ESP8266 Community Forum

if anyone one else has some suggestions fro a push in the right direction - it would be very welcome!

user1829 wrote:oh OK, i have used Arduino IDE 1.6.5 to upload some sketches, and it is pretty friendly, but was told LUA is OK too? that's why i am asking about the basic parts of the code i need to get this fan control happening...

this is SO confusing! everywhere i turn i have to learn new things, there is just so much assumed knowledge with this stuff, i have never used any programing... i am literally at the base of base levels here!

There is quite a learning curve for developing on embedded systems but I found the end results worth the struggle. The ESP8266 is a relatively immature piece of technology. The community has done amazing things in the months since its release, its been incredible to watch. That being said you will run into bugs/hurdles in whichever method you chose whether it be C, Arduino IDE, or NodeMCU (LUA).

user1829 wrote:so to clarify - Arduino language is C++? and LUA is its own unique language?

Arduino is basically C++ with some macros thrown in to make certain tasks easier (digitalWrite etc.). LUA is a scripting language and is part of the NodeMCU platform. Arduino IDE for ESP8266 will eclipse NodeMCU in terms of users and support as it matures. Arduino is much more established, a lot of the projects developed for the AVR based Arduinos can be directly ported to the ESP8266 without much trouble.

Spend some time here reading about the ESP8266 Arduino project here:
https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino

As far as your project goes you should check out the esp8266webserver (I can't remember its exact name) example that comes with the ESP8266 Arduino IDE. This creates a very basic HTTP server on your ESP8266 that will allow you to connect a browser to it.

thanks for the reply!

making more sense to me now

so - to my project,

i have programed my nodeMCU with a script - i can turn relay 1 on to open a vent, and relay 2 to close it using a HTML interface.

BUT when i simulate a power outage, i MUST disconnect the nodeMCU from the relay bank before the nodeMCU runs the init.lua script?

i then plug the relay board in and then can control the relays again.

but how do i get it to work without unplugging the relay board?

do i separate the modules some how?

BTW - i have realised that learning about turning things ON/OFF is a better place to start than trying to get things to work based on temperature levels...

baby steps first, lol!