Practical Node-RED Programming: Learn powerful visual programming techniques and best practices for the web and IoT

Use low-code programming to create event-driven applications in new and intriguing ways by wiring together hardware devices, APIs, and online services

Key Features

• Discover how you can automate the IoT without writing huge blocks of code
• Build and work with IoT projects with little to no coding knowledge
• Learn how to wire together flows using a browser-based visual editor

Book Description

Node-RED is a free and open-source flow-based programming tool used for handling IoT data that allows programmers of any level to interconnect physical I/O, cloud-based systems, databases, and APIs for building web applications without coding.

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 with 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. You’ll explore various 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.

What you will learn

• Understand the history of Node-RED and why you need to learn a flow-based programming tool
• Use Node-RED for building applications that are Node.js based
• Handle data for IoT devices using Node-RED flows
• Explore advanced Node-RED features such as connecting repositories and customizing the flow editor
• Find out what the MQTT protocol is and its association with Node-RED
• Create and publish your own nodes and flows using the Node-RED Library

Who This Book Is For

This Node-RED book is for web application developers, software developers, and IoT engineers or enthusiasts with some background in JavaScript and Node.js. Although not necessary, familiarity with electronics will help you to make the most out of this book.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing Node-RED and Flow-Based Programming
2. Setting up the Development Environment
3. Understanding Node-RED Characteristics by Creating Basic Flows
4. Learning the Major Nodes
5. Implementing Node-RED Locally
6. Implementing Node-RED in the Cloud
7. Calling a Web API from Node-RED
8. Pulling Project from Git
9. Creating a ToDo Application with Node-RED
10. Handling Sensor Data on Raspberry Pi
11. Visualize Data by Creating a Server-Side Application in the IBM Cloud
12. Developing a Chatbot Application using LINE and IBM Watson
13. Creating and Publishing your Own Node on the Node-RED Library