After next year will LabVIEW be part of FIRST?

[aeastet]

I have been part of FIRST since 2010. When I started LabVIEW was a primary programing language for robotics. Today LabVIEW is a sad ghost of what it used to be. There is no support for LabVIEW, No examples, virtually no support. Anytime someone post on the LabVIEW part of the Chief Delphi website the are ridiculed and made to feel bad that they are using a dead language. I think this reflects what I have seen using LabVIEW for the last 25 years. NI is a ghost of itself. Nothing new, nothing innovative, nothing to be proud of.

Is there anyone on this forum that can explain the intentions of NI as it pertains to FIRST after 2027? I have started learning JAVA so I can stay relevant in FIRST and maybe my real job too. I do find it hard to show students LabVIEW when even I feel that it will not be around for much longer except as a language that only older guys know. Like Fortran or pascal.

NI, why are you giving up all of these new engineers of the future that could be using your software and keeping it alive? Please tell us what the plan is moving forward with FIRST so I know if I should spend any more time or effort with anything LabVIEW in FIRST.

[oscarfonseca]

Hi Tim,

Thank you for your question and for being such a dedicated user of LabVIEW and FIRST Robotics mentor. While I can't share specifics about 2027+ yet, I want to assure you that LabVIEW remains a crucial product for NI and continues to be highly relevant in the industry. As you know, LabVIEW is extensively used in various fields, from automated manufacturing to industrial equipment monitoring and control. Its graphical programming environment empowers engineers and scientists to develop sophisticated applications without needing traditional coding.

I truly appreciate your commitment to using LabVIEW and your involvement in FIRST Robotics over the years. Your feedback and support are invaluable to us at NI. If you have any additional thoughts on what has been good or could be improved with LabVIEW in FRC over the past 15 years, please feel free to reply here or contact me through the Forums messages.

Thank you again for your dedication and support!

[aeastet]

Where would I even start.

2010 LabVIEW was on 60% of the robots in FIRST

2025 LabVIEW is on less that 6% of the robots in FIRST

2010 I could get help from NI about LabVIEW issues in FIRST, Software and examples were available. New projects for path planning and vision were being developed and we available to LabVIEW users.

2025 There is nothing left to ask questions about. No LabVIEW code unless someone complies a DLL for Python or C++ that someone else made converted Python or C++ code to LabVIEW.

How could you make improvements? How about just being part of FIRST again. No software that is provided today for teams to use even has a LabVIEW example. The only reason any of the code is available to teams is because one guy, who doesn't even program with LabVIEW, is doing his best to make sure that teams have an option if they are the unfortunate ones still using LabVIEW.

LabVIEW is becoming less and less relevant every day. Just because you say it is relevant does not make it true. Just look at the numbers above. I work in the industry. I see how hard it is to find new LabVIEW programmers when I am trying to hire someone new. The pipelines for new programmers (FIRST, Colleges, etc..) are all gone. How can you stay relevant if the new generation never sees your software? I do not even try to show the students in FIRST LabVIEW any more. They are think it is obsolete and for old people. There is not support in FIRST so why would you use it. It is hard to argue with that.