Agile LabVIEW

[Ale914]

as discussed in past " Is anybody using (or considering) agile development methods for G?"

this discussion was appear on Openg in 2005 but Labview realy change in this 2 years (Object Oriented, project, ect) so i want move up the topic.

I'm studying as XP ( an agile method ) can be applied in LabVIEW development but right now there are some "gray zone".

Infact XP, and also all the other agile methods, use testing code as core rule but LabVIEW dosen't have any testing framework like Junit for Java, this may be a great obstacle.

Ciao

[Tomi Maila]

QUOTE(Ale914 @ Aug 20 2007, 11:13 PM)

Infact XP, and also all the other agile methods, use testing code as core rule but LabVIEW dosen't have any testing framework like Junit for Java, this may be a great obstacle.

I'm not very familiar with Teststand but couldn't it be used as a unit testing framework as well? As far as I've understood Teststand allows writing LabVIEW based tests and automating any sequence of such tests. Unit tests are actually not that different from hardware tests etc. Of course the price of Teststand may not be suitable for pure unit testing purposes.

[MikaelH]

QUOTE(Ale914 @ Aug 21 2007, 06:13 AM)

I'm studying as XP ( an agile method ) can be applied in LabVIEW development but right now there are some "gray zone".

Infact XP, and also all the other agile methods, use testing code as core rule but LabVIEW dosen't have any testing framework like Junit for Java, this may be a great obstacle.

Since the main goal for extreme programming is to reduce the cost of change, I find that a proper OO-analysis and OO-design solves that problem.

I've been using GOOP with inheritance since 2001 and I always start with a UML class diagram to visualize my needed classes and their dependencies to make sure changes are easy to add later on.

Below is a class diagram describing parts on my current project.

http://forums.lavag.org/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=6692

//Mikael

[Ale914]

QUOTE

I'm not very familiar with Teststand but couldn't it be used as a unit testing framework as well?

This is true but teststand is expensive and too complicated for unit testing, we need a easier tool for this.

I'm trying to develop a unit test framework based on lua and luaview

QUOTE(MikaelH @ Aug 20 2007, 05:39 PM)

Since the main goal for extreme programming is to reduce the cost of change, I find that a proper OO-analysis and OO-design solves that problem.

I've been using GOOP with inheritance since 2001 and I always start with a UML class diagram to visualize my needed classes and their dependencies to make sure changes are easy to add later on.

UML break the principles of XP programming that is adaptative and no predictive. usign UML you can obtain a great architecture but

- is complicated to cover 100% of requirements because no one know its also the costumer

- a great achitecture is complicated to change

Ciao

[crelf]

QUOTE(Ale914 @ Aug 22 2007, 07:13 PM)

This is true but teststand is expensive and too complicated for unit testing, we need a easier tool for this.

A freindly word of advice: every system integrator I've ever worked for has, at one time or another, had that thought, and every system integrator, without exception, spent more time (ie: money) on creating a test architecture and then wasted even more time (ie: money) supporting it. It's a grand project, and can be quite a learning experience, but if your job is about being productive then do yourself (and your boss a favour): use your time more wisely and create your own OI(s) in TestStand.

[Tomi Maila]

QUOTE(Ale914 @ Aug 22 2007, 12:13 PM)

This is true but teststand is expensive and too complicated for unit testing, we need a easier tool for this.

Teststand may be expensive but I doubt it's too complicated for unit testing.

[crelf]

QUOTE(Tomi Maila @ Aug 22 2007, 11:01 PM)

Teststand may be expensive but I doubt it's too complicated for unit testing.

It's only as complicated as you make it to be. That said, like anything, it's wise to invest in training to learn how to use it effectively.

[Ale914]

Crelf, thanks for friedly words you are right and i may agree with you in different contest, but what i want to do is a very simple test framework, nothing compare with teststand that is "to much" for my needs, i don't want reinvent the wheel

What i need is only a test engine able to call a VI passing it arguments and getting results (luaview is perfect for this scope) and test script collection (one script for each VI of my project), this is simple to obtain using lua language.

Ciao