Linux Foundation Adds Training Course to Bolster Hyperledger Skills

As the Hyperledger open source blockchain project grows in use and potential for businesses, The Linux Foundation is adding more training classes and certification exams to help ensure that developers gain the skills to work with the technology inside a wide range of companies.

The Linux Foundation, which hosts the Hyperledger project and a wide range of other influential open source projects, recently announced a new Hyperledger Fabric Fundamentals training course, as well as the availability of exams later this year that offer Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator and Certified Hyperledger Sawtooth Administrator certifications.

Earlier this year, the Foundation launched a Professional Certificate Program – Blockchain for Business course on the edX online training website, as well as a free course called Blockchain: Understanding Its Uses and Implications.

The courses and exams are being added due to growing interest in the technology and its uses for businesses, said Clyde Seepersad, the general manager of training and certification for the Foundation.

"Blockchain technology adoption is increasing at a rapid pace – with TechCrunch reporting blockchain jobs as the second-fastest growing in today's labor market – leading to a shortage of professionals who are qualified to implement and manage it on an enterprise scale," said Seepersad. "After seeing more than 100,000 students take our free introductory Hyperledger course, we knew it was time for more advanced training options and certification exams to demonstrate the extent of professionals’ knowledge."

Clyde Seepersad

The Hyperledger Fabric Fundamentals course provides an overview of the fundamental concepts of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, as well as the core architecture and components that make up typical decentralized Hyperledger Fabric applications. Lessons on Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Fabric Certificate Authority and the Hyperledger Fabric SDK will also be included to help developers get acclimated to the technology. The two-day, self-paced course includes related readings and hands-on lab exercises that guide students toward setting up a Hyperledger Fabric business network and through the various stages in the life cycle of a decentralized Hyperledger Fabric-based application, according to the Foundation.

The course will also teach how business logic is implemented in Hyperledger Fabric through chaincode, while also reviewing the various transaction types used to read from and write to the distributed ledger. Application developers will also learn how their applications can invoke transactions using the Hyperledger Fabric JavaScript SDK. 

The course is being taught by Jonathan Levi, a computer scientist, applied cryptographer and mathematician, who is the founder of the blockchain technology company, Hacera. For a limited time, the Hyperledger Fabric Fundamentals training course can be taken for the introductory price of $199, instead of its regular $299 price tag.

The upcoming Hyperledger certification exams will cover a wide range of topics to prepare students for administrator roles with the technology. The Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator (CHFA) exam will test students on their ability to build a secure Hyperledger Fabric network for commercial deployment, including installation, configuring, operating, managing and troubleshooting the nodes on a network.

The Certified Hyperledger Sawtooth Administrator (CHSA) exam will test students on their ability to build a secure Hyperledger Sawtooth network for commercial deployment, including installation, configuring, operating, managing and troubleshooting a network.

Students will be able to take the CHFA and CHSA exams remotely using a webcam and an internet connection. One retake of the exams will be offered for free for students who do not pass it the first time.

Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, told Channel Futures that preparing today's developers to learn about Hyperledger blockchain technology is a wise investment for businesses.

"With blockchain eliciting increasing interest, it's smart for the Linux Foundation to proactively educate developers about the Hyperledger technologies that provide the foundation for blockchain deployments," said King. "Taking these classes should be good for developers hoping to further their professional education and certifications. But they should also keep their employers informed so they can make intelligent decisions about investing in and deploying blockchain applications."

Hyperledger's blockchain technology is a peer-to-peer distributed ledger that is being used to build new transactional applications that include built-in trust, accountability and transparency for business users that demand security and agility. A blockchain can be thought of as an operating system for marketplaces, data-sharing networks, microcurrencies and decentralized digital communities which could potentially reduce the cost and complexity of tomorrow's IT systems.

Industries such as finance, health care and supply-chain operations are looking at blockchain to solve some of their individual business problems.

The Hyperledger open-source project was launched in 2016 with a technical and organizational governance structure and 30 founding corporate members.