Hi Sam,
A very fair question that I have been struggling to answer too. I am (at the moment developing a z-scan experiment which in reality an f-scan, focal point scan using an Optoune variable focal lens, the driver of which is written in LabVIEW).
Apart from that, I am an electronic enthusiast (just starting, really) and have a few additions to the project in mind; and instead of using commercial systems, I want to build them myself using Arduino (not yet FPGA, and I don't think I have the talent or the knowledge to touch DSP processors). That is why (since LabVIEW mostly have made the job of DAQ easier) I think I would be using Labview as the primary language and call either scrips or DLLs from within the Labview programme.
As you can guess, I am not a programmer (just a chemist), but I would love to develop my own experiments. So far, I have been developing with existing pieces of equipment, but I am keen to learn how to make some of them myself.
Maybe I am taking the wrong approach here, and if so, please feel free to let me know.
Cheers,
Mahbod