Programming the Internet of Things

Part I. Getting Started

Introduction

I must move forward.

However, where do I start?

First things first—setup.

The preface introduced some basic IoT principles and concepts but probably left much to be desired in terms of what the IoT is, how it works, and what you can do about it. This section won’t explain everything there is to know about the IoT as an ecosystem of widely divergent devices and capabilities; instead, I’ll focus on a basic set of core concepts to help you create a mental map of how the IoT can help you solve a variety of problems.

The process I’ll walk through in this section and use throughout the book is the same one I use to help my students better understand the IoT and—perhaps most importantly—how to build a simple, end-to-end IoT solution, from device to cloud.

What You’ll Learn in This Section

Chapters 1 and 2 are focused on three primary topics: (1) problem definition and functional categorization, (2) development environment setup, and (3) building the initial edge tier applications. You’ll learn about each of these as I define a simple IoT problem, create an architecture baseline to address the problem, and discuss the design philosophy that will drive the suggested implementation path. That path begins with the construction of two simple applications: the gateway device application and the constrained device application. Ready? Let’s get started.