Direction help from experienced users

[TheBoss]

Hi, ive been using labview since 1998. Not constantly but long periods of writing code then not writing code. About a year since i last wrote some code. What i'm wanting to do is become more professional about my approach to writing code. As i've been using Labview since 1998 i used L 5.1. My idea and approaches of writing code may be a lot different to others. The latest version i have used is Labview 10. Labview 10 is quite different from 5.1 apart from the fundamentals. What i'm wanting to do is to be able to write my own code proffessionally with a good architecture and a better understanding of the techniques used today. Is there any books, courses etc. I can do myself, as i will be doing this off my own back

Stu

[drjdpowell]

I actually never really learnt any LabVIEW from books or courses, so I can’t suggest any. Pretty well all my knowledge comes from “Find Examples”, reading conversations and studying code on LAVA and NI.com, and of course by actually using new features in actual code. If you want a suggestion, install the “JKI State Machine” Toolkit and try and use it in a project (there is also some video documentation to watch). Your knowledge will advance significantly even if you later decide you prefer a different architecture.

— James

[dannyt]

I have never managed to get anybody to pay for a course and have learn LabVIEW by trying things and reading stufff on-line, I do have copy of Jim's http://www.labviewforeveryone.com/wiki/Main_Page which I liked and still dig into now & again but for somebody doing LabVIEW on thier own with nobody to give you feedback on your code I would really recommend the LabVIEW style Guide Book http://www.bloomy.com/lvstyle/ I sometime feel learning how to make LabVIEW code look, is harder that learning how to code a solution.

One thing I would say IMHO

RANT ON

Only look at the NI example code as a guide on how to do things, a large amount of the NI examples that ship with LabVIEW provide a very bad guide on how code should look

RANT OFF

Edited January 23, 2012 by dannyt

[Phillip Brooks]

For basic architecture and programming techniques, I still like "A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW".

It predates event structures and LVOOP, but makes you think about the same sorts of issues such as loose coupling and strong cohesion. These same ideas apply to database design.

http://www.amazon.com/Software-Engineering-Approach-LabVIEW/dp/0130093653

[TheBoss]

Hi everyone, thanks for the responses. I think what i need to do is to choose a style i like and what works best for. I have to make a decision and stick with it. Think i may have a look at the LVOOP as i'm not a fan of queues.

Stu

[drjdpowell]

Think i may have a look at the LVOOP as i'm not a fan of queues.

??? There not really the either/or. I use LVOOP objects that contain queues of other LVOOP objects all the time. You need to understand queues.

Edited January 23, 2012 by drjdpowell

[TheBoss]

??? There not really the either/or. I use LVOOP objects that contain queues of other LVOOP objects all the time. You need to understand queues.

Yup, i realised this when i read a LVOOP presentation

[SteveChandler]

The best way in my opinion is to obtain your CLD. Being able to do that means that you are a pretty good programmer. If that is not an option for you then you can look at the example material and checklists. Do the sample exams and post to the certifications board and ask for feedback.