As other posters have mentioned, you can download the Mist client and test things on the testnet.<p>And you don&#x27;t have to mine, you can get free testnet ethereum via the wei faucet:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;zerogox.com&#x2F;ethereum&#x2F;wei_faucet" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;zerogox.com&#x2F;ethereum&#x2F;wei_faucet</a><p>Gas prices to run code on ethereum are fractions of ethereum, so even a small amount will get you pretty far.