Leaderboard

They pretty much are, at the end of the day. When you program in windows, you are programming the OS (win32 API or .NET). It doesn't really matter what language you use but some are better than others for certain things. It's similar with Linux which has it's own ecosystem based on the distributed packages. Where LabVIEW differs is in the drivers for hardware and that is where the value added comes from. The only other platforms that have a similar hardware ecosystem is probably something like Arduino.

When I said at least one, I meant whichever one that I feel would be more beneficial to my own career ambitions, be it Python, Rust, etc. I didn't (mean to) infer that they were generic and interchangeable, (I know better than that). For me though, my introduction and programming experience has primarily been in LabVIEW. Changing my mental process to go from a graphical to a text based language feels like it would be more difficult for me than switching between text-based languages. As I said though, I realize that there are differences ranging from simply syntax to the more drastic.

(Disclaimer: I am not an NI insider, and I have no inside knowledge of the pending Emerson acquisition) I think we're all sort of in a holding pattern waiting to see how the Emerson acquisition plays out. Emerson's outward messaging seems very positive towards LabVIEW, which I find encouraging.