Core Smart Contract Engineering Skills
This sub-cluster focuses on the baseline engineering judgment expected from smart contract developers, especially at junior-to-mid levels.
It goes beyond “what is X” questions and instead captures:
how engineers explain common vulnerabilities without sounding rehearsed
how they think about threats before code breaks
when best-practice rules apply — and when they don’t
how interviewers assess gas awareness versus obsession
what ownership and ethics look like in irreversible systems
These are the questions that repeatedly decide whether a candidate is perceived as trainable or risky.
Threat modeling mindset for juniors
Threat modeling is rarely taught properly, yet interviewers often probe it indirectly. This discussion explores how juniors test assumptions early, rather than reacting after something breaks.
Explaining reentrancy without sounding memorized
Many candidates know the definition of reentrancy but fail to explain why it happens or how design choices influence risk. This thread focuses on explanation depth rather than textbook answers.
CEI rule — when do you actually break it?
The Checks-Effects-Interactions pattern is often repeated dogmatically. This discussion examines interview scenarios where blind adherence is not enough, and judgment is expected.
https://artofblockchain.club/discussion/cei-rule-in-interviews-when-do-you-actually-break-it-without
Gas optimization: expectations vs panic
Interviewers don’t expect juniors to micro-optimize everything, but they do expect awareness. These discussions clarify how much gas knowledge is enough — and when obsession becomes a red flag.
https://artofblockchain.club/discussion/gas-optimization-panic-how-much-should-juniors-care-during-interviews
Ownership, ethics, and early-career responsibility
Smart contracts carry irreversible consequences. These threads explore how teams evaluate ownership, ethical awareness, and reliability in junior engineers.
https://artofblockchain.club/discussion/what-are-the-ethical-considerations-of-working-as-a-smart-contract-developer