Learn HARDHAT with Real Code Examples

Hardhat provides a local Ethereum network for development, enabling fast testing and debugging.

Integrates with Solidity compiler to build smart contracts and generate artifacts.

Supports scripts for deployment, contract interaction, and automated testing.

Provides a flexible plugin system for tasks like ethers.js integration, gas reporting, and contract verification.

Widely used in DeFi, NFT projects, and backend DApp development.

Tasks and scripts for custom operations

Hardhat Network for instant blockchain simulation

Console logging for smart contract debugging

Testing framework integration (Mocha/Chai)

Contract deployment and verification automation

Project – Hardhat workspace with contracts, scripts, and tests

Task – CLI commands for custom operations

Hardhat Network – local Ethereum simulation

Artifact – compiled contract and ABI

Plugin – extends Hardhat functionality

contracts/ - Solidity source code

scripts/ - deployment and interaction scripts

test/ - unit and integration tests

hardhat.config.js - configuration

artifacts/ - compiled contracts and ABIs

Write Solidity smart contracts in contracts/ folder

Compile using `npx hardhat compile`

Run tests using `npx hardhat test`

Deploy contracts via scripts

Interact with contracts using Hardhat console or scripts

Beginner: deploy simple token contract

Intermediate: test DeFi contract interactions

Advanced: deploy multi-contract systems

Expert: integrate frontend with deployed contracts

Auditor: debug contract behavior and transaction flow

Hardhat vs Truffle: Hardhat is faster and plugin-based, Truffle is monolithic

Hardhat vs Brownie: Hardhat JS/TS-focused, Brownie Python-focused

Hardhat vs Web3.py: Hardhat manages full dev workflow, Web3.py is library only

Hardhat vs Foundry: Hardhat JS ecosystem, Foundry Rust/solidity-native

Hardhat vs Remix: Remix is web-based IDE, Hardhat is local development framework

2018 – Hardhat initial release by Nomic Labs

2019 – Hardhat Network introduced

2020 – Plugin system introduced

2021 – TypeScript support and extended tasks

2022–2025 – Enhanced mainnet forking and CI/CD integration

Hardhat Network: local blockchain simulator

Task: custom CLI operation

Artifact: compiled contract data

Plugin: extend Hardhat functionality

Forking: simulate mainnet state locally