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PLCs for Beginners

You're reading from   PLCs for Beginners An introductory guide to building robust PLC programs with structured text

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Product type Paperback
Published in May 2024
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781803230931
Length 380 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Tools
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Author (1):
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M. T. White M. T. White
Author Profile Icon M. T. White
M. T. White
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Toc

Table of Contents (25) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Part 1: Basics of Computer Science for PLC Programmers
2. Chapter 1: Computer Science Versus Automation Programming FREE CHAPTER 3. Chapter 2: PLC Components – Integrating PLCs with Other Modules 4. Chapter 3: The Basics of Programming 5. Chapter 4: Unleashing Computer Memory 6. Chapter 5: Designing Programs – Unleashing Pseudocode and Flowcharts 7. Chapter 6: Boolean Algebra 8. Part 2: Introduction to Structured Text Programming
9. Chapter 7: Unlocking the Power of ST 10. Chapter 8: Exploring Variables and Tags 11. Chapter 9: Performing Calculations in Structured Text 12. Chapter 10: Unleashing Built-In Function Blocks 13. Chapter 11: Unlocking the Power of Flow Control 14. Chapter 12: Unlocking Advanced Control Statements 15. Chapter 13: Implementing Tight Loops 16. Part 3: Algorithms, AI, Security, and More
17. Chapter 14: Sorting with Loops 18. Chapter 15: Secure PLC Programming – Stopping Cyberthreats 19. Chapter 16: Troubleshooting PLCs – Fixing Issues 20. Chapter 17: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) 21. Chapter 18: The Final Project – Programming a Simulated Robot 22. Assessments 23. Index 24. Other Books You May Enjoy

Basic calculations

As logic has it, the basics of any calculations are the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. If you’ve worked with LL in the past, you may have noticed that the programming interface utilizes function blocks that have to be strung together, which can make long equations relatively complex. This is where ST shines as equations that are comprised of many variables can be easily programmed.

Solution variable

All operations have solutions – that is, all equations have an output value that is the result of the calculation. In programming, it’s usually wise to have an extra variable to hold the resultant of an equation. For example, if you were to add two numbers together, you may have a third variable called sum and your code may look like something akin to the following:

sum = a + b

Using a solution variable will help keep your code cleaner and easier to maintain. However, there are times when you...

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