Solana Development at Network School: Hackathons and Building on Chain

Solana has a significant presence at Network School. The Solana Foundation and various Solana ecosystem projects have hosted events, sponsored hackathons, and sent team members to NS as speakers and mentors. This relationship gives NS members direct access to the Solana ecosystem in a way that is difficult to access from the outside. Developers at NS can learn Solana development from practitioners, get feedback on their projects from ecosystem insiders, and potentially secure grants or partnerships through connections made at the school. The Programmers track includes Solana-specific content as a core component.

Hackathons at Network School are where theory meets practice. These events, often sponsored by protocol teams, challenge members to build functional applications within a compressed timeframe, typically a weekend or a week. Solana hackathons give developers hands-on experience with the chain's architecture, including programs written in Rust, token standards, and DeFi primitives. Prizes and recognition from hackathons can lead to fellowship applications, job opportunities, or partnerships with Solana projects. Even if you do not win, the experience of shipping a project under pressure is valuable for your portfolio and skills.

The Programmers track at NS covers Solana development fundamentals, including setting up a development environment, writing and deploying programs, creating tokens, and building front-ends that interact with on-chain data. Members also learn from each other, as the community includes experienced Solana developers who share knowledge informally. The combination of structured courses, hackathons, visiting protocol teams, and peer learning creates a concentrated Solana education experience. External resources like Solana documentation, Anchor framework guides, and community tutorials supplement the in-house programming.

If you want to learn Solana development at NS, having some programming background is important. Familiarity with JavaScript or TypeScript for front-end work and Rust for on-chain programs will help you get the most out of the curriculum. If you know neither, you can start learning the basics before arriving. The NS community is supportive of developers at different skill levels, but the Solana material moves at a pace that assumes you can write code. You can apply at ns.com and mention your interest in Solana development in your application to be connected with relevant resources upon arrival.