The LabVIEW Style Book (Blume)

[jcarmody]

I'm interested in buying Peter Blume's book, so I'd like to solicit opinions from people that have read it. Is it an excellent resource? I don't want to spend $80 on anything less.

I'm a CLD/CPI with two years of full-time LabVIEW experience. I currently work as a Test Engineer taking on large projects and would like to improve myself. I've seen a lot of stuff over the years (all two of them!) that I wouldn't be proud of. I don't want to make the same mistakes, and I do want to pursue CLA certification.

Would you recommend any other books instead? In addition to?

Thank you,

Jm

[Jim Kring]

My thoughts are The LabVIEW Style Book are here.

Also, this is another good book (I think you know the author ).

[Shaun Hayward]

If you register on the website you can download a pdf of the first chapter which will probably give you an idea of the style of The Style book

(which might help you decide if its the right book for you)

[crelf]

QUOTE (jcarmody @ Sep 19 2008, 11:56 AM)

I'm interested in buying Peter Blume's book, so I'd like to solicit opinions from people that have read it. Is it an excellent resource?

Style is, to a certain degree, subjective - by definition there can't be a definative test, and that's why most people describe such books as "style guides". I agree wholeheartedly with Jim in his blog post:

QUOTE (Thinking in G)

Even if you don’t agree with Peter’s style guidelines, ... the debates that result from discussions about this book’s style guidelines are sure to be educational and of immense value to all those involved. In fact, you might be inclined... to create amendments or an addendum to The LabVIEW Style book that contains your own LabVIEW style guidelines.

[John Lokanis]

I think this is one of the best books for LabVIEW development I have ever read. Very good reference for how to write quality G code. I have all the DEVs on my team read it.

ALso, there are some nice online materials available to support the book.

Worth the $ if you ask me.

[TobyD]

QUOTE (jcarmody @ Sep 19 2008, 08:56 AM)

I'm interested in buying http://www.bloomy.com/lvstyle/' rel='nofollow' target="_blank">Peter Blume's book, so I'd like to solicit opinions from people that have read it. Is it an excellent resource? I don't want to spend $80 on anything less.

Would you recommend any other books instead? In addition to?

I'll give my $0.02. I think Peter did a good job with the book. There are a lot of great tips that he talks about and I like the way it is all laid out by category (icons, data structures, error handling, etc.). I didn't agree with all of his style guidelines, but most of them are pretty universal. That brings me to my next point...Most of what I found in the book can be discovered on your own if you are willing to scan through white papers and forum posts on good style - or, like Jim mentions, spend 12 years figuring it out. The nice thing about the book is that it gives you all this information in one place. My only complaint is that some of the diagrams are a little fuzzy. Not unreadable, but the printing just doesn't seem to be as sharp as it should be for book with so many graphics.

Although I would recommend both books (and have many times), I personally found LabVIEW for Everyone to be more useful overall for me. It hits on some of the major points of good style, but also provides an overall look into LabVIEW and what it is capable of. Since you are already a CLD, the first half of LV for Everyone may be too basic, but I'd be willing to bet you'll pick up a trick or two even there. If it is only style that you're worried about, The LabVIEW Style Book is the right choice.

[eaolson]

QUOTE (crelf @ Sep 19 2008, 12:03 PM)

Style is, to a certain degree, subjective - by definition there can't be a definative test, and that's why most people describe such books as "style guides".

I think there's a lot to be said for (a) organization and (b) consistency. One of the advantages of style guides is that they push you to doing both. E. g., there's no particular reason for OpenG to use that particular shade of green for its VIs, but it's a lot nicer than if those palettes were a rainbow of different colors.

[crelf]

QUOTE (eaolson @ Sep 19 2008, 03:05 PM)

I think there's a lot to be said for (a) organization and (b) consistency. One of the advantages of style guides is that they push you to doing both.

I totally agree :thumbup:

[Jim Kring]

QUOTE (eaolson @ Sep 19 2008, 12:05 PM)

I think there's a lot to be said for (a) organization and (b) consistency. One of the advantages of style guides is that they push you to doing both. E. g., there's no particular reason for OpenG to use that particular shade of green for its VIs, but it's a lot nicer than if those palettes were a rainbow of different colors.

Since it was brought up, I should mention that OpenG Green is defined in our OpenG Coding Standards, another good place to look for coding style guidelines.

[hennry]

Leading LabVIEW development manager Peter A. Blume presents practical guidelines or "rules" for optimizing every facet of your applications: ease of use, efficiency, readability, simplicity, performance, maintainability, and robustness. Blume explains each style rule thoroughly, presenting realistic examples and illustrations.

------------------------

hennry

search engine optimization

[ASTDan]

QUOTE (jcarmody @ Sep 19 2008, 11:56 AM)

Would you recommend any other books instead? In addition to?

Check out my first Wiki article.

http://wiki.lavag.org/LabVIEW_Books

[Gabi1]

i have same very warm recommendation for the style book from Blume.

really great! didnt regret a dime.