Learn BROWNIE with Real Code Examples

Brownie allows developers to write, test, and deploy smart contracts in Python using the Solidity language.

It integrates with Ethereum test networks, mainnet, and local blockchain simulations like Ganache.

Brownie supports automated testing, contract interaction, and scripts for deployment.

Solidity smart contract compilation and deployment

Contract ABI and address management

Transaction simulation and gas estimation

Event and state monitoring for contracts

Testing framework with fixtures, assertions, and coverage reports

Contract: Solidity code compiled and deployed to Ethereum

Account: wallet used to sign transactions

Transaction: interaction with a smart contract or Ether transfer

Event: blockchain signals emitted by contracts

Network: Ethereum chain (local, testnet, mainnet) where contracts are deployed

contracts/ - Solidity smart contract files

scripts/ - deployment and interaction scripts

tests/ - Python test files using pytest

build/ - compiled contracts and ABI files

reports/ - test coverage and gas usage reports

Create a new Brownie project: `brownie init`

Write smart contracts in `contracts/` folder

Compile contracts: `brownie compile`

Write tests in `tests/` folder using pytest

Deploy contracts using scripts in `scripts/` folder

Beginner: deploy simple contracts to local network

Intermediate: write automated tests with fixtures

Advanced: deploy to testnet/mainnet with scripts

Expert: interact with DeFi protocols programmatically

Enterprise: integrate blockchain contracts with production backends

Brownie vs Hardhat: Python vs JavaScript ecosystem

Brownie vs Truffle: Modern Python features vs legacy JS tooling

Brownie vs Foundry: Brownie uses Python, Foundry uses Rust/Forge

Brownie vs Remix IDE: IDE for rapid prototyping vs full Python workflow

Brownie vs Web3.py: Web3.py is library, Brownie is full framework

2018 – Initial release by Matt Lockyer

2019 – Added advanced testing and deployment scripts

2020 – Improved network management and console features

2022 – Enhanced support for EVM-compatible chains

2025 – Latest version with improved Python 3.11 compatibility and DeFi/NFT features

Brownie: Python-based Ethereum framework

Contract: Solidity code deployed on blockchain

Account: wallet for signing transactions

Transaction: interaction with blockchain

Event: emitted signal from contract