System and apparatus for authoring and developing automation interfaces and processes without writing code

A method of programming an automation controls component, comprising:

• a. providing an integrated development environment comprising (i) a graphical user interface and (ii) a source code generation module;
• b. adding, through the graphical user interface, one or more visual elements corresponding to an automation controls component;
• c. automatically generating source code to expose commands for the automation controls component through functions usable as event handlers;
• d. modifying an interface associated with the automation controls component to enable handling of a plurality of the event handlers without having to write or edit source code pertaining thereto;
• e. automatically generating source code that captures and broadcasts signals from the automation controls component to a communication channel enabling automated telemetry originating from the automation controls component;
• and
• f. creating visual representations of telemetry data for each signal, the telemetry data associated with the telemetry originating from the automation controls component.