An apparatus, method for operating an automation device which includes a processor for directly executing function modules, where a function module selected as a component of an automation solution via a development environment, is converted into a code block via the development environment, where the code block includes a type identifier corresponding to the type of the particular function module, where inputs and outputs of the particular function module are mapped to simultaneously usable processor registers in the code block, a plurality of code blocks is processed by reading-in a particular code block by the processor and subsequently executing the code block to execute the automation solution, and where execution of the code block includes selecting a function unit from a plurality of function units based on the type identifier of the code block and activation of the selected function unit with the processor registers specified in the code block.