Book Image

Practical Node-RED Programming

By : Taiji Hagino
5 (1)
Book Image

Practical Node-RED Programming

5 (1)
By: Taiji Hagino

Overview of this book

Node-RED is a free and open source flow-based programming tool used to handle IoT data that allows programmers of any level to interconnect physical I/O, cloud-based systems, databases, and APIs to build web applications without code. Practical Node-RED Programming is a comprehensive introduction for anyone looking to get up to speed with the Node-RED ecosystem in no time. Complete with hands-on tutorials, projects, and self-assessment questions, this easy-to-follow guide will help you to become well versed in the foundations of Node-RED. You’ll learn how to use Node-RED to handle IoT data and build web applications without having to write complex code. Once you’ve covered the basics, you’ll explore various visual programming techniques and find out how to make sample flows as you cover web development, IoT development, and cloud service connections, and finally build useful real-world applications. By the end of this book, you’ll have learned how to use Node-RED to develop a real-world application from scratch, which can then be implemented in your business.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
1
Section 1: Node-RED Basics
6
Section 2: Mastering Node-RED
11
Section 3: Practical Matters

Testing your own node in a local environment

You have already completed your own node. Let's add the nodes created so far to Node-RED in a local environment.

For your own nodes, it is very important to check their operation locally. Publishing a node on the internet without making sure it works in your environment is not good for many developers.

So, in this section, you'll be testing your own node in your local environment.

Node installation

You can use the npm link command to test the node module locally. This allows you to develop nodes in your local directory and link them to your local Node-RED installation during development.

This is very simple. Follow these steps:

  1. Execute the following command on the CLI to add a node and start Node-RED:
    $ cd <path to node module>
    $ npm link

    This will create the appropriate symbolic link to the directory and Node-RED will discover the node at boot time. Simply restart Node-RED to get the changes to the node...