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NI speeds LabVIEW 2010 code with optimising compiler

LabVIEW 2010 is the latest release of National Instruments’ graphical programming environment for design, test, measurement and control applications. Among the updates in this summer’s version are compiler technologies that generate code that will execute around 20 percent faster; and a comprehensive marketplace for evaluating and purchasing add-on toolkits for integrating custom functionality into the platform. For field- programmable gate array (FPGA) users, the package has an IP Integration Node that allows you to integrate third-party FPGA IP into LabVIEW applications and is compatible with Xilinx’ CORE Generator.

LabVIEW is an environment in which you can develop complex systems in a graphical manner, with drag-and-drop, function blocks and wires that abstract handling functionality away from code generation, in a style that resembles a flowchart. The package now offers integration with thousands of hardware devices, provides hundreds of built-in libraries for advanced analysis and data visualisation and is scalable across multiple operating systems (OSs) and targets such as x86 processors, real-time OSs (RTOSs) and FPGAs.

The upgraded compiler abstracts tasks such as memory allocation and thread management, its data flow intermediate representation has been further optimised, and Low-Level Virtual Machine (LLVM), an open source compiler infrastructure, has been added to the software’s compiler flow to accelerate code execution. NI says that the claimed 20% speed-up is an average spanning complete real-world customer applications, down to low-level functions.

The LabVIEW Add-On Developer Program is an on-line IP-exchange marketplace that lets users expand the platform and introduce custom functionality based on third-party code, which can be free or paid-for. More than 50 add-ons from NI and third-party developers are available, including code reuse libraries, templates, UI controls and connectors to other software packages.

For more advanced users and development groups, LabVIEW 2010 includes features that improve interfaces to reusable code, group VI s (virtual instruments) and their hierarchy for faster build times, and separate the VI source code from the compiled version to aid in source code management. NI intends this feature for large group developments where code maintenance across many users, software versions and computer platforms is critical.

Pricing of LabVIEW begins at €1,249 (£1,099).

—by Graham Prophet

National Instruments, www.ni.com/labview/whatsnew