-cli, and providing practical examples they can go through themselves.

The first video of this series is published and the feedback received so far validates that this approach is feasible.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone #1 - 1 month.

• Video #1 - Editing
• Edit the recording (patch audio when needed, introduce transitions and animations)

Milestone #2 - 1 month

• Video #2 - Editing: 1 month.
• Edit the recording (patch audio when needed, introduce transitions and animations.)

Milestone #3 - 1.5 month

• Video #3 - Scripting, Recording, Editing: 1.5 month.
• Code the sample application, create the script for the video content, record and edit.

Milestone #4 - 1.5 month

• Video #4 - Scripting, Recording, Editing: 1.5 month.
• Write the necessary code, create the script for the video content, record and edit.

This is a part-time endeavor which I plan to work on by myself. I expect to complete this project in no more than 5 months.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Deliverables

• 4 videos publicly available on youtube, one for each one of the topics aforementioned in this proposal.
• All open-source code made available under https://github.com/wowica

Videos: 4 videos in English publicly available on youtube, covering each one of the topics aforementioned in this proposal.

Github Repositories: All the code used in the videos will be available under the following Github account https://github.com/wowica. Some of the code is already available under the following repositories, which will be revisited and updated accordingly throughout the development of this project.

• https://github.com/wowica/cardano-node-install
• https://github.com/wowica/cardano-cli-tx-demo
• https://github.com/wowica/helios-time-lock

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone #1 - 1 month.

• 3,000 ADA for editing the recording (patch audio when needed, introduce transitions and animations.)

Milestone #2 - 1 month

• 3,000 ADA for editing the recording (patch audio when needed, introduce transitions and animations.)

Milestone #3 - 1.5 month

• 4,500 ADA for coding the sample application, creating the script for the video content, recording and editing.

Milestone #4 - 1.5 month

• 4,500 ADA for coding the sample application, creating the script for the video content, recording and editing.

This is an estimation based on the minimum amount for 15K ADA suggested for a Catalyst proposal.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Providing high quality hands-on training focused on practical examples will enable more developers to work with Cardano. They will not only be able to learn through the videos, but also build upon the open-source tools which will be made available through this project.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept