Where Codesys Actually Runs — Runtime Targets and the Hardware Story
May 29, 2026 — A TIA Portal engineer's walk through Codesys runtime targets — why the IDE and the runtime are separate products, the free Control Win SL soft PLC, the €55 Raspberry Pi runtime, hard-real-time RTE, the OEM-embedded runtime ecosystem, and what the licensing model means in practice.
Configuration, Tasks, and Programs — The AX Scan Cycle
May 27, 2026 — Article 15 of the Studying SIMATIC AX series. The AX scan cycle explained from the configuration.st file — what CONFIGURATION, TASK, and PROGRAM actually mean, how task priorities and interruption work, the declarative TASK→PROGRAM binding pattern versus calling OBs from OB1, multi-task patterns including a measured struct atomicity test on PLCSIM Advanced V8.0, and the complete mapping back to TIA Portal architecture.
Codesys ST Through SCL Eyes — The Language Differences That Catch You First
May 21, 2026 — Article 3 of the Studying Codesys series. A TIA Portal engineer walks the Codesys ST language surface from a TIA SCL point of view — the `#` prefix and the `stat` naming convention, the two-pane editor, the VS Code question, data-type deltas in both directions, the OOP keyword surface, Actions as first-class callable sub-routines, RETAIN and PERSISTENT alongside the lived TIA snapshot-workflow gap, pragmas and attributes, and per-Action language mixing.
Inside a Codesys Project — Devices, Applications, POUs, and the Habits Worth Unlearning
May 15, 2026 — A TIA Portal engineer studying Codesys steps inside the IDE — Devices view vs POUs view, Applications, Task Configuration, per-application Library Manager, six programming-language editors, and the structural habits a TIA engineer has to unlearn. Article 2 of the Studying Codesys series.
Variables and the Type System in SIMATIC AX
May 11, 2026 — How SIMATIC AX organizes variables and types for TIA Portal engineers — VAR_INPUT/VAR_OUTPUT/VAR sections, VAR_GLOBAL and VAR_EXTERNAL contracts, STRUCT and ENUM patterns, typed literals, and the AT keyword for direct addresses. A practical mapping from TIA Portal mental models to AX text.
Why I'm Studying Codesys — And What a TIA Portal Engineer Actually Sees Looking at the Alternative
May 7, 2026 — A TIA Portal engineer studies Codesys — the IDE/runtime split, who owns CODESYS GmbH, the cost story, where Codesys actually shows up, and the topical arc of the Studying Codesys series.
SIMATIC AX Project Structure Explained for TIA Portal Engineers
March 17, 2026 — A complete mapping of TIA Portal concepts — OBs, FBs, FCs, DBs, tag tables — to their SIMATIC AX equivalents. The reference guide for PLC programmers making the switch.
Namespaces in SIMATIC AX Explained for TIA Portal Engineers
March 17, 2026 — A deep dive into namespaces — what they are, why TIA Portal does not have them, how to use them in AX, and the mistakes you will make if you think about them with TIA Portal logic.
