Best LabVIEW design feature

[GregSands]

In my part of the world everyone's winding down for their summer holidays! So I thought I'd start a pair of topics to sing the praises (and raise the sins) of LabVIEW. In this topic:

What design feature in LabVIEW do you most appreciate? The one that when you use it, you think "this is just so easy". Or that you'd most miss if you had to program in another language.

For me, it would be the ease with which multiple cores/threads can be used, either with concurrent loops, or with the Parallel For Loop - having done some OpenMP and MPI programming (in Fortran of all things!), LabVIEW just makes this so much more straight-forward. Huge kudos to all who developed these features over the years.

OK, what about you?

[asbo]

The event event structure and the LV events that go with it

[Black Pearl]

The wire.

Felix

[SuperS_5]

G-code. This is the most important "feature," or more like a generation advancement. Dealing with the UI can be difficult, but, should I don't think it is any harder than other languages, just different. I don't have any regrets with leaving C behind in the dust. (I just hope that the NI R&D guys keep up the "I program in C so you don't have to" mentality.)

[ShaunR]

Polymorphic VIs.

[Francois Normandin]

Classes.

(yeah, I just had to say it right after Shaun...)

[ShaunR]

(yeah, I just had to say it right after Shaun...)

I'm. infamous

[mje]

From the IDE side: long live the quick drop.

Best set of features: Synchronization objects and structures. That upgrade (6.1?) will forever be the best.

Best underdeveloped feature: OOP. I *love* that its here, but it could and should be so much more.

[dannyt]

For me the new separate source and compile code, at last you can develop in parallel with a team and use source control in a really useful way.

[ShaunR]

Ooooh. Almost forgot. Re-entrant VI's and the cool improvements to them over time (cloning, place inside self etc.)

[Antoine Chalons]

scripting or event structure

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

Control references.

They let us do in sub-VIs what previously had only been possible using attribute nodes. Instead of the BD of user interfaces being dominiated with attribute nodes, the diagrams can "look like what they do".

Ben

[Daklu]

Lava. Without it nothing else would have mattered for me.

Yeah, it's not really an *official* Labview design feature, but it's the best learning/documentation resource that's available. The Blues that freely share their insights here are a big part of that.

[hooovahh]

Highlight execution/Breakpoints for debugging. Seriously what would I do without it? Having the ability to read variables in real time on a text based language is nice, but not as good as what LabVIEW can do. That's usually the feature I show programmers of text languages. That and not needing to compile to run code, well it does compile just not having to explicitly compile to run code.

[PaulG.]

Diagram disable structure.

[asbo]

From the IDE side: long live the quick drop.

Highlight execution/Breakpoints for debugging.

Gah, these two as well, can't pick just one! Also, auto tool and undo.

[Norm Kirchner]

LVOOP Property Nodes

[jzoller]

The support.

Thanks NI!

[Ton Plomp]

XControls.

Ton

[ShaunR]

Self-indexing for loops.

Beats ANY other language hands down as they don't have an equivalent.and have to put length checks all over the place and usually get it wrong .

Edited December 17, 2010 by ShaunR

[Antoine Chalons]

I wish to change my answer, now that LV2010 takes about 4 times more time to compile my application it became my favorite feature, and this is why.

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

I wish to change my answer, now that LV2010 takes about 4 times more time to compile my application it became my favorite feature, and this is why.

Worst threads is getting ahead so...

How about the multiple object property thing? I used to have to select each widget one at a time and change the font color etc. Not anymore!

Ben

[ShaunR]

Worst threads is getting ahead so...

How about the multiple object property thing? I used to have to select each widget one at a time and change the font color etc. Not anymore!

Ben

You've always been able to change font settings on multiple widgets

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

You've always been able to change font settings on multiple widgets

Good point! I was thinking of something else but... It is still a nice feature that is handy.

Don't you like it?

Ben

[ShaunR]

Good point! I was thinking of something else but... It is still a nice feature that is handy.

Don't you like it?

Ben

I neither like nor dislike. I don't really use it much since I tend to get one control just how I like it then copy it. What I do love though is that you can select a load of controls and make them exactly the same size at the click of a button.