Node-RED is a programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services. It provides a browser-based drag-and-drop interface for developing flows of events between these different technologies. The lightweight runtime can run on edge devices or in the cloud. Node-RED makes it easy for developers of all levels to integrate different data streams and quickly prototype ideas without needing to be an expert programmer.

1. Hands On Intro
to Rapid
Prototyping
with Node-RED

2. Have you ever
had a day
when ….
You have an idea You want to build
out this idea
You’re not sure
where to get started

3. Wouldn’t it be handy if, when X happens over there,
it can alert the team, kick-off that business process
or just go ping!
How do I get the data from that API to give me
the info I need to build out that service and have
that service connect to my phone
Wish there was an easy way to build out a front
end and test out these API integrations without
building out a whole end to end stack Is there an easier way to test this works!

4. The
Problem
When building out applications ( Webservices or IoT ) there
is not one size fits all solution
Applications can often require pulling together different
device APIs and online services in new and interesting ways.
Time spent figuring out how to access a Serial port, or to
complete an OAuth flow against Twitter is not time spent on
creating the real value of a solution, and is not easy for
anyone but dedicated programmers.
Building things can require you to be an expert programmer
and you can often find yourself reinventing the wheel

5. We need tools that make it easier
for developers at all levels to bring
together the different streams of
events, both physical and digital,
that make up the any application:
both webservice and Internet of
Things.

6. Introducing Node-RED
Node-RED provides a fast and easy way to
create flow based programs to get your
ideas running on either web applications,
dashboards and IoT devices in minutes.
It provides a browser-based drag-drop UI
for creating flows of events and deploying
them to the runtime.
The light-weight runtime, built in node.js,
is ideal for edge-of-network environments
or running in the cloud.
It can be easily expanded to take add new
nodes to the palette – taking full
advantage of the node package manager
(npm) ecosystem

7. Node-RED is…
An application composition tool experience
A lightweight proof of concept runtime
Easy to use for simple tasks
• Simple to extend to add new capabilities and types of
integration
• Capable of creating the back-end glue between social
applications
• A great way to try...
• “can I just get this data from here to there?”
• “and maybe change it just slightly along the way...”
• Incredibly Adaptable

8. History of Node-RED
Node-RED has been more open and popular
as open source software for both edge and cloud
environments.
• March 2014: Invented by IBMers Nock O’Leary and
Dave Conway-Jones and Released in QCon London
• June 2014: Included in the catalog on IBM Cloud
• November 2015: Pre-installed in Raspberry Pi
• October 2016: Moved to Linux Foundation
• As of March 2018: Downloaded 50,000 times a
month

9. What is a Node-RED Node

10. Basic Node-RED Nodes
Inject node
• Allows manual triggering of flows
• Can inject events at scheduled intervals
Debug node
• Show message content; either payload or entire
object
Template Node
• Modifies the output based on a Mustache Template
Function node
• Run user-defined node.js code on the data inputs

12. Other Input Nodes
HTTP – Act as an HTTP endpoint; great for
building RESTful services
IBMIOT – Receive messages from an
attached IOT Foundation account
Also can receive from Websockets, MQTT
(pick your own broker), TCP and MQ Light

13. Other Output Nodes HTTP Response; required as the final node
when the input comes from an HTTP
Request
IBMIOT – send events out to the attached
IOT Foundation account
Twilio – send SMS messages via the Twilio
service
IBM Push – Send Push notifications to
mobile devices
Also can send requests through TCP, UDP,
MQLight, WebSockets.

14. Social Nodes
Storage Nodes
Watson Services Nodes

16. Lets Build something
Together
git repo: https://github.com/pmmistry/Intro-to-Node-RED

17. Sign up for IBM-Cloud
Get a head start with IBM Cloud, sign up via: https://ibm.biz/BdzMZG

18. Find Node-RED on Catalog

21. Lets create an application that tells you the
Weather in a different language
Insert Inject Node à Connect it to Weather Insights API Node à Connect to Debug Output

22. Add function to get forecast
for Berlin on Friday

23. Connect Language Translator node to Function Nodeà Connect Text to speech to
language translator Nodeà Connect change node to change payload to speech à
Connect Play Audio to hear output

24. So many more things to do with Node-RED
Install it locally and get wiring

25. flows.nodered.org
Index of all available
nodes
- Collection of user
contributed flows and
over 3000 + nodes and
flows available

26. IBM developerWorks Recipes
https://developer.ibm.com/recipes/
Lots of contributed recipes for
connecting things to Watson
IOT platform – many using
Node-RED

27. More Node-RED
Resources
Node Red nodes and Flows:
https://flows.nodered.org
Find new nodes, share your flows and see what other
people have done with Node-RED
Node Red official documentation:
https://nodered.org/docs/
Getting Started - User Guide - Cookbook
Watson Node Red nodes:
https://github.com/watson-developer-cloud/node-red-labs
A collection of examples on how to use the Watson nodes in Node-Red
Community Hosted Node Red Guide :
http://noderedguide.com/
“ The node red guide is a series of lectures designed to get you stared
with Node-Red”
Pooja’s Node-RED Demo: https://github.com/pmmistry/Intro-to-
Node-RED
John Waliki Node-RED Examples: https://github.com/johnwalicki

28. Thank You
Find me on Twitter :
@poojamakes
Connect with me on LinkedIn –
https://www.linkedin.com/in/
pmmistry/
Follow my Node-RED Blogs on
dev.to :
https://dev.to/poojamakes