Blockchain dev setup, one step per page
The twenty-seven steps from reading about smart contracts to running them: the right testnet, a separate dev wallet, the toolbox without the paralysis, and a deploy you can point at.
A diagram of the mechanism, the classic mistake, and one thing to go try. That's a page.
Blockchain dev setup, one step per page
The twenty-seven steps from reading about smart contracts to running them: the right testnet, a separate dev wallet, the toolbox without the paralysis, and a deploy you can point at.
Set in Space Grotesk, Inter and JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License).
Tool facts checked against the live ethereum.org developer docs (networks: Sepolia recommended for application development, Hoodi for staking, Holesky deprecated September 2025, Rinkeby, Ropsten and Goerli named as history), the Foundry book at book.getfoundry.sh (forge, cast, anvil, chisel, foundryup, scripting and verification), the Hardhat runner docs at hardhat.org (Hardhat Network, node, Ignition, verify), the Remix IDE docs (Remix VM, Deploy and Run environments) and the MetaMask Help Center (show test networks, developer tools, custom networks). Faucet details are named as provider-specific and approximate at the time of writing. Commands are current as of September 2026.
Educational set-up guidance only, for learning to develop on public testnets. Not investment advice, not security advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything: testnet ETH has no real-world value.
Your purchase is for personal use only. You do not have redistribution rights: please do not share, resell, or republish this book or its pages.
© 2026 Steve Hodgkiss. All rights reserved. Personal use only; no redistribution rights.
Edition 1.0 · stevehodgkiss.net
Contents
The two networks
Before any tooling: the one network where value moves, the rehearsal stages beside it, why professionals rehearse at all, the dead-testnet trap that eats a whole evening, and which live testnet is yours.
- 01Two networks, one rulebook
- 02The dead testnet trap
There is one Ethereum network where value moves, Mainnet, and rehearsal copies of it, testnets, where the same contracts run on pretend money.
Two networks, one rulebook
The Solidity book taught you what a contract is. This one gets it running somewhere you cannot lose money.
Mainnet is the main stage: one shared network, real ETH, value that moves. A mistake there is public and permanent.
A testnet runs the same rules with worthless ETH from a faucet: same contracts, same tools, none of the risk.
Professionals rehearse on one stage and perform on the other.
Open sepolia.etherscan.io and the ethereum.org networks page side by side. No wallet needed yet, just eyes.
The testnet confusion that eats beginners: tutorials still point at Rinkeby, Ropsten and Goerli, networks that are switched off. The live list is Sepolia and Hoodi.
The dead testnet trap
You follow a tutorial, run the command, and get an error. Nothing is wrong with you: the guide points at a switched-off testnet.
Testnets have life cycles: Rinkeby 2023, Ropsten 2022, Goerli 2024, Holesky deprecated September 2025. Faucets died too.
The maintained pair is Sepolia for apps and Hoodi for staking, per ethereum.org. The list moves: check the live page.
Unknown network in a guide means check the docs, not debug.
Skim the ethereum.org networks page and note today’s two maintained testnets.
Your dev wallet
The habit that keeps you safe before any tool exists: a dev wallet that never carries the house keys, creating it cleanly, MetaMask's developer settings, exporting a key for your tools, and the faucet queue.
- 01A keyring marked TEST ONLY
- 02MetaMask in developer mode
- 03Funding from a faucet
A dev wallet is a separate keyring marked TEST ONLY: one plain key you can afford to leak, never carrying the keys to anything you care about.
A keyring marked TEST ONLY
Keep two keyrings: the house keyring for real accounts, and a dev keyring holding one plain key, marked TEST ONLY.
The mistake is convenience: the everyday wallet for tutorials, because it is unlocked.
With separation, a leaked dev key costs nothing: no funds, no cleanup. ethereum.org recommends the same split.
The dev keyring is disposable by design, like a janitor’s burner keys.
Decide now: the dev wallet is a fresh separate wallet, never your everyday one.
Sepolia is already inside MetaMask, hidden behind one switch: show test networks. The developer settings live one menu deeper.
MetaMask in developer mode
Sepolia ships with MetaMask, hidden. Network menu, scroll down, switch on show test networks.
The trap is typing network details from a random page when the network was already there.
Select Sepolia and the stage is live. Settings, Developer tools holds extras, off by default.
One toggle, zero typing. Typing a chain ID means you missed a switch.
Toggle show test networks and select Sepolia. A switch, not a secret.
A faucet is a dripping tap with a queue: free testnet ETH, rationed per account and per window. You claim once, then you wait, and the balance shows up on Sepolia.
Funding from a faucet
Paste your dev address into a Sepolia faucet and claim: Alchemy, Infura, QuickNode, Google Cloud, or the pk910 PoW faucet, which needs no account.
Faucets ration hard: fixed amounts per window, queues of minutes to hours, some check mainnet activity first. Anti-abuse, not a verdict.
The amounts are plenty: a fraction of a test ETH deploys many contracts.
Claim once, close the tab, come back. The tap works.
Claim from one Sepolia faucet into your DEV-TEST-ONLY address, then find the balance on sepolia.etherscan.io.
The toolbox
The paralysis ends here: Remix the zero-install workbench, Foundry the fast one, Hardhat the established one, the private rehearsal room that is a local node, and the honest way to choose without anxiety.
- 01Remix: the zero-install workbench
- 02Foundry: the fast workbench
Remix is the zero-install workbench: a tab at remix.ethereum.org with editor, compiler and deploy button, and a sandbox chain preloaded with ten funded accounts.
Remix: the zero-install workbench
Open remix.ethereum.org and you are working: explorer, editor, compiler and Deploy and Run in one tab. The docs send beginners here.
The default environment is the Remix VM: ten accounts with 100 test ETH each, no approvals. Click Deploy, it exists.
Switch environment to Browser Extension and the same button deploys through MetaMask to Sepolia.
Zero install for first contact; big projects want files on disk.
At remix.ethereum.org, deploy the sample to the Remix VM and call it.
Foundry is the fast workbench: one installer, four tools. Forge builds, tests and deploys, cast talks to chains, anvil runs your local node, chisel is a Solidity REPL.
Foundry: the fast workbench
Install with curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash, then foundryup: one command installs and updates everything.
forge init scaffolds a project, forge test runs it in milliseconds, fuzzing built in.
The mind-shift: tests and deploy scripts are Solidity files, not JavaScript. You already speak the language of your tooling.
This is the bench the deploy chapters use. Its commands are real.
Run the install lines, then forge init and forge test.
The whole job in one picture: write the contract, test it locally, deploy to Sepolia, inspect the result on the explorer, then go around again, in minutes.
The loop: write, test, deploy, inspect
The whole daily job: write, test, deploy, inspect, repeat. Every earlier page was furniture for one station.
The fast loop stays on your machine: forge test against the local node, seconds per turn.
Inspect is not optional: each pass ends with eyes on the real result, explorer or cast.
Get one full turn done badly this week. Speed comes from turns.
Run one loop: edit, test, deploy, inspect.