LCD Shield - DFROBOT

So recently I worked on a project where I wanted to have a simple display show the temperature and humidity as well as have a button to trigger a timer.  This was meant to be a resin casting assistant, hence the name "RES-ASSIST".

Rise and Smile Project

The original goal of this project was to provide a way to send messages to my kids before I went to work since I go in very early and don't see them in the morning.  This simple device can receive messages from a computer or phone over a local LAN, and displays the text on its screen.

I2C Backpack for LCD

This link more than adequately covers the setup and execution of using a PCF8574 backpack with a standard LCD https://www.instructables.com/id/Using-PCF8574-backpacks-with-LCD-modules-and-Ardui/

The beauty of the backpack is that it reduces all the digital IO needed to run an LCD down to two digital pins!

I have some caveats to identify when working with the NodeMcu ESP8266

LCD

This is the summary information for getting an LCD up and running with the Arduino.  For this example I have two different LCD, one backlit, one not.