[EricVanWyk]

Disclaimer: I work for National Instruments, and I am a developer on the LabVIEW Education Edition team.

LabVIEW was the 12th programming language I learned. It is one of 5 that I actively develop in. Bluntly put, there is no single language that is the best choice for all situations. Attempting to identify the language that will provide the most "useful and transferable skills for later in life" requires you to make huge assumptions on what your students will do with their life.

I try to make sure my students understand that tool selection is an important part of every job, and should be re-evaluated frequently. You can use a screwdriver on a nail, but it isn't pretty.


My honest opinion is that LabVIEW is frequently the correct tool choice for engineers, and less frequently is the correct tool choice for computer scientists. I was an R&D electrical engineer in my life before NI, and LV was extremely useful in creating and verifying prototype sensors and actuators.