/syllabus-outline-zksync

Syllabus outline ZkSync Summer Bootcamp:

Goal:

By the end of the boot camp, all the boot campers should get a clear overview of Zero-knowledge and ZK math, and they should be able to write ZK Circuits & create ZK applications on their own, together with having a good overview of the Blockchain ecosystem.

Timings:

  • Kickoff: 6th or 7th of May 2024, offline.

  • Number of Weeks: 8 Week(s) + 1 Week.

  • Number of days a week:

    • Content for five days, up to the boot camp.
    • 2 online sessions a week.
    • 1 online session will be on giving an overview of the week's syllabus. (think of it as video lectures in MOOC).
    • The other session could be doubt-solving or an overview session.

Content:

  • General Recommendation: Learn Rust from Day 0.

Week 1:

  • General intro to Ethereum, Solana.
  • How do Ethereum & Solana work at the consensus and execution layer?
  • Role of consensus layer.

Additional content(only for those interested): Docs of Alchemy to build a DApp.

Week 2:

This week acts as a starter to Rust for everyone and to make everyone code in Rust at a basic level.

  • Development on Ethereum(probably in Rust/GO 😉).
  • Decentralised Identities, Bridges(ZK and non ZK bridges).

Week 3:

This week gives an overview of most of the essential concepts in web3.

  • Ethereum's Rollup-centric roadmap and alt narratives...
  • OP Rollups, ZK Rollups, Validiums.
  • DA Layers, Alt VMs(MoveVM, WasmVM, Solana VM)
  • Consensus Layers

Week 4: Intro to ZK

  • What is ZK?
  • What is a SNARK & STARK?
  • Types of SNARKs & STARKS.
  • Fields & Groups.
  • Circom/Gnark.

Week 5- Week 7: Rust + ZK --> Circuit writing in rust.

The most crucial part of the boot camp. Those who complete this can understand and write circuits and build Zk Dapps independently.

  • Groth 16, Plonk

  • Starks, AIR, Plonkish Systems

  • Plonky2, Halo2, KGZ, NOVA, IPA, Pedersen commitments...

  • IVC, Lookups, Range checks

  • DEEP FRI, Recursion

  • FFT, NTT, Fiat Shamir, Lagrange Basis, Low degree extensions.

  • Libraries -> Ark works/lambda works (Winterfell, bellman)

These are taught in theory and code.

Week 8:

  • ZK EVM, ZK Rollups.
  • Sequencers
  • ZK-DSL(s)

Extra Week :

  • More on ZK Math.
  • ZK ML