Beginner
This guide is the beginner entry point for Stellar. It focuses on fundamentals, basic tooling, and a first simple dApp. Deeper topics belong in Intermediate and Advanced.
Legend: ★ marks the most recommended resources.
Learning Path
graph TB
A["Stage 0: Prerequisites"]
B["Stage 1: Blockchain Foundations"]
C["Stage 2: Stellar Core"]
D["Stage 3: Soroban Basics (Smart Contracts)"]
E["Stage 4: Tooling & Basic dApp"]
A --> B
B --> C
C --> D
D --> E
Milestones:
- Explain Account, Asset, Trustline, Operation, and Transaction in your own words.
- Use Horizon to query an account, submit a transaction, and read the result.
- Create an Asset and set up a Trustline on testnet.
- Deploy a minimal Soroban Contract to testnet and call it from a client.
- Build a minimal dApp that connects a wallet and signs/sends a transaction.
- Complete at least one contract from
soroban-examplesand one Soroban Quest track.
Stage notes:
- Stage 0: JavaScript/TypeScript basics, Rust basics (ownership/borrowing, Cargo), CLI/Git, HTTP/JSON.
- Stage 1: Ledger and Consensus basics, Wallets, Keys, Transactions (high-level).
- Stage 2: Stellar accounts model, assets, trustlines, operations, fees, sequence numbers, Horizon API, explorer usage.
- Stage 3: Soroban basics, contract storage, auth model, events, deploy/invoke flow (high-level).
- Stage 4: Stellar CLI and SDK basics, wallet integration, basic dApp read/write flow.
Minimal Must-Learn Path
Recommended MVP duration: 1-2 weeks. If a resource is long, complete only the required part listed in each step.
- Articles (Day 1-2): read Stellar Data Structures, Smart Contract, and skim What Is Cross-Chain?. Required outcome: explain Account, Asset, Trustline, Operation, and Transaction, and know bridge/aggregator basics at a high level.
- Course (Day 3-5): use Soroban Online Bootcamp. Required part: complete the beginner modules up to first contract deployment/invocation. Optional: complete the full bootcamp later.
- Exercises (Day 6-8): complete one beginner contract from Example Contracts and the first beginner track in Soroban Quest. Optional: complete more tracks after MVP.
- Book (Day 9-10): read selected parts of The Rust Programming Language. Required part: ownership/borrowing, structs/enums, and error handling basics. Optional: read the full book later.
- Video (Day 11-12): watch Soroban Developer Workshop: Write Your First Smart Contract, then pick 2 Soroban-related videos from Stellar Official YouTube Channel & Meridian Conference Recordings.
- MVP completion (End of Week 2): create a testnet account, send one payment tx, create one test asset + trustline, deploy one minimal Soroban contract, and finish a minimal dApp flow (connect wallet + sign + send) using Freighter and @stellar/stellar-sdk.
Recommended Articles
- ★Stellar Data Structures
- ★Smart Contract
- What Is Cross-Chain? - Beginner-friendly intro to cross-chain concepts and why interoperability matters.
- What Are Cross-Chain Bridges? - Practical overview of bridge types and common tradeoffs.
- Building Rust Smart Contracts on Stellar Soroban - Written by a Stellar Developer in Residence; walks through building and deploying a Soroban contract from scratch. Continuously updated in 2025.
Recommended Courses
- Soroban Online Bootcamp - Free structured bootcamp from fundamentals to building dApps. Includes a completion certificate and is run in collaboration with Stellar.
- A Full Stellar Course from Scratch - Community-authored full course covering blockchain basics, Soroban introduction, WASM, and Rust contract development and deployment.
Recommended Exercises
- ★Example Contracts
- Soroban Quest - Official gamified learning platform with increasing difficulty. Runs in a browser-based Gitpod environment with no local setup required; completion grants NFT rewards.
Recommended Books
- ★The Rust Programming Language - The Rust fundamentals you’ll need for Stellar Soroban contract development.
Recommended Videos
- ★Stellar Official YouTube Channel & Meridian Conference Recordings - Includes Soroban tutorials, developer workshops, and technical sessions from the annual Meridian conference. Continuously updated.
- Soroban Developer Workshop: Write Your First Smart Contract - Official interactive workshop recording with a step-by-step guide to creating your first Soroban contract. Core concepts are still applicable.
Developer Tooling
- CLI:
- Stellar CLI - Key and account management, transaction build/sign/submit, Soroban contract deploy/invoke, and network configuration.
- Smart contract development:
- Contract SDKs (Soroban Rust SDK) - Official SDK entry for building Soroban smart contracts.
- soroban-sdk (crates.io) - Rust crate used to write and test Soroban contracts.
- Web tooling:
- Stellar Lab - Browser-based tool for testing transactions, exploring RPC/Horizon, and deploying/invoking contracts.
- Client libraries:
- @stellar/stellar-sdk - JavaScript/TypeScript SDK for Horizon and Stellar RPC.
- stellar-sdk (Python) - Python SDK for building/signing transactions and interacting with Horizon/RPC.
Common Websites
Contracts
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| Smart Contract Fundamentals | Core Soroban concepts and contract lifecycle overview. |
Frontend
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| Freighter | Popular Stellar wallet for connecting dApps and signing transactions. |
| Freighter API | JavaScript package for wallet connection, account access, and transaction signing. |
Backend
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| Horizon API | REST API for accounts, operations, payments, and transaction history. |
| Stellar RPC API | RPC interface for Soroban simulation, submission, and contract interactions. |