alukindo Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi: I am seriously considering writing a book titled: 'Selected Topics in LabVIEW Programming'. My intent is to choose a few topics which have a great impact on the developmental learning curve in LabVIEW programming. I have in the past written four articles in LabVIEW Technical Resource Publication (publication now discontinued) and I have instructed some NI LabVIEW courses. All along I have always wanted to write this book. The intent of this message is to get some idea of chapter titles that the LabVIEW community would 'expect to see' in such a book. Here are my suggestions: - Event Based Programming Architectures in LabVIEW - Parallel Process Architectures in LabVIEW - Relational Database Design Fundamentals and Implementation for Test and Measurements Applications - User Configuration Tools Design Techniques for Test and Measurement Applications - Data Presentation Styles for User Navigation Ease, Filtering, and Drill-down for Test and Measurements Applications - Design Considerations for Communication Modules for Distributed Systems for Maintaining High Up Time Percentage and Reliability (TCPIP Protocol) ... Do these topics sound useful? Any suggestions on other topics Thanks Anthony Lukindo Mezintel Inc. Calgary, Canada Quote Link to comment
Jim Kring Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi Anthony, I wish you all the best of success, if you decide to go ahead and write your book. :thumbup: That said... why not start a LabVIEW blog and share your advice with the world, right away, using the same medium (Internet) that made the LTR publication obsolete? You'll achieve your goals much sooner (the book review and editing process take FOREVER), have the option to correct your mistakes immediately (second printings take FOREVER), make way more money (I'm only slightly joking), and potentially reach a much larger audience. Plus, LabVIEW blogs are great fun and there are already a few of us out there to encourage you to keep the good articles coming Of course, maybe I'm just saying this, because I don't want any competition for my book (But, mine doesn't cover the advanced stuff, so it wouldn't be competing heavily.) Hey! Perhaps, you can do both -- write a book and start a LabVIEW blog to promote it! Cheers, -Jim Quote Link to comment
Tomi Maila Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 I'm whit Jim here in that by blogging you reach a wider audience and your blog articles can be more punctual. In addition you are able get direct feedback via user comments. Tomi Quote Link to comment
BobHamburger Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Writing a book about LabVIEW is about as enjoyable a process as having oral surgery. Ask my boss, Peter Blume, about the experience -- he just finished "The LabVIEW Style Book". Quote Link to comment
alukindo Posted June 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi: Yes, I like the idea of starting with a blog. In that way one can monitor interest in various topics and have lively discussions with the LabVIEW community of users. I hear that writing a book is a tough undertaking but I am not in a hurry and willing to face this task. I saw an article in Jim's blog about LabVIEW being irrelevant because developers are not buying as many books. This makes me wonder if the reason could be because LabVIEW users can infact get by without using a LabVIEW book. ... Well, they say it is so intuitive etc, etc. Anthony Quote Link to comment
Yair Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 I like these topics. :thumbup: I would also go with the blog vote. Additional topics: Objected oriented development in LV (this wouldn't be complete without getting >=8.2 and working with the LabVOOP as well as traditional GOOP. The whole process of designing, building and testing a real-world application. Quote Link to comment
PaulG. Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 QUOTE(yen @ Jun 5 2007, 02:41 PM) ... The whole process of designing, building and testing a real-world application. Examples. I can read about an Xcontrol or a variant all afternoon, but I'll learn far more in 5 minutes from real-world examples. "Draw me a picture". Quote Link to comment
torekp Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Sounds great. Your topics are excellent. :thumbup: Topic suggestions: handling of large arrays, long strings, etc. without degrading performance. SubVIs and performance. When to use 2D arrays (performance? memory?) versus when to create an array of cluster of 1D array (ease of programming, often), and similar tips/techniques for managing complex data sets. Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I'm agreeing with just about everyone here - writing a book is a crap-load of work (much more than you would think), and I think a blog would be much easier and infinitely more valuable to the community - not only can you update it periodically, others can make comments and discuss the content, making it better and better all the time. You can host your blog right here on LAVA, like mine - it's a really easy-to-use interface, and supports all the good things you need like formatting, images, RSS feeds, etc. Quote Link to comment
Jeff Plotzke Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 ...and if you're looking to make a profit... you'll probably make more with Google ads on a blog than you would with publishing a book... Quote Link to comment
Tomi Maila Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(Jeff Plotzke @ Jun 6 2007, 06:25 PM) ...and if you're looking to make a profit... you'll probably make more with Google ads on a blog than you would with publishing a book... Hehe... Google ads barely cover the hosting fees. No you are not going to make money by blogging directly. Indirectly you may get interesting job offers... Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(Tomi Maila @ Jun 7 2007, 01:39 AM) No you are not going to make money by blogging directly. Indirectly you may get interesting job offers... That was my plan, and it payed off As an aside, the only money in authorship is in fiction - non-fiction will rarely cover your costs, especially if you consider the time you put into it. Quote Link to comment
Jeff Plotzke Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(crelf @ Jun 6 2007, 12:10 PM) As an aside, the only money in authorship is in fiction - non-fiction will rarely cover your costs, especially if you consider the time you put into it. That would in interesting... a LabVIEW fiction book... "It was a dark and stormy night. Sounds of PXI fans whirled in the darkness. Jeff could feel someone watching him as he watched his comma delimited text file convert into binary..." Hmmm... on second thought... maybe not. Quote Link to comment
Yair Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(Jeff Plotzke @ Jun 6 2007, 08:33 PM) "It was a dark and stormy night... Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed. The maid screamed. Quote Link to comment
crelf Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(Jeff Plotzke @ Jun 7 2007, 03:33 AM) That would in interesting... a LabVIEW fiction book... I get a big dose of fiction some times when I read customer "requirements" Quote Link to comment
alukindo Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 QUOTE(Jeff Plotzke @ Jun 6 2007, 01:33 PM) That would in interesting... a LabVIEW fiction book..."It was a dark and stormy night. Sounds of PXI fans whirled in the darkness. Jeff could feel someone watching him as he watched his comma delimited text file convert into binary..." Hmmm... on second thought... maybe not. This is great! ....A sprinkling of this sort of humor (in quotes) at the beggining of every chapter will certainly help hold the readers attention. . Thanks Jeff! Anthony Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.