Setting Up Your Environment

To start writing Solidity, you'll need Node.js (v18+) and a development framework. Hardhat is the most popular choice. Run `npx hardhat init` to scaffold a project. You'll also want the Solidity VS Code extension for syntax highlighting and inline errors. For quick prototyping, Remix IDE (remix.ethereum.org) runs entirely in the browser — no installation needed. Your typical workflow: write contracts in `.sol` files, compile with `npx hardhat compile`, test with `npx hardhat test`, and deploy with scripts.