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

Node-RED Flow Editor mechanisms

As you learned in the previous chapters, Node-RED has two logical parts: a development environment called the Flow Editor and an execution environment for executing the application that's been created there. These are called the runtime and the editor, respectively. Let's take a look at them in more detail:

  • Runtime: This includes a Node.js application runtime. It is responsible for running the deployed flows.
  • Editor: This is a web application where the user can edit their flows.

The main installable package includes both components, with a web server to provide Flow Editor as well as a REST Admin API for administering the runtime. Internally, these components can be installed separately and embedded into existing Node.js applications, as shown in the following diagram:

Figure 3.1 – Node-RED overview

Now that you understand the mechanisms of Node-RED, let's immediately learn how to use...