Hardhat is an open-source Ethereum development environment designed for creating, testing, and deploying smart contracts. It offers a robust and flexible toolkit that simplifies blockchain development for developers.

Features of Hardhat:

• Built-in testing framework to ensure smart contract reliability.
• Powerful debugging tools with stack traces and error messages.
• Integration with Ethereum nodes for real-world testing.
• Plugin system to extend functionality and add custom workflows.
• Support for Solidity and other Ethereum-based programming languages.
• Task and script automation to simplify repetitive development tasks.
• Customizable network configurations for deploying to testnets and mainnets.
• Local Ethereum network (Hardhat Network) for fast testing and debugging.

To verify the installed version of Hardhat, use the following command:

npx hardhat --version

Disclaimer: Hardhat is open-source software provided under the MIT License. It is offered "as is," without any warranty, express or implied. Users are responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of Hardhat in their projects.