Chief Delphi - Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

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Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Line (Post 820132)

First of all, do you think that perhaps taking polls with langauge stating that people "HATE" one of the main sponsors of FIRST

Labview is not a sponsor of FIRST. National Instruments makes labview and sponsors FIRST. Just because NI sponsors FIRST doesn't mean that people can't hate their products.

Personally I like labview. I haven't used it that much, but it's been really easy to learn. It can get cluttered pretty quickly if you aren't careful, but I've had the same problem with C/C++. A zoom function would be incredibly helpful, as it stands, dual monitors are almost a necessity for some of our VIs.

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

personally, i still want to use MPLAB!
we learn MPLAB in our computer engineering course so im familiar with it. Windriver and labview are totally new to us.
we tried using C++ before because we thought it would be similiar, but we got errors on comments! so we gave up and started using labview and it works!!!
so i guess, to answer the real question, i like labview!

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Freeman (Post 826623)

Labview is not a sponsor of FIRST. National Instruments makes labview and sponsors FIRST. Just because NI sponsors FIRST doesn't mean that people can't hate their products.

Yes, but it is graciously improfessional to hate the product of a major sponsor of FIRST, or at least be vocal about it. Its alright to show distaste and argue the merits of it, but outright declaring that you hate it seems a little childish, no?

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Interesting site. According to that graph, it looks like most of the popular languages are dropping quite a bit, but it doesn't show any language taking up the slack. I'm not sure how they are getting their data, but I know of another site.

You may also want to look at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm#comp
is a decent place to start. It shows that there are less than a million SW engineers and less than half a million programmers in the US. So maybe the google search is right and there are 60 million programmers in the world, but maybe not.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear things worked out. No matter which language is selected I think that going through FRC is an amazing way to gain experience.

Greg McKaskle

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Thanks Greg. I'll take a look.

I'd also like to thank you for being patient and helpful even with those who have been frustrated with LabVIEW and those who expressed their frustration in unpleasant ways (which possibly included me). I also read one of your posts that addresses my question of the applicability of LabVIEW knowledge. It was in the thread Teams happy with Wind River Workbench...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg McKaskle

My point is that the typical LV user wouldn't list their title as a LV programmer. They are a technician, engineer, scientist, or researcher doing some task, and the computer and LV are a tool they use to get their job done. Some jobs naturally call for specialization, others become common tasks such that the original job all but disappears as everyone learns the skill. Computers have evolved so that they are no longer back room devices with specialists keeping them humming. If computer languages evolve the right way, programming will follow a similar path. NI's goal is to provide tools to the engineering masses rather than the specialist?

This shed a lot of light on NI is doing with LabVIEW. If it was for the generalist, it would explain my initial frustration because I would be the specialist, but it's okay to be either! I can say that I respect all of you at NI for taking the time to make this tool. After having taught people with no programming experience how to program, I understand how hard it is to teach programming. I would say that LabVIEW is probably easier to learn for someone new at programming; the reason I find C++ much easier to understand is because of my years of programming experience, and I can't expect a new programmer to see things like I see them. Those who look at LabVIEW and go "What! Graphical programming?! That's for NOOBS!!!!" are entirely missing that point.

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Quote:

Originally Posted by leftylink (Post 826508)

My question is, to what extent is it "used around the world"? Who uses LabVIEW in any real-world application? What advantages do they see in paying for this proprietary programming language as opposed to using a language with open standards such as C++ and the like?

YouTube: CERN and the LHC (Large Hadron Collider)
I hope this helps to address your question.

Cheers,
Mark

Re: Do you hate or like labview or want to use c

Quote:

Originally Posted by leftylink (Post 826648)

Those who look at LabVIEW and go "What! Graphical programming?! That's for NOOBS!!!!" are entirely missing that point.

Or perhaps they understand the point entirely, but they just express it in a poor fashion: LabVIEW is "for noobs" because, as you yourself stated, it is much easier for new programmers to learn than for experiences programmers. It would seem that it is also, in some instances, difficult for an experienced programmer to "unlearn" some habits of text based programming and apply new habits to graphical programming, so learning LabVIEW may be easier for those who have not yet become fully accustomed to programming -- that is, "noobs."

That having been said, graphical programming is an interesting concept; I myself am not really that interested in it, I find text based programming easier for my brain to work with, but the easier accessibility of the field will be AWESOME!