Introduction: In the world of Ethereum smart contract development, having a smooth workflow is essential. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of connecting Hardhat, a popular Ethereum development environment, to Ganache, a personal blockchain for Ethereum development. We’ll also cover how to write a simple smart contract and deploy it using Hardhat and Ganache.

Prerequisites: Before we dive in, make sure you have the following tools installed:

1. Node.js and npm
2. Hardhat: npm install -g hardhat
3. Ganache: You can download it from the Truffle Suite website or install it using npm: npm install -g ganache-cli

Step 1: Setting Up the Project:

1. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it in your terminal.
2. Initialize a new npm package: npm init -y
3. Install Hardhat as a development dependency: npm install --save-dev hardhat

Step 2: Configuring Hardhat:

1. Create a hardhat.config.js file in your project directory.
2. Configure your network settings to connect to Ganache:

// hardhat.config.js
module.exports = {
  networks: {
    ganache: {
      url: "http://127.0.0.1:7545", // Update with Ganache's RPC server URL
      chainId: 1337 // Update with Ganache's chain ID
    }
  },
  solidity: "0.8.0", // Use the appropriate version of Solidity
};

Step 3: Writing the Smart Contract:

1. Create a new directory named contracts in your project directory.
2. Inside the contracts directory, create a file named SimpleContract.sol:

// SimpleContract.sol
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract SimpleContract {
    uint256 public value;

    constructor(uint256 _initialValue) {
        value = _initialValue;
    }

    function updateValue(uint256 _newValue) public {
        value = _newValue;
    }
}

Step 4: Deploying the Smart Contract:

1. Open your terminal and run: npx hardhat compile to compile the contract.
2. Create a deployment script in the scripts directory:

// scripts/deploy.js
async function main() {
  const SimpleContract = await ethers.getContractFactory("SimpleContract");
  const simpleContract = await SimpleContract.deploy(42); // Initial value: 42
  await simpleContract.deployed();

  console.log("SimpleContract deployed to:", simpleContract.address);
}

main()
  .then(() => process.exit(0))
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
    process.exit(1);
  });

3. Run the deployment script: npx hardhat run scripts/deploy.js --network ganache

Step 5: Interacting with the Contract:

1. Create an interaction script in the scripts directory:

// scripts/interact.js
async function main() {
  const SimpleContract = await ethers.getContractFactory("SimpleContract");
  const simpleContract = await SimpleContract.attach("<Contract Address>");

  console.log("Current value:", (await simpleContract.value()).toString());

  await simpleContract.updateValue(99);
  console.log("Updated value:", (await simpleContract.value()).toString());
}

main()
  .then(() => process.exit(0))
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
    process.exit(1);
  });

2. Replace <Contract Address> with the address of the deployed contract.
3. Run the interaction script: npx hardhat run scripts/interact.js --network ganache

Conclusion: Congratulations! You’ve successfully connected Hardhat to Ganache, deployed a simple smart contract, and interacted with it. This setup forms a strong foundation for your Ethereum smart contract development journey.

Remember to explore more advanced features of both Hardhat and Ganache as you continue to build and deploy more complex contracts. Happy coding!

You can have a look at this youtube video for more insight