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what different between labview and other programming languages?

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@egilbro wrote:

what different between labview and other programming languages like c or c++ ?

 

What makes me chose it ??


As a first step you need to decide if you want to be a programmer or not. There is a wide gap between non-programmers and programmers and a large portion of the population has no interest in programming anything. Back in the days, 99% of all VCRs were flashing 12:00 forever! Programmers, as a group, are more similar than you might think, independent of the tools they use.

 

Yes, once you have decided to be a programmer, you need to make a decision on the programming environment. To some extent, that should depend on the kind of programs you want to write. It also depends on how your brain is wired. For example if you want to be an artist, you could become a painter, a writer, a sculptor, or a dancer, and there is no way to sort these according to greatness. They are all orthogonal. You cannot argue that Van Gogh is not a great artist because he did not write "The lord of the rings". Why didn't William Shakespeare paint the Mona Lisa? He had all the ingredients!! Speaking of Leonardo Da Vinci, not only was he a painter, he also was a fantastic engineer and would have been a great LabVIEW programmer. Code in mirror writing would have been difficult though 😄

 

OK, let's look at the programming tools we have today. Very broadly, there are two types: Graphical or text. For a quick overview, see how the "hello world" program looks in some of them.

 

There are a few graphical programming languages targeted at kids (e.g. Scratch), but that does not mean that all graphical programs are simplistic. Some societies, especially in central Europe, have a tendency to always add a perceived "value" to everything. One thing always needs to be better that something else and everything is correlated. The better the medicine was for you the worse it has to taste. Reading a book: Good! Reding a comic: Bad! Going to the opera: Good! Going to a rock concert: Bad! Vegetables: good! Steak: Bad! Often, people don't even make these value decisions, but simply regurgitate what religious or political leaders (or some actor on late night TV!) tells them!

 

The world is much to rich to be constrained to a single scale from 0 to 1. Same for programming languages!

 

Text based programming works well for linear thinkers that are good at remembering obscure syntax (do I need a "[", a "{", or a "(" here? Where does the semicolon go? ) Exposed to LabVIEW for the first time they might stare helplessly at an empty diagram because they are used to start programming in the upper left corner. Being able to start coding anyhwere might pose a mental block and if they hear that you can put several independent code fragments anywhere on the same diagram and they will all run in parallel will blow their mind! In order not to lose control, they corral everyting inside sequence frames to maintain some sort of order in the universe. However, a good text programmer will be able to quickly become a great LabVIEW programmer after the initial misconceptions are ironed out.

 

Similarly, a bad text programmer will not magically become a good LabVIEW programmer or vice versa. Some people should not be programmers at all!

 

LabVIEW is for graphical, nonlinear thinkers!

 

Of course there is "Baby-LabVIEW" using all express VIs and dynamic data, where a non-programmer can get something going after a 5 minute programming lesson. While the program actually works, it is not something that can be scaled to much more advanced applications.

 

Then there is the "real LabVIEW" which is a full featured programming language that has all elements to create any program you want and you even get a graphical user interface for free because it is a central part of the code. Historically, many attempts at graphical programming have been made, but most fell short. Only LabVIEW succeeded because it was simply so much better. For example the LabVIEW structures are absolutely ingenious, automatically delineating inside from outside and allowing infinite stacked hierarchies. LabVIEW is often mentioned together with instrument control and data acquisition. Yes, that is one of it's original strengths. However it is equally sutable for pure computations and e.g. contains all the linear algebra that you might need. There is even a Chess program written entirely in LabVIEW. The use of LabVIEW is only limited by your imagination.

 

LabVIEW has a provem track record for almost 30 years and is very mature. National Instruments has invested gigantic efforts improving it over the years and further improvements will continue in the future. It has a very wide user base in the industry and academia. Look at SpaceX, Cern and many others. First robotics exposes our future engineers to graphical programming.

 

The cost of LabVIEW was a major hurdle in the past for private home use. Fortunately, NI came through and recently created the $50 LabVIEW home bundle, making LabVIEW accessible to the maker movement.

 

I cannot decide what you should use, but I have moved to LabVIEW and would never go back. Text programming is way too painful once you get used to LabVIEW.. That's just me!

 

What kind of programs are you trying to write?

 

Message 11 of 30
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I really enjoyed reading Thanks

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Message 12 of 30
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Hi,

 

my opinion is Labview is worse compare to any text languages C/C++, espesially Pascal based language:

 

1) basicly you can't produce good readle and commneted code in Labview,

2) you should remember how to look a lot of pictures; in text languages you usually have around 50 key words = pascal use a lot of English word, it very good to understand,

4) modern RAD software can display help for function in popup ballon,

5) you can easy to move through a code in modern RAD software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Message 13 of 30
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1) basically, you can't produce good readable and commented statements in a post. 🙂

Your spelling and grammar errors just reinforce one of the advantages of LabVIEW. the Thanks for the good example of text based problems.
Message 14 of 30
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It is not about good spelling and grammer, because there is a lot fo programers from countries, where is English is not mother language. You should respect us.

Of course, it is terrible for you.

 

But things are that good programmers mostly preffer text based language insteand of Labview. Labview additionally needs Run-Time Engine on background.

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@mig-31 wrote:

It is not about good spelling and grammer, because there is a lot fo programers from countries, where is English is not mother language. You should respect us.

Of course, it is terrible for you.

 

But things are that good programmers mostly preffer text based language insteand of Labview. Labview additionally needs Run-Time Engine on background.


It is about spelling and grammar.   Spelling is making sure your variables are all spelled the same way every time.  Grammar is comparable to syntax.

 

Also, all programming languages need a run-time engine in the background.  You may not think so because ones needed for languages like C, are installed by Windows because Windows OS is using those same run-times.  Look how many .NET packages exist as separate installs!

Message 16 of 30
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If your spelling and grammar in a text based language is poor, you cannot compile the code. The point being that with LabVIEW, poor spelling and grammar is less important and non-english speakers should have an easier time of it.

Good programmers prefer the tool that best fits what they need to do.

You apparently have little knowledge of other languages if you think they don't require a runtime as well. Have you looked at the .NET runtime? The fact that Microsoft includes It with Windows does not make a difference to me.
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@mig-31 wrote:

 

But things are that good programmers mostly preffer text based language insteand of Labview.


There being more programmers that use text languages does not support the idea that text languages are automatically better than Labview.  Many programmers have certainly never come across LabVIEW and have not put the time into it to give it a fair shake.

 

I'd imagine that not many long time text users will immediately like labview ("Who programs with spaghetti? ahh!").  But it's pretty common that when people give it an open minded attempt they come to appreciate how powerful it is.

 

 

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Message 18 of 30
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@

You are talking about NET platform what needs NET FRAMEWORK. But C/C++, Pascal, VisualBasic (gcc compiler, freepascal, mingw, Visual C/C++) doesn't need any RunTime Engine. In case of gcc/FreePascal  and others multiplatform languages, you can generate execute file for different platforms Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and so on, NET platform not .

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@mig-31 wrote:

my opinion is Labview is worse compare to any text languages C/C++, espesially Pascal based language:


You are using pascal? Replace he word "worse" by "different" and we have a mature discussion.


mig-31 wrote:

1) basicly you can't produce good readle and commneted code in Labview,

2) you should remember how to look a lot of pictures; in text languages you usually have around 50 key words = pascal use a lot of English word, it very good to understand,

4) modern RAD software can display help for function in popup ballon,

5) you can easy to move through a code in modern RAD software.


  1. Just because YOU can't produce readable code, does not mean it is LabVIEW's fault. we all can produce readable code in LabVIEW. Even without comments it is much easier to follow well written LabVIEW code, because it is much easier to tell where the data is coming from, where it is going and what code parts depend on it.
  2. Pictures are easier to understand than words
  3. (where is your point #3? That would never happen in graphical programming!)
  4. What is RAD software? Are you talking about this? 😄 Have you ever tried using context help in LabVIEW?
  5. Text based code is linear and "moving" is only in one direction. on a 2D diagram, everything is more within reach and easier to navigate. We even have tools to see the entire project hierarchy in graphical form.

@mig-31 wrote:

But things are that good programmers mostly preffer text based language insteand of Labview. Labview additionally needs Run-Time Engine on background.


The main requirement for all of this is that you have a computer and an OS that provides tons of common libraries and infrastructure. All programming languages need run time libraries. Just because some are included with the OS is a very minor difference.

 

Please don't uses biased terms such as "good programmers prefer...".

  • Good LabVIEW programmers prefer LabVIEW
  • Good text programmers prefer text
  • Programmers that are good at both prefer whatever is more suitable for the task at hand.
  • Bad programmers can write bad code in any language, but if they use LabVIEW it might actually be runnable in the end. 😧

Your use of these platitudes seems like you are trying to convince yourself that you are a good programmer, and since you use pascal, that must be why.  Don't confuse cause and effect. Identifying yourself as text programmer does not automatically make you a good programmer.

 

There are certain medical conditions that might also play a role. For example dyslexia prevents efficient text programming while people with reduced visual thinking ability probably would prefer text. 

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