Solana/Epilogue

In the blockchain world of 2024, Solana undoubtedly stands as one of the brightest stars.

This blockchain, which once endured network outages and waves of skepticism during the bear market, completed a remarkable transformation in just one year. Its DeFi protocols saw TVL continuously climbing, the NFT marketplace reached record-breaking trading volumes, meme coin culture flourished, and the developer community grew stronger. Solana is proving to the world through concrete action: genuine technical innovation will ultimately break through the fog of doubt.

Beginning to Write

In March 2024, I made a decision: to systematically learn Solana and document the journey as a tutorial. I officially began writing this book in October of that year.

At that time, while Solana's documentation was relatively comprehensive, learning resources remained scattered. Many promising developers were deterred by the steep learning curve. Within the blockchain developer community back then, learning materials and courses about Solana were few and far between.

From environment setup to toolchain usage, from on-chain program development to blockchain interaction, I attempted to build a complete knowledge system. Every code example in the book was debugged repeatedly; every concept explanation was carefully worded. Technical writing differs from coding—it requires finding a delicate balance between accuracy and readability.

Writing was extremely draining and time-consuming. After work each day, I would carve out time to write. Sometimes I could only manage a few hundred words a day, but I persisted in writing something every day, letting small efforts accumulate into something greater.

Turning Point

One afternoon in December 2024, I received a message from the Solana Foundation: they were willing to provide sponsorship support for this book.

Honestly, my feelings at that moment were mixed. Beyond the pleasant surprise, what I felt most was a sense of responsibility. This was not only recognition of my prior work but also meant that this book would carry the expectations of many more developers. From that moment on, these words transformed from one person's learning notes into a technical document accountable to the community.

The Foundation's support allowed me to invest more time and energy, and it also freed me to test various features on mainnet without restraint: previously, I always worried about testing costs, as deploying a program on mainnet typically costs tens to hundreds of dollars. But with sponsorship, I could more boldly experiment with various features, which greatly improved writing efficiency and content richness.

The Struggle

In November 2025, I finally typed the last period on my keyboard.

From beginning to completion, exactly thirteen months. During this time, the Solana ecosystem underwent several major updates, forcing me to repeatedly revise already-written chapters. Sometimes, a single API change meant dozens of code sections needed rewriting; moreover, the Anza-xyz team responsible for maintaining Solana node code was aggressively refactoring the Solana node software, with many project structures and code locations changing, forcing me to repeatedly verify that the book's content remained accurate.

The most difficult moments came late at night when facing an ambiguous technical point, searching through documentation and source code without finding confirmation. That anxiety feels like groping in the dark, uncertain whether what lies ahead is a dead end or sudden clarity. Fortunately, developers in the Solana community are always helpful—discussions on Discord, issues on GitHub, even private messages from developers I'd never met, all provided tremendous help.

Technical writing is solitary. No colleague discussions, no immediate feedback, only the dim light before you and the sound of keys clicking. But it was precisely this solitude that allowed me to settle down and deeply contemplate every technical detail.

Acknowledgments

On the right side of my desk sit several potted plants that kept me company through the long writing journey.

Water pennywort unfurls its round leaves in a hydroponic bottle, dendrobium roots tenaciously cling to tree bark, umbrella plant leaves spread open like parasols, and aloe quietly stores life's energy. They never speak.

Special thanks to the Solana Foundation for their sponsorship and trust.

Thanks also to all the friends who provided help during the creative process, especially those early readers who offered feedback.

The Solana ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, with new features and tools constantly emerging. This book cannot cover everything, but I hope it can serve as a reliable starting point for your exploration of the Solana world. There are no shortcuts in learning technology—only through hands-on practice and continuous thinking can you truly master its essence.

路漫漫其修远兮, 吾将上下而求索(English: The road ahead is long and arduous, but I will search high and low).