🪄SNARK Fundamentals: A Complete Beginner's Introduction

Ki Chong Tran & Errol Drummond

Is this course for me? This is a really important question to ask yourself before any commitment, regardless of its size. If you intend to do or learn anything related to this technology and are not sure where to start, then this course will be helpful to you. Most people, regardless of background, should be able to follow all the concepts presented here.

In this adventure we will look at the defining characteristics of zkSNARK technology, a peak at some of the mathematics underlying it, and then a brief overview of some of the systems out there.

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Part 1 (What are SNARKs?) of this course take you from:

no mathematical background ===> high-level understanding of SNARKs

By the end of Part 1 you should have some intuition for what is and isn't possible with SNARK technology.

Part 2 (Math to get to PLONK) of this course take you from:

high-level understanding of SNARKs ===> functional understanding of SNARKs

Part 2 will delve into the mathematics and applied aspects of SNARKs. After Part 2, you should be able to understand how and why SNARKs are able to verify computations.

Part 3 (Proof systems in the wild) of this course take you from:

functional understanding of SNARKs ===> ability to meaningfully engage with SNARKS

By the end of Part 3, you should have enough understanding about this technology to engage in high level, meaningful conversations about it. And hopefully know enough to start building.