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

How to use nodes

In this section, we will learn how to use nodes.

Visual programming in Node-RED is a little different from other visual programming tools because it uses flow-based programming. But rest assured, it's not difficult at all. If you actually create a few simple flows, you should be able to master how to use nodes in Node-RED.

So, let's now create a sample flow using some typical preinstalled nodes. The environment is the same for Raspberry Pi, Windows, and macOS systems. Please use your favorite environment.

Common category

Let's introduce the nodes that we'll use to make our flow. You can pick all of the nodes up and place them on the palette from the common category.

Create a sample flow with nodes in the common category. The following four nodes are used:

  • The inject node
  • The complete node
  • The catch node
  • The debug node

Place and wire up the nodes as shown in the following figure:

Figure...