<p>The Web3 landscape is continually evolving, and developer tools are advancing to meet the demands of blockchain development. While tools like Truffle have been widely used in the past, developers are increasingly turning to Hardhat for its enhanced features and developer experience. Foundry, on the other hand, stands out as another toolkit offering a range of capabilities for smart contract development and testing.</p><p>In this guide, we'll explore how you can combine Foundry's strengths with Hardhat's power to create a seamless and efficient development environment for your blockchain projects. Let's dive in and unlock the full potential of web3 development.</p><h1>What is Hardhat?</h1><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_13_53_01_347a393fe1.png" alt="Screenshot from 2024-04-01 13-53-01.png" srcset="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_13_53_01_347a393fe1.png 245w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/small_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_13_53_01_347a393fe1.png 500w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/medium_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_13_53_01_347a393fe1.png 750w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/large_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_13_53_01_347a393fe1.png 1000w," sizes="100vw"></figure><p>Hardhat is an Ethereum smart contract development environment built and maintained by <i><strong>Nomiclabs</strong></i>. It is an extensible Javascript framework that provides a set of tools and features for managing the smart contract lifecycle, including compiling, deploying, testing, and debugging. Here is an example of how to install and initialize Hardhat using npm:</p><pre><code class="language-plaintext">npm install hardhat
npx hardhat init
</code></pre><p>Hardhat’s plugin system allows developers to extend its functionality with custom plugins, making it highly customizable for different development needs.</p><h1>What is Foundry?</h1><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_14_01_03_c266772c36.png" alt="Screenshot from 2024-04-01 14-01-03.png" srcset="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_14_01_03_c266772c36.png 245w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/small_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_14_01_03_c266772c36.png 500w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/medium_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_14_01_03_c266772c36.png 750w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/large_Screenshot_from_2024_04_01_14_01_03_c266772c36.png 1000w," sizes="100vw"></figure><p>Foundry is a smart contract development toolkit developed by <i><strong>Paradigm</strong></i> for developing applications on the Ethereum blockchain. Foundry operates on Rust offering various tools to develop and test solidity smart contracts. Foundry has a set of CLI commands that make it easy to create new projects, compile, deploy, and interact with contracts.</p><p>To install Foundry, run the following command in your terminal, and after installation is completed restart the terminal.&nbsp;</p><pre><code class="language-plaintext">curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash
foundryup
</code></pre><h1>Hardhat Vs Foundry: A Quick Comparison</h1><p>&nbsp;</p><figure class="table"><table><thead><tr><th>Hardhat</th><th>Foundry</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Hardhat is a Javascript framework that offers familiar developer usage experience.</td><td>Foundry appeals to developers who prefer Rust and low-level languages.</td></tr><tr><td>Using hardhat write Javascript scripts &amp; unit tests.</td><td>Foundry tests are written in solidity keeping the same language as the code.</td></tr><tr><td>Hardhat has an extensive plugin ecosystem via npm.</td><td>Foundry possesses native fuzz testing of function inputs.</td></tr><tr><td>In Hardhat, standard unit tests run in seconds, generally with good performance</td><td>Foundry excels in performance by executing tests and scripts faster.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h1>&nbsp;</h1><h1>How to Use Hardhat and Foundry in Your Project: A step-by-step Guide</h1><p>Let us see how we can integrate foundry into the hardhat project, for that we will be using <strong>Hardhat x BuildBear</strong> repository&nbsp;which lets you create your own private testnet, forked from the mainnet, with your own Native and ERC20 Token faucet and blockchain Explorer</p><p><strong>Note</strong>: Make sure the foundry and hardhat are installed in your system.</p><ul><li>Fork and clone the <a href="https://github.com/BuildBearLabs/Hardhat-BuildBear"><strong>Hardhat x BuildBear</strong></a> repository.</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">git clone &lt;Paste the URL&gt;
cd Hardhat-BuildBear
git init
npm install
</code></pre><ul><li>Add the following to the Hardhat Config file</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">require("@nomicfoundation/hardhat-foundry");
</code></pre><ul><li>To initialize the foundry into your project, run the command</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">npx hardhat init-foundry
</code></pre><ul><li>Create your private testnet and after the testnet is live the details of the sandbox will be stored in <code>testnet.json</code> file</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">npm run createTestnet
</code></pre><ul><li>To Deploy the&nbsp;<code>Greeter.sol</code>&nbsp;smart contract using hardhat, run</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">npx hardhat run scripts/deploy-greeter.js
</code></pre><p>After successful deployment, click on the explorer link to interact with the contract.</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_45_21_66c75f4cb7.png" alt="Screenshot from 2024-04-02 09-45-21.png" srcset="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_45_21_66c75f4cb7.png 223w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/small_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_45_21_66c75f4cb7.png 500w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/medium_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_45_21_66c75f4cb7.png 750w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/large_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_45_21_66c75f4cb7.png 1000w," sizes="100vw"></figure><ul><li>Use the foundry to run tests that are written on the solidity</li></ul><pre><code class="language-plaintext">forge test
</code></pre><p>After running the test you will get an output as shown below. Find the repository for this tutorial <a href="https://github.com/BuildBearLabs/Tutorials/tree/main/Hardhat-Foundry">here</a>.</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_39_37_1b7516fbf3.png" alt="Screenshot from 2024-04-02 09-39-37.png" srcset="https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_39_37_1b7516fbf3.png 245w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/small_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_39_37_1b7516fbf3.png 500w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/medium_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_39_37_1b7516fbf3.png 750w,https://strapi.buildbear.io/uploads/large_Screenshot_from_2024_04_02_09_39_37_1b7516fbf3.png 1000w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h1>Conclusion</h1><p>In conclusion, the choice between Hardhat and Foundry depends on the developer's preference for language and their focus on building applications or conducting smart contract analysis and auditing. Hardhat is great for building Ethereum applications with JavaScript familiarity and extensive tooling while foundry is ideal for advanced smart contract analysis, auditing, and fast execution of Solidity tests. Using the hardhat-foundry plugin it is possible to have your Foundry project work alongside hardhat benefiting the best from both.</p><h1>About BuildBear</h1><p><a href="https://www.buildbear.io/">BuildBear</a>&nbsp;is a platform tailored for DApp development and testing. Developers gain the freedom to construct a personalized Private Testnet sandbox across a variety of blockchain networks. The liberty to mint unlimited Native and ERC20 tokens, coupled with rapid transaction times on BuildBear (under 3 seconds!), enhances the DApp development lifecycle manifold. The platform comes equipped with tools designed for real-time testing and debugging, ensuring developers can keep tabs on intricate blockchain transactions with unparalleled ease.</p><p><strong>Connect with us on</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/_BuildBear">Twitter</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/build-bear/">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/Web3_dApp_Developers">Telegram</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/BuildBearLabs">GitHub</a></p><p>Author:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanamummer/">Sana</a></p>

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The Web3 landscape is continually evolving, and developer tools are advancing to meet the demands of blockchain development. While tools like Truffle have been widely used in the past, developers are increasingly turning to Hardhat for its enhanced features and developer experience. Foundry, on the other hand, stands out as another toolkit offering a range of capabilities for smart contract development and testing.

Hardhat Vs Foundry: Learn How to Use Both in Your Project

Let’s get started then, Shall we?

Let’s get started then, Shall we?

Test DApps at Scale.