Hello NUM_LEDS junkies,
“Tired of those endless uploading times to SPIFFS??? Read on…”
I came across an interesting article by Xose Pérez detailing an approach to embed web stuff on the esp8266 (http://tinkerman.cat/embed-your-website-in-your-esp8266-firmware-image/).
In a nutshell, it uses Gulp to cram web files together and convert the result to binary, then use the ESPAsyncWebServer library to serve the binary from PROGMEM.
One of the key benefits is that the web binary is included in the main sketch - meaning that you will not have to endure those geological SPIFFS uploading times anymore!
Xose’s article is very comprehensive - a tutorial really. Setting things from scratch can feel a bit daunting but, imo, worth it. Some care - though - is required when setting tasks/paths with Gulp as it’s very much a rocket-powered steamroller on steroids. Once done though, the workflow is ludicrously easy and painless.
I’ve successfully tested the approach on a minimal version of @Jason_Coon 's webserver using a Huzzah ESP8266 (https://gist.github.com/anonymous/1c8e6a7ae12d6597bb2ad55f8290b417). Stick in your ssid/password, verify led setup, upload the sketch normally, and enjoy near lightning-fast upload. You won’t have enough time to brew a cuppa.
As an amateur hobbyist, I can’t realistically qualify the advantages/disadvantages of this approach – but I do appreciate very much that the upload time is short, the site works, and the workflow is painless.
Comments, suggestions and improvements are most welcome. In particular, the ESPAsyncWebServer/ArduinoJson bits of code could do with some serious attention as I’m new to it and just don’t get it.