Hello forum,
I have stated a similar question in Usenet News (comp.lang.labview) with no response so far. I would be interested in some person who has experience in both LabView and MStudio7.net. How does MStudio7.net compare to LabView? Why is either a favorite?
I have been programming for my customer in both LabView and
C#/ASP.NET.
Now, another person from that company has a new project for me. Since
it seems to be typical data aquisition, measuring, and signal
processing project, I would have used LabView for it.
But he dislikes LabView. One reason is that he is familiar in C and
algorithms and, perhaps, in C++. Also, he want's to have the full
flexibility over the architecture and the design of the program. Since
the program will probably get large, an OOP language would suit better
(I think he is right here!).
He pointed me to the NI site which contains several demonstration
videos of Measurement Studio 7.0. Actually, I didn't know that such a
tool exists for the .NET environment (I knew that there is LabWindows
CVI for c programming, but I don't think that this is an option if you
already know LabView). Form what they show in the demo clips, I must
say that I am impressed about the features of Meas. Studio 7.0. And,
since I am familiar with both LabView and Visual Studio .NET, this
tool should really be an alternative.
This is what I like in LabView:
1) Short development time for smaller projects. I think that LabView
is hard to beat here. But it seems that NI has really done a nice job
in the Meas. Studio 7.0 Wizards
2) Multithreading/Synchronization is very easy in LabView. I would be
interested in how Threads/Synchronization is handled in Meas. Studio
7.0. I guess that there is only the .NET threading framework.
3) Robustness: I have rarely seen a LabView application crash *if* the
hardware/drivers were OK, except some unstable releases. Also, LabView
has been out there for more than 15 years (?), so it is more realistic
to assume that it won't be blown away by another hype
4) Support, Ressources, Drivers etc.: LabView still seems to be NI's
'flagship'. That's at least my impression. My customer has asked the
NI local to come and introduce Measurement Studio 7 .NET to us.
Ironically, the NI technical assistant seemed to be more familiar in
LabView. He asked something like 'are you sure you don't want to use
LabView for this task?'. He hadn't even installed MStudio7.net on his notebook. He said he doesn't have a licence of MS Visual Studio.NET. So he tried to explain most of it with LabWindows CVI. 😉
This is what we dislike in LabView:
Larger programs tend to get ugly IMHO. We don't want to have these big
'petrol stations' to bundle into and unbundle from clusters. Also, I
miss a zoom function to get more space. It can be hard to move a piece
of code. Several times my LabView code got tighter and tighter, and
the vi got bigger and bigger. I just think it's easier to refactor
code in Visual Studio .NET (well, it was even easier in
VisualWorks/Smalltalk, but that's another case 😉 ). In short, LabView
has similar shortcomings as VHDL or other wiring tools.
Lack of full object orientation. Polymorphism: I don't like to change
line after line in a VI just because the line (type) of one line in
the VI has changed. Inheritance: I want to derive my own GUI VIs from
the basic ones. I want to derive my own dialogs (all this is possible
in Measurement Studio .NET). In short: I want a cleaner architecture,
cleaner interfaces and still more flexibility and reusibility.
Communication with MS Excel and probably MS Access and Word will be
very important for our application. This is at least possible in
LabView with OLE automation. I don't know whether this is easier or
more difficult in the Studio.
Our application will have a large signal processing part. We expect to
buy several external dlls written in c. It shouldn't be a problem to
use external dlls in both LabView and Studio.
What is your experience of Measurement Studio .NET? How does it
compare to LabView?
Thanks in advance
Johannes
