LabVIEW v. 8 material for training v. 2014

[GregNSC]

For industrial technician basic training in LabVIEW, how well does a reference book for version 8 work with the current student version of LabVIEW 2014?  For example, are the menus and screen shots from version 8 still viable for learning 2014, etc.?  If new reference materials are needed, what's recommended?

[_Bryan]

I guess the version 8 material would technically work with 2014.  But remember that that information is about 8 major version old and a lot has changed since then.

If you are going to use the latest version it would be best to get trained with the latest version.  NI has many training options to choose from.  If you go to www.ni.com there is a training button in the upper right corner.  They offer anything from full classes you attend to self paced kits depending on your budget.  You could also contact your local NI rep that you can find on the NI site.

The question I have is you say "industrial technician basic training".  What exactly do you mean?  Are they going to program/create programs or are they going to use programs that have already been written?

[GregNSC]

Thanks, Bryan.  For programming, they would be expected to write some really simple programs to help them learn the functions of LabVIEW, but on-the-job reality is that they would use already written programs.

[_Bryan]

No problem.  But I usually get scared when someone says they have a really simple program they want written.  Their version of simple usually varries from my version of simple.  Another great advantage of LabVIEW is the support on the forums and the included examples. 

I also just noticed that you mentioned that you are using the student version.  If you buy LabVIEW you get 1 year of support which includes certain online training depending on which version you buy.  http://www.hmilch.net/h/labview.php  It might be worth a look just for the included training.  There is also tons of help all over the internet.

But if they are just using programs that have already been made, they just need training on how to use that program from whoever wrote it or a manual if it was supplied.

[_S_G]

My personal opinion is that the version 8 training will suffice for basic LabVIEW training.  

My reasons are:

1. Everything that you learn for version 8 will be applicable to the 2014 version.  There are rare exceptions but these are the exception and not the rule.

2. The basic LabVIEW programming concepts (dataflow, structures, data types, modularity, and maybe a couple others that I'm missing) are what a beginner really needs to know to write simple programs and to understand and make simple tweaks to existing programs.  Advanced concepts will come later.

3.  When you learn with version 8, and get your hands on version 2014, you will have quite a few pleasant surprises with some of the newer features.  There will be easier and faster ways of doing things, but for a beginner, the training materials for LabVIEW 8 are as good a version to start with as any.

After they've learned the basics and played around with LabVIEW a little bit, they will gain an incredible amount when they take the courses for version 2014.

SG

CLA, CPI

[billko]

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@_S_G wrote:

My personal opinion is that the version 8 training will suffice for basic LabVIEW training.  

My reasons are:

1. Everything that you learn for version 8 will be applicable to the 2014 version.  There are rare exceptions but these are the exception and not the rule.

2. The basic LabVIEW programming concepts (dataflow, structures, data types, modularity, and maybe a couple others that I'm missing) are what a beginner really needs to know to write simple programs and to understand and make simple tweaks to existing programs.  Advanced concepts will come later.

3.  When you learn with version 8, and get your hands on version 2014, you will have quite a few pleasant surprises with some of the newer features.  There will be easier and faster ways of doing things, but for a beginner, the training materials for LabVIEW 8 are as good a version to start with as any.

After they've learned the basics and played around with LabVIEW a little bit, they will gain an incredible amount when they take the courses for version 2014.

SG

CLA, CPI

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For this very reason I recommend getting the 8.x version of Bloomy's Labview Style Book - because it's way cheaper than the current version, yet everything there is still applicale to LabVIEW basics.  Maybe there are easier ways to do certain things now, but the basic concepts never grow old.

[crossrulz]

Basics I (now called Core I) has barely changed over the years since 8.0 came out.  With a little bit of extra playing around, they should be able to figure out what little has changed over the years.

[GregNSC · Accepted solution]

Thanks, folks.  Those are very helpful observations and suggestions.

[crossrulz · Accepted solution]

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@GregNSC wrote:

Thanks, folks.  Those are very helpful observations and suggestions.

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