Mentoring & Leveling

Solana's learning curve mixes Rust, accounts-first design, and ops (RPC, wallets, deploys). Structured mentoring turns enthusiastic juniors into mids who ship safe Anchor programs without every PR requiring senior rewrite.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

Week 1-2: Mental model + CLI + devnet transfers
Week 3-4: Anchor tutorial + paired first instruction
Week 5-6: Solo PR with LiteSVM tests + review
Week 7+:  Own small feature end-to-end (program + client ix)

When to reach for this:

• Hiring first junior Solana engineer
• Defining mid vs senior expectations
• Planning team capacity for launch
• Performance review calibration
• Bootcamp grad onboarding

Working Example

## Mid-Level Solana Engineer Rubric (excerpt)
 
### Program (Anchor 0.32.1)
- [ ] Writes instructions with correct constraints unassisted
- [ ] Adds LiteSVM test for one attacker path per feature
- [ ] Explains PDA derivation to junior
 
### Client (@solana/kit 7.0.0)
- [ ] Builds, simulates, sends tx with blockhash refresh
- [ ] Debugs Custom program error from logs
 
### Ops
- [ ] Deploys to devnet; documents program ID in PR
- [ ] Participates in incident drill (pause on devnet)

Pairing session structure (90 min):

1. Junior drives; senior navigates on account diagram
2. Write one #[account] constraint together
3. Break; junior writes test alone; senior reviews

What this demonstrates:

• Time-boxed ramp with concrete milestones
• Rubric tied to stack versions in manifest
• Pairing with junior driving builds muscle memory

Deep Dive

Junior -> Mid Signals

• Submits PR with security checklist self-filled
• Catches missing signer in peer review
• Owns devnet deploy for small feature without hand-holding

Senior -> Staff Signals

• Authors ADRs and runs design reviews
• Leads incident response or audit remediation
• Improves team CI/LiteSVM fixtures for everyone

Gotchas

• Tutorial hell - Months of courses, no mainnet-adjacent code. Fix: Ship devnet feature by week 6.
• Only program mentoring - Junior cannot debug wallet tx. Fix: Client ix building in same ramp.
• Vague promotion criteria - Perceived favoritism. Fix: Published rubric in engineering handbook.
• Senior as bottleneck - Every PR waits one person. Fix: Train multiple reviewers from mids.
• Ignoring soft skills - Brilliant Rust, cannot explain trade-offs. Fix: RFC presentation practice.

Alternatives

FAQs

Related

• Code Review Culture - review as teaching
• Delegation & Spreading Context - grow ownership
• The Solana Mental Model Ramp - onboarding content

Stack versions: This page was written for Agave 4.1.1, Solana CLI 3.0.10, Anchor 0.32.1, anchor-lang 0.32.1, Rust 1.91.1, @solana/kit 7.0.0, Surfpool 0.12.0, and LiteSVM 0.6.x.