Learning LabVIEW

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Since we work with new LabVIEW users every day, we are often asked for the best way to learn LabVIEW. This is the approach we recommend for most new LabVIEW programmers. The steps are explained below with links to the resources.

Online Tutorials

NI has several online resources for new LabVIEW users. The new Self-Paced Online Training is available free of charge to all regisetered owners with current SSP on their licenses. This great resource is our premium content from the LabVIEW Core 1, 2 and 3 classes posted in 15-20 minute modules. You can go through all of the modules for a full education on LabVIEW, or you can study individual topics as needed. You acces this training at ni.com/self-paced-training.

There are several other resources as well. ni.com/lv101 is my favorite, with video tutorials. There is also a great Getting Started Tutorial. This tutorial is broken into several sections and has both video and text versions. The FIRST Robotics tutorial also includes a great introduction to LabVIEW. Use any of these tutorials to get an introduction to the environment and the basic functions in LabVIEW.

Online WebResources

National Instruments maintains a large collection of webcasts. You can attend these events live, or you can see any of the recorded training sessions. This provides excellent training for new LabVIEW users or advanced users looking for help with a specific topic. These are made by engineers at National Instruments and are especially useful to learn how to use features in new versions of LabVIEW.

Live Events

We work hard to bring topics to you to improve your LabVIEW proficiency. Local User Group meetings (held in Seattle, Portland, and most cities) provide technical content and you get to meet other developers to learn from them and to build your network of LabVIEW resources. The LabVIEW Developer Day is an annual event held in many cities across the US with the focus of providing technical training to new and experienced LabVIEW programmers. Once you have your CLA certification, you will be invited to attend the CLA Summit each year. Attendance is free and the content will push even the best LabVIEW programmers to improve their talents.

LabVIEW Books

Several independent authors have written books for learning LabVIEW. "LabVIEW for Everyone" and "LabVIEW Graphical Programming" are both great books for new programmers. "A Software Engineering Approach to LabVIEW" is excellent if you are new to LabVIEW but have experience in other text-based languages. These books are available from the publishers or on sites such as Amazon.com.

Regional Instructor-Led Courses

National Instruments organizes regional courses which are taught either by National Instruments instructors, or by certified instructors. These courses present material, then give you hands-on experience in an instructor-led environment. These classes run 3 to 5 days, and classes are limited to 12 students to ensure high quality training. The course manuals used in these classes has been developed by National Instruments using product information, customer support, and years of customer training. This is an excellent way to learn to program with LabVIEW.

On-site Instructor-Led Courses

If your company has several people who need training, you will save money and improve your training by scheduling an on-site course. The material and instructors are the same as the regional courses, but you can work with the instructor to tailor the course to your specific industry or applications. It may cost less, as well, since you pay for the actual costs, not per person. It usually breaks even around 6 people. If you have about that many, or more, talk to your local field engineer to set up an on-site course.

Online Instructor-Led Courses

If getting away from the office for 5 consecutive days is a problem, but you'd still like to have access to an instructor, an online course might be a good option for you. These courses are taught online, a few hours a day for several days in a row. This lets you get the rest of your work done while learning to use LabVIEW. The material is the same material as the regional courses, but more classes are offered because it is easier to reach a specific audience over the internet.

Certification Exams

Testing yourself lets you know where you are compared to other LabVIEW programmers, and preparing for the exams teaches you to follow sound coding principles. Learn more about certification at http://www.ni.com/training/certification.htm.

Training Memberships

Training memberships provide a low-cost way to get the maximum amount of training from National Instruments. You pay once for a 6- or 12-month subscription, which then gives you unlimited access to all of our regional and onsite courses, and to our certification tests. If you plan to take two or more classes in a 12-month period, this membership will save you money. We see many customers use this membership when they want to reach a high level of certification, since they can take as many classes and certificaiton exams as they'd like during that year.

Third-Party Sites

There are also many third-party training sites, most of them are free. Many universities have posted online tutorials for their students, and they make these available to anyone looking for training. I won't create a list here, since these come and go, and they don't always stay up to date with the latest versions. If you have a site you like, please post it in the comments.

I hope this helps. Training is important, and the more you learn about LabVIEW the more valuable you become to your company. Please contact us if we can help you master LabVIEW!