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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/10/2023 in all areas

  1. I've always been suspicious of Google Trends because it doesn't give context. The following is C++ but I refuse to believe it's marching to oblivion. But it's fun to play with
    2 points
  2. All I know is that if they don't do something to make it a more powerful language, it will be difficult to keep it going in the long run. It was, in the past always a powerful choice for cross-platform compatibility. With the macOS deprecating (and eventually completely removing) support for OpenGL/OpenCL, we see the demise of the original LabVIEW platform. I for one would like to see a much heavier support for Linux and Linux RT. Maybe provide an option to order PXI hardware with an Ubuntu OS, and make the installers easier to use (NI Package Manager for Linux, etc.). They could make the Linux version of the Package Manager available from the Ubuntu app store. I know they say the market for Linux isn't that big, but I believe it would be much bigger if they made it easier to use. I know my IT department and test system hardware managers would love to get rid of Windows entirely. Our mission control software all runs in Linux, but LabVIEW still has good value in rapid application development and instrument bus controls, etc. So we end up running hybrid systems that run Linux in a VM to operate the test executive software, and LabVIEW in Windows to control all our instruments and data buses. Allowing users the option to port the RT Linux OS to lower-cost hardware, they way did for the Phar Lap OS would certainly help out, also. BTW, is it too much to ask to make all the low-cost FPGA hardware from Digilent LabVIEW compatible? I can see IOT boards like the Arduino Portenta, with its 16-bit analog I/O seriously eating their lunch in the near future. ChatGPT is pretty good at churning out Arduino and RaspberryPi code that's not too bad. All of our younger staff uses Digilent boards for embedded stuff, programming it in C and VHDL using Vivado. The LabVIEW old-timers are losing work because the FPGA hardware is too expensive. We used to get by in the old days buying myRIOs for simpler apps on the bench. But that device has not been updated for a decade, and it's twice the price of the ZYBO. Who has 10K to spend on an FPGA card anymore, not to mention the $20K PXI computer to run it. Don't get me wrong, the PXI and CompactRIO (can we get a faster DIO module for the cRIO, please?), are still great choices for high performance and rugged environments. But not every job needs all that. Sometimes you need something inexpensive to fill the gaps. It seems as if NI has been willing to let all that go, and keep LabVIEW the role of selling their very expensive high-end hardware. But as low-cost hardware gets more and more powerful (see the Digilent ECLYPSE Z7), and high-end LV-compatible hardware gets more and more expensive, LabVIEW fades more and more I used to teach LabVIEW in a classroom setting many years ago. NI always had a few "propaganda" slides at the beginning of Basics I extolling the virtues of LabVIEW to the beginners. One of these slides touted "LabVIEW Everywhere" as the roadmap for the language, complete with pictures of everything from iOT hardware to appliances. The reality of that effort became the very expensive "LabVIEW Embedded" product that was vastly over-priced, bug-filled (never really worked), and only compatible with certain (Blackfin?) eval boards that were just plain terrible. It came and went in a flash, and the whole idea of "LabVIEW Everywhere" went with it. We had the sbRIOs, but their pricing and marketing (vastly over-priced, and targeted at the high-volume market) ensured they would not be widely adopted for one-off bench applications. Lower-cost FPGA evaluation hardware and the free Vivado WebPack has nearly killed LabVIEW FPGA. LabVIEW should be dominating. Instead you get this:
    2 points
  3. How about halfway happy. Which is more happy then I'd be with nothing. I enjoy a community that shares code. Sharing is caring. I'm agree that stuff on VIPM.IO should have a bit more polish. But a random forum post doesn't require the test and rigor of a commercial product.
    1 point
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