labVIEW tough?

[Halemani]

Hello,
LabVIEW is great tool. But, has anyone found it tough to work with in the beggining?
How many days you took to understand the flow(to do what you want)?

[tst]

You might wish to look at this thread.

[Britoa]

depends on your definition of tough, I found it simple to start, more difficult to get to a level above simple.

Compared to doing the same things in any other language, it's cake (with frosting).

If you have programmed before, think about how hard it was to start a new language.

[JeffOverton]

It made intuitive sense at first, but I think that might be my training as an EE instead of comp sci.  The difficulty is figuring out the best existing method to perform the simpler tasks, especially if (like me) you didn't have the time for the tutorials or classes.  But, that's what the forums are here for, I guess.  Also, I really like the visual modularity of the SubVIs.  I can guarantee you a lot of C programmers would love to be able to drag and drop one thing instead of having to #include, call the appropriate function, make sure they didn't have a typo, etc.

edit - well hey, look at that

Message Edited by JeffOverton on 03-27-2008 09:25 AM

[pallen]

I wouldn't call it "easy".  That's a good thing though.  If it was "easy", then it would tough finding people willing to pay you for your skill.  

I've been working with PLCs and PC based stuff for about 6 years now, and almost every new project has at least one challenging aspect to it that forces me to learn something I didn't know before I started.  It can be pretty stressful if you've got a deadline and literally have no idea how you're going to get it done.  But that's the job.  

A good way to start is to spend a little time everyday looking at these forums.  Look around for others too.  LAVA is also a great resource.  

Do a search for "training" and "tutorials" on the main NI site and you'll find more information.  

There are also a bunch of great books available too.  I'd recommend LabVIEW for Everyone.  I have the second edition of this book and I found all kinds of great stuff in it.  The third edition is quite current with newest tools available in LabVIEW and could help you get a leg up.  

[Ben]

I had a very hard time starting out since I had no formal training and had nobody to ask. it probably took me a whole day to figure out how to switch tools and how to use the wiring tool. I then proceeded to code in LV as if it was C and commited a lot of sinfull acts like not initializing shift registers, bundling wires to save diagram space, using the worse case sub-VI icon connector...

But after taking the LabVIEW Basics I & II I found out a lot of my mistakes and learned how to do it right (well sorta, I still had to attend the LV Advanced course to figure out why I was using so much memory and my app's sometimes became slugish after being scaled up).

Ben

[Halemani]

Yes compared to  other languages it is much easier. Especialy with the color coding for  different  datatypes. I have been put on a project already. I have started LV for last 8 days only. Boy I have to do a lot of work with LV. Also, can I find some free PDFs to start? Something like LV for everyone.

[RavensFan]

Take a look at the following NI tutorials online

LabVIEW Introduction Course - Three Hours
LabVIEW Introduction Course - Six Hours

[Révolution]

Ravens Fan, your tow links are interesting (especially for me). It now makes 1 year y learn Labview programming on my own, and I am looking for tutorials and courses like the ones you just gave. (Video tutorial are easier to follow though).

Thanks for these links.