# Remix - A First Glance
For aspiring blockchain developers, the first question one might have on their mind is the following: where do I write my smart contracts? For this, we turn to [Remix](https://remix.ethereum.org), an interactive development environment that allows us to both *write* smart contracts and *deploy* our code to EVM-compatible blockchains. For the purposes of this lesson, we will focus on the process of creating and deploying a smart contract.
## Understanding The Structure of Remix
When first loading Remix, you will see a home screen similar to the following:
Remix Home Screen
For right now, what we are interested in is the **Workspaces** column. Remix allows us to create workspaces as a way to separate our projects - imagine putting the smart contracts of hundreds of projects into a single workspace! When first using Remix, we are given a default workspace called *default\_workspace*.
Within *default\_workspace*, we are particularly interested in the **contracts** folder. If you click on the **contracts** folder, the following content should drop down from the folder:
Contents of the Contracts Folder
As the name might suggest, the **contracts** folder is where smart contracts live. This is made evident by the three starter smart contracts that Remix provides us with: *1\_Storage.sol*, *2\_Owner.sol*, *3\_Ballot.sol*. For the purposes of this lesson, however, we will be adding a smart contract to the **contracts** folder.
## Creating Your First Contract
To create a new smart contract in the **contracts** folder, right-click on the contracts folder and the following drop-down menu will appear:
Right-Clicking the Contracts Folder
Click on "New File" and you will now be able to define the name of your smart contract file. ***Solidity files have the file extension .sol***** .** For the purposes of this lesson, name your file **HelloWorld.sol** .
{% hint style="info" %}
How do I know if Remix recognizes my file as being a Solidity file? Any file that is interpreted as a Solidity file has the Solidity logo to the left of it.
{% endhint %}
Listed below is the source code of **HelloWorld.sol** ; copy-and-paste this into your **HelloWorld.sol** file.
```solidity
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
contract HelloWorld {
function print() public pure returns(string memory) {
return "Hello World";
}
}
```
## Compiling Your First Contract
Solidity is a compiled programming language and thus, we must compile our smart contracts before deploying them. On the left-hand sidebar in Remix, you will find a button with the Solidity logo on it. Upon clicking the button, you will come across the Solidity compiler that Remix provides to compile our smart contracts.
Remix Solidity Compiler
To compile **HelloWorld**, simply just click the *Compile HelloWorld.sol* button; if your contract is defined correctly, this will result in a green checkmark appearing next to the Solidity logo. If your contract is not defined correctly, you will not be able to compile your contracts and an error message will appear below the compiler tool.
## Deploying Your First Contract
We've now come to the perhaps the most exciting part - deploying **HelloWorld**! Looking again to the lefthand sidebar, click the button represented by the Ethereum logo which will open up the Remix deployment tool.
Remix Deployment Tab
Assuming **HelloWorld** compiled correctly, this is the tool that we will use to deploy **HelloWorld**. Make sure to select **HelloWorld** as the contract to deploy in the Deployer tool. To deploy **HelloWorld**, simply click the *Deploy* button. For this lesson, you will be deploying to a local blockchain that Remix provides us with (Remix VM).
HelloWorld Deployed
Congratulations, you have deployed your first smart contract!
## Interacting With Your First Contract
Now that **HelloWorld** lives on your local blockchain, you can use Remix to interact with **HelloWorld**! We will be calling the *print()* function via Remix. Focusing on the Deployer tool, you will see that under the *Deployed Contracts* section, our **HelloWorld** contract has its own tab. Clicking on the tab, you will see the following:
HelloWorld Tab
Rather than having to write complicated code to call *print*, Remix allows us to call the function simply by clicking a button. Click on the *print* button and you will see the following:
Calling print
Congratulations, you have interacted with your first smart contract!
## Sources
Remix Documenation:
