Is it better to develop VI then build project or do them simultaneously?

[momof4]

I'm new to project development.  Is it better to develop/test your vi then build your project or should it be done simultaneously?  Any suggestion on how to properly develop a project would be appreciated.

[Omar_II]

Create the project FIRST before you create the VI.

It is best the work with a project from the very beginning instead you going back later and putting the VI in a project. You will find it very helpful to find your sub VI when they are organized in a project.

[RLSSpeedy]

Personally I would build the project and the code simultaneously. I would only ever build the VI outside of a project if the application was small enough to deem it un-necessary. 

Within a large project it is invaluable. On a larger project still, with many developers, all working on the same code, it really shows its worth with features like access the source code control.

Attached are a few links where you can explore the topic further, but I would defiantly run both tasks simultaneously.

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5787

http://zone.ni.com/wv/app/doc/p/id/wv-167

Regards

[jcarmody]

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@RLSSpeedy wrote:

Personally I would build the project and the code simultaneously. I would only ever build the VI outside of a project if the application was small enough to deem it un-necessary. 

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It would have to be so small that you didn't want to build an executable.  No?

[smercurio_fc]

You may be mixing up some terms. "Building of a project" implies that you are referring to creating an application. "Working within a project" is something else. The answers you've received so far refer more to the latter. Is it better to develop VIs within a project? The answer is that it depends. If you're developing a small application with a really small number of VIs that will only ever run in the development environment, then a project isn't really necessary. If you're going to build an application, though, you have no choice: you have to create a project since you need a project to create a build spec.

It should be noted that a project only needs to have the top-level VI in it (as well as any dynamic VIs that may be called). Thus, you could get away with having a project and only one VI. Is this best practice? Probably not. One of the purposes of the project is to provide organization and easy access to VIs. . If you have an organized directory structure then the project's stucture can seem somewhat redundant. But keep in mind that the organization of the files in the project does not need to match the directory structure on disk. This allows you to look at the file organization two different ways.

Projects also have numeous advantages, though most are geared towards larger applications. Still, even if you're working with a small project it's best to start working with projects. In fact, working with a small application is probably the best way to get acclimated to the concept.