With a growing number of companies moving their pilot blockchain projects into production stage, the reliable blockchain engineers and certified blockchain solution architects are in high demand. The architecture of Hyperledger Fabric, by design, comes with essential components that are vital to the operation of enterprise blockchain applications. As the number one choice for enterprise blockchain development, Hyperledger Fabric has gained huge popularity among many private and public companies such as Central Banks.
The Hyperledger Fabric Certified Practitioner (HFCP) certification recently launched by Linux Foundation Training & Certification and developed in cooperation with industry through the Hyperledger Foundation combines the essential components of Hyperledger Fabric system admin and Hyperledger Fabric development for IT professionals interested in managing all stages of Hyperledger Fabric lifecycle from pilot testing to production. This certification is a must for those interested in filling key positions related to Hyperledger Fabric such as:
- Blockchain Solution Architects
- Engineers
- System Administrators
- and more.
For system admin, HFCP covers key architectural components of Hyperledger Fabric such as:
- Network
- Nodes
- Orderer
- Peers
- MSP
- Channel
For blockchain developers, HFCP covers essentials of Hyperledger Fabric chaincodes like:
- Smart contract design
- Development
- Testing
- Invocation to work with ledger data
- Channel private data management
Smart Contract, Network & Client Application
Besides general knowledge of blockchain and Hyperledger Fabric architecture, the exam covers three more areas: smart contract, network and client application. For the smart contract part, you should know how to design, develop, test and deploy Hyperledger Fabric chaincodes. For instance, you need to know how Hyperledger Fabric chaincode lifecycle works, how to modify ledger state data as well as how to run ledger queries. Further, you need to know how private data collection works. In a nutshell, the smart contact portion of the exam includes all practical knowledge and skills you need to have in designing, testing, deploying and managing Hyperledger Fabric chaincodes for pilot or production projects.
The network section of the exam covers key components of the Hyperledger Fabric network like peers, nodes, Orderer, policies, MSP and Channels. For example, you need to know how to create a private Channel among a group of members within a consortium or how to add a new member to the network or revoke a member access. In short, the network portion of the exam covers the most essential and practical components of Hyperledger Fabric that are used on a daily basis by all Hyperledger Fabric system administrators.
For the client application part, you need to know how Hyperledger Fabric peer gateway services work or how to invoke smart contracts via an external chaincode launcher. Likewise, you need to know how to sign transactions offline. Other topics that are recommended to know are how to upgrade the node SDK client, and how to package, install, approve, and commit new chaincodes on the Channel, and how to upgrade Hyperledger Fabric Channel, application, and Orderer capabilities.
Who Is HFCP for?
HFCP certification is for IT professionals, full-stack and DevOps engineers and software developers. The exam combines two most practical and essential aspects of Hyperledger Fabric development and management: smart contract and network. By mastering these two areas, a Hyperledger Fabric practitioner can easily manage Hyperledger Fabric projects from inception, like architectural design, to deployment and post-production maintenance. As a result, this exam measures competencies that are essential for both blockchain system administrators and blockchain engineers.
The Value of HFCP
By taking this exam, you can demonstrate your skills as Blockchain Solution Architect or Hyperledger Fabric specialist to those companies or clients that are looking for either blockchain engineers or blockchain system admins. Specifically, by passing this exam, you can validate your skills in setting up and testing a production grade Hyperledger Fabric infrastructure, like design policies for a multi-member network, or configure YAML files for Hyperledger Fabric network initialization, or setting up Hyperledger Fabric Certificate Authority to manage identities.
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About the Author
Matt Zand is the director of Coding Bootcamps and High School Technology Services (HSTS) which offers self-paced and live courses related to blockchain, software engineering, and AI. HSTS is a member of the Linux Foundation and LF AI & Data. He is a leading author of Hands-on Smart Contract Development with Hyperledger Fabric book by O’Reilly Media. He has written many technical articles on blockchain development at sites such as IBM, Alibaba Cloud, Hyperledger, The Linux Foundation, and more. He is also the founder of three tech startups: RealBig, DC Web Makers, and GoReward. Currently, he is the Advisor at Zuma Dating Events. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
