IoT programming on the ESP8266 is really fun. The Arduino library ecosystem abstracts away the details of WiFi, HTTP servers, etc. The Arduino IDE abstracts awa

IoT programming on the ESP8266 is really fun. The Arduino library ecosystem abstracts away the details of WiFi, HTTP servers, etc. The Arduino IDE abstracts away the details of getting your program onto the microcontroller. You can set up a web server to control a GPIO output pin from your phone in about a page of code. From there, it's a short leap to something practically useful. Arduino is already a common choice for fun-oriented programming, but adding onboard WiFi takes it to another level. Using a web server for the UI also makes it more accessible, because you don't need to build an assembly of switches and indicators to get information to/from the user.