Chapter 1. Introduction

Welcome to our book. We hope that the ideas and examples presented within this text give you something to work with, or at least get you to reconsider the way you currently use Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW). Using the techniques we present in this book will make your life easier and make complex projects more attainable. We want this book to be pragmatic; we're practical people who happen to make our living using these techniques.

In every engineering discipline a good design is the biggest contributor to success; conversely, a poor design is a major reason for failure. If there is one thing we would like you to remember after having read this book, it is this fact.

What we present in the following pages is the culmination of our journey into software so far, with an emphasis on LabVIEW. There are no "Silver bullets" in this book, just the design strategies and implementation techniques that have proved to be successful for us.

Good luck in your journey.