= Getting Started *OpenZeppelin is a library for secure smart contract development.* It provides implementations of standards like ERC20 and ERC721 which you can deploy as-is or extend to suit your needs, as well as Solidity components to build custom contracts and more complex decentralized systems. [[install]] == Install OpenZeppelin should be installed directly into your existing node.js project with `npm install openzeppelin-solidity`. We will use https://truffleframework.com/truffle[Truffle], an Ethereum development environment, to get started. Please install Truffle and initialize your project: [source,sh] ---- $ mkdir myproject $ cd myproject $ npm init -y $ npm install truffle $ npx truffle init ---- To install the OpenZeppelin library, run the following in your Solidity project root directory: [source,sh] ---- $ npm install openzeppelin-solidity ---- _OpenZeppelin features a stable API, which means your contracts won't break unexpectedly when upgrading to a newer minor version. You can read ṫhe details in our link:api-stability[API Stability] document._ [[usage]] == Usage Once installed, you can start using the contracts in the library by importing them: [source,solidity] ---- pragma solidity ^0.5.0; import 'openzeppelin-solidity/contracts/ownership/Ownable.sol'; contract MyContract is Ownable { ... } ---- Truffle and other Ethereum development toolkits will automatically detect the installed library, and compile the imported contracts. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ You should always use the installed code as-is, and neither copy-paste it from online sources, nor modify it yourself. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [[next-steps]] == Next Steps Check out the the guides in the sidebar to learn about different concepts, and how to use the contracts that OpenZeppelin provides. * link:access-control[Learn about Access Control] * link:crowdsales[Learn about Crowdsales] * link:tokens[Learn about Tokens] * link:utilities[Learn about our Utilities] OpenZeppelin's link:api/token/ERC20[full API] is also thoroughly documented, and serves as a great reference when developing your smart contract application. Additionally, you can also ask for help or follow OpenZeppelin's development in the https://forum.openzeppelin.com[community forum]. Finally, you may want to take a look at the guides on our blog, which cover several common use cases and good practices: https://blog.openzeppelin.com/guides. The following articles provide great background reading, though please note, some of the referenced tools have changed as the tooling in the ecosystem continues to rapidly evolve. * https://blog.openzeppelin.com/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-smart-contracts-in-ethereum-848f08001f05[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Smart Contracts in Ethereum] will help you get an overview of the various tools available for smart contract development, and help you set up your environment * https://blog.openzeppelin.com/a-gentle-introduction-to-ethereum-programming-part-1-783cc7796094[A Gentle Introduction to Ethereum Programming, Part 1] provides very useful information on an introductory level, including many basic concepts from the Ethereum platform * For a more in-depth dive, you may read the guide https://blog.openzeppelin.com/designing-the-architecture-for-your-ethereum-application-9cec086f8317[Designing the architecture for your Ethereum application], which discusses how to better structure your application and its relationship to the real world