Libraries — Write Once, Use Anywhere
Usually, when code is developed by a third party, it is shipped as a library. In CODESYS, a library is precompiled code that is designed to augment your code. In traditional programming, libraries are everywhere and are the backbone of most projects. In short, libraries offer a way to interface with unique hardware or add advanced functionality to a project without you having to worry about developing code for it.
Libraries are everywhere. If you ever wondered how Android and iPhone devices talk to hardware such as glucometers, household robots, and so on, the answer is libraries. You will not be able to function as a programmer without understanding libraries. Without libraries, you will not be able to talk to custom hardware, such as motor drives, encoders, and so on. In short, you will be very limited in what you can do as a programmer if you don’t know how to use libraries.
In this chapter, we will explore the following:
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