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LabView example of undecipherable write-only code

Here is a screen-shot of an actual real-world working automatic test program used in an industrial manufacturing environment that I have since had to try and maintain:

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at 100% zoom to read labels)

In my humble opinion, it appears to me as a wonderful example of LabView's potential for incomprehensibility.

I wonder what others might think of this example?

Should the original programmer just be shot, or was there something he could have done to make it more hierarchical and/or understandable? Or, is it a natural evolution into indecipherability as LabView applications grow in complexity?

Reply to
perfb
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You could send a framed print to MOMA. I can't off hand think what it's good for.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Avins

Some languages are really good for small things -- before I got MathCad I'd use Basic for calculations that were quick and, well, basic. Unfortunately Basic gets really hard to handle with anything larger than a printed page (about 60 lines).

Some languages are really good for large things -- I have the most experience in C++, C and Modula II. All of these languages are hard to learn at first, cumbersome to do a little 5-line program (you have more '#include's and function calls than "real code"), and can be obscure to debug. But if you need to write 20000 lines of code and keep track they're the bee's knees.

Some languages are really, really good for making a dynamite sales demo, and not much else. Labview, IMHO, is one of them. I've never seen it work out well for a large application, or in the hands of a "real" software engineer.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

It appears that the original Artist (this ISN'T programming) did not realize that he could use more than one screen for the project...

--Gene

Reply to
Gene S. Berkowitz

Reply to
Allen

Yeah, Labview docs tell you that somewhere around page 1134 of the 3rd book or thereabouts. :0

I bought v7.something and attempted to grasp it. I stopped because I'm

48 already. It does come in a cool box, though, and makes a great support for a shelf.
Reply to
Steve Cothran

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news:1107224142.918598.36340 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

It's like any other example of undocumented code not broken down into appropriate subroutines.

That said, I have a real problem with Labview's interpretation/representation of a state machine. Once it gets a hair complicated, its impossible to edit/debug.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Seidman

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