ESP8266 Community Forum

i am new to esp8266,
I am confused between the use of a firmware and the AT commands.
what is a firmware and what is AT commands?
does a combination of AT commands make a firmware?
do i need a firmware to run the AT commands?
does a esp8266 come preloaded with a firmware?
if i have a third party firmware on the esp8266 will it be erased when i use AT commands?
can i get the same functionality using AT commands as a custom firmware?

thank you

i am new to esp8266,

Then this may be your starting point http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4326&hilit=book

thank you! but could you still clear up the confusion with yes/no answers please!

"what is a firmware and what is AT commands?" :
a firmware is an application+sdk installed in flash. AT commands is simply commands typed thru a kind of shell to provide functionnalities.

"does a combination of AT commands make a firmware?" :
Nope ! a firmware can be any application which maybe don't provide any AT functionnalities, an example is a TCPServer or an HTTPServer. AT Firmware is only one kind of firmware, one is provided by Espressif.

"do i need a firmware to run the AT commands?"
Yes, an AT specific firmware like the one is provided by Espressif, but there are others such as the on from IGRR.

"does a esp8266 come preloaded with a firmware?"
Not all the time, some yes, some are completely empty so you need to upload one.

"if i have a third party firmware on the esp8266 will it be erased when i use AT commands?"
Yes, you can't have both at the same time, except if you develop you own which provide both functionalities.

"can i get the same functionality using AT commands as a custom firmware?"
As mentioned above, if you create a custom firmware which includes both functionalities, yes !