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Write a simple contract

docs/solidity-guides/getting-started/quick-start-tutorial/write_a_simple_contract.md

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Write a simple contract

In this tutorial, you'll write and test a simple regular Solidity smart contract within the FHEVM Hardhat template to get familiar with Hardhat workflow.

In the next tutorial, you'll learn how to convert this contract into an FHEVM contract.

Prerequisite

What you'll learn

By the end of this tutorial, you will learn to:

  • Write a minimal Solidity contract using Hardhat.
  • Test the contract using TypeScript and Hardhat’s testing framework.

Write a simple contract

{% stepper %} {% step %}

Create Counter.sol

Go to your project's contracts directory:

sh
cd <your-project-root-directory>/contracts

From there, create a new file named Counter.sol and copy/paste the following Solidity code in it.

solidity
// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause-Clear
pragma solidity ^0.8.24;

/// @title A simple counter contract
contract Counter {
  uint32 private _count;

  /// @notice Returns the current count
  function getCount() external view returns (uint32) {
    return _count;
  }

  /// @notice Increments the counter by a specific value
  function increment(uint32 value) external {
    _count += value;
  }

  /// @notice Decrements the counter by a specific value
  function decrement(uint32 value) external {
    require(_count >= value, "Counter: cannot decrement below zero");
    _count -= value;
  }
}

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

Compile Counter.sol

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat compile

Great! Your Smart Contract is now compiled. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %}

Set up the testing environment

{% stepper %} {% step %}

Create a test script test/Counter.ts

Go to your project's test directory

sh
cd <your-project-root-directory>/test

From there, create a new file named Counter.ts and copy/paste the following Typescript skeleton code in it.

ts
import { HardhatEthersSigner } from "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-ethers/signers";
import { ethers } from "hardhat";

describe("Counter", function () {
  it("empty test", async function () {
    console.log("Cool! The test basic skeleton is running!");
  });
});

The file contains the following:

  • all the required import statements we will need during the various tests
  • The chai basic statements to run a first empty test named empty test {% endstep %}

{% step %}

Run the test test/Counter.ts

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Output:

sh
  Counter
Cool! The test basic skeleton is running!
    ✔ empty test


  1 passing (1ms)

Great! Your Hardhat test environment is properly setup.

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

Set up the test signers

Before interacting with smart contracts in Hardhat tests, we need to initialize signers.

{% hint style="info" %} In the context of Ethereum development, a signer represents an entity (usually a wallet) that can send transactions and sign messages. In Hardhat, ethers.getSigners() returns a list of pre-funded test accounts. {% endhint %}

We’ll define three named signers for convenience:

  • owner — the deployer of the contract
  • alice and bob — additional simulated users

Replace the contents of test/Counter.ts with the following:

ts
import { HardhatEthersSigner } from "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-ethers/signers";
import { ethers } from "hardhat";

type Signers = {
  owner: HardhatEthersSigner;
  alice: HardhatEthersSigner;
  bob: HardhatEthersSigner;
};

describe("Counter", function () {
  let signers: Signers;

  before(async function () {
    const ethSigners: HardhatEthersSigner[] = await ethers.getSigners();
    signers = { owner: ethSigners[0], alice: ethSigners[1], bob: ethSigners[2] };
  });

  it("should work", async function () {
    console.log(`address of user owner is ${signers.owner.address}`);
    console.log(`address of user alice is ${signers.alice.address}`);
    console.log(`address of user bob is ${signers.bob.address}`);
  });
});

Run the test

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Expected Output

sh
  Counter
address of user owner is 0x37AC010c1c566696326813b840319B58Bb5840E4
address of user alice is 0xD9F9298BbcD72843586e7E08DAe577E3a0aC8866
address of user bob is 0x3f0CdAe6ebd93F9F776BCBB7da1D42180cC8fcC1
    ✔ should work


  1 passing (2ms)

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

Set up testing instance

Now that we have our signers set up, we can deploy the smart contract.

To ensure isolated and deterministic tests, we should deploy a fresh instance of Counter.sol before each test. This avoids any side effects from previous tests.

The standard approach is to define a deployFixture() function that handles contract deployment.

ts
async function deployFixture() {
  const factory = (await ethers.getContractFactory("Counter")) as Counter__factory;
  const counterContract = (await factory.deploy()) as Counter;
  const counterContractAddress = await counterContract.getAddress();

  return { counterContract, counterContractAddress };
}

To run this setup before each test case, call deployFixture() inside a beforeEach block:

ts
beforeEach(async () => {
  ({ counterContract, counterContractAddress } = await deployFixture());
});

This ensures each test runs with a clean, independent contract instance.

Let's put it together. Now yourtest/Counter.ts should look like the following:

ts
import { Counter, Counter__factory } from "../types";
import { HardhatEthersSigner } from "@nomicfoundation/hardhat-ethers/signers";
import { expect } from "chai";
import { ethers } from "hardhat";

type Signers = {
  deployer: HardhatEthersSigner;
  alice: HardhatEthersSigner;
  bob: HardhatEthersSigner;
};

async function deployFixture() {
  const factory = (await ethers.getContractFactory("Counter")) as Counter__factory;
  const counterContract = (await factory.deploy()) as Counter;
  const counterContractAddress = await counterContract.getAddress();

  return { counterContract, counterContractAddress };
}

describe("Counter", function () {
  let signers: Signers;
  let counterContract: Counter;
  let counterContractAddress: Counter;

  before(async function () {
    const ethSigners: HardhatEthersSigner[] = await ethers.getSigners();
    signers = { deployer: ethSigners[0], alice: ethSigners[1], bob: ethSigners[2] };
  });

  beforeEach(async () => {
    // Deploy a new instance of the contract before each test
    ({ counterContract, counterContractAddress } = await deployFixture());
  });

  it("should be deployed", async function () {
    console.log(`Counter has been deployed at address ${counterContractAddress}`);
    // Test the deployed address is valid
    expect(ethers.isAddress(counterContractAddress)).to.eq(true);
  });
});

Run the test:

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Expected Output:

sh
  Counter
Counter has been deployed at address 0x7553CB9124f974Ee475E5cE45482F90d5B6076BC
    ✔ should be deployed


  1 passing (7ms)

{% endstep %} {% endstepper %}

Test functions

Now everything is up and running, you can start testing your contract functions.

{% stepper %} {% step %}

Call the contract getCount() view function

Everything is up and running, we can now call the Counter.sol view function getCount() !

Just below the test block it("should be deployed", async function () {...},

add the following unit test:

ts
it("count should be zero after deployment", async function () {
  const count = await counterContract.getCount();
  console.log(`Counter.getCount() === ${count}`);
  // Expect initial count to be 0 after deployment
  expect(count).to.eq(0);
});

Run the test

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Expected Output

sh
  Counter
Counter has been deployed at address 0x7553CB9124f974Ee475E5cE45482F90d5B6076BC
    ✔ should be deployed
Counter.getCount() === 0
    ✔ count should be zero after deployment


  1 passing (7ms)

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

Call the contract increment() transaction function

Just below the test block it("count should be zero after deployment", async function () {...}, add the following test block:

ts
it("increment the counter by 1", async function () {
  const countBeforeInc = await counterContract.getCount();
  const tx = await counterContract.connect(signers.alice).increment(1);
  await tx.wait();
  const countAfterInc = await counterContract.getCount();
  expect(countAfterInc).to.eq(countBeforeInc + 1n);
});

Remarks:

  • increment() is a transactional function that modifies the blockchain state.
  • It must be signed by a user — here we use alice.
  • await wait() to wait for the transaction to mined.
  • The test compares the counter before and after the transaction to ensure it incremented as expected.

Run the test

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Expected Output

sh
  Counter
Counter has been deployed at address 0x7553CB9124f974Ee475E5cE45482F90d5B6076BC
    ✔ should be deployed
Counter.getCount() === 0
    ✔ count should be zero after deployment
    ✔ increment the counter by 1


  2 passing (12ms)

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

Call the contract decrement() transaction function

Just below the test block it("increment the counter by 1", async function () {...},

add the following test block:

ts
it("decrement the counter by 1", async function () {
  // First increment, count becomes 1
  let tx = await counterContract.connect(signers.alice).increment(1);
  await tx.wait();
  // Then decrement, count goes back to 0
  tx = await counterContract.connect(signers.alice).decrement(1);
  await tx.wait();
  const count = await counterContract.getCount();
  expect(count).to.eq(0);
});

Run the test

From your project's root directory, run:

sh
npx hardhat test

Expected Output

sh
  Counter
Counter has been deployed at address 0x7553CB9124f974Ee475E5cE45482F90d5B6076BC
    ✔ should be deployed
Counter.getCount() === 0
    ✔ count should be zero after deployment
    ✔ increment the counter by 1
    ✔ decrement the counter by 1


  2 passing (12ms)

{% endstep %} {% endstepper %}

Now you have successfully written and tested your counter contract. You should have the following files in your project:

These files form the foundation of a basic Hardhat-based smart contract project.

Next step

Now that you've written and tested a basic Solidity smart contract, you're ready to take the next step.

In the next tutorial, we’ll transform this standard Counter.sol contract into FHECounter.sol, a trivial FHEVM-compatible version — allowing the counter value to be stored and updated using trivial fully homomorphic encryption.