Re: [Phys-l] Free Programming Software

[chuck britton <cvbritton@embarqmail.com>]

Would need an intel Mac with VMware or such (Parallels etc.) to run a  
MicroSloth system along side your 'real' OS.


On Aug 10, 2008, at Aug 10(Sun) 3:10 , Bernard Cleyet wrote:

> Do these operate under an old Mac's Unix, or must I purchase a new
> Intel one?
>
> bc
>
>
> On 2008, Aug 09, , at 10:12, John SOHL wrote:
>
> > I have tried using the Visual BASIC Express Edition and it works
> > very nicely. I was experimenting with it to see if I could do data
> > acquisition. I have various DAC/ADC boards from Measurement
> > Computing that come with a library called Universal Library and I
> > was wondering if the Express Edition of the Visual BASIC software
> > was crippled so that you couldn't access external equipment. I'm
> > happy to say that is not a problem.
> >
> > I was using Visual BASIC Express Edition to run the USB port to
> > control a Measurement Computing MiniLab 1008 DAC system with no
> > problems. I am by no measure a "high end programmer." I had not
> > programmed in FORTRAN or Visual BASIC for over 12 years. But, I had
> > data collection going within a day. It is very helpful to spend a
> > few hours going through the Visual BASIC tutorials. After that, I
> > was up and running with the DAC system within a couple of hours of
> > starting to figure it out.
> >
> > I do a lot of programming in LabVIEW and consider myself to be
> > pretty good at it. But there are a lot of things I don't like about
> > LabVIEW, especially the attitude of the parent company, National
> > Instruments. LabVIEW is great software but some of their policies
> > (poor backwards compatibility for example) are very annoying. Also,
> > their academic discount program is nice to have, but it is not
> > cheap by our department's budgetary means.
> >
> > Visual BASIC Express Edition is a way around that expense. There
> > are two problems though:
> > 1. As far as I can tell, you need the pro edition to make
> > executable files for distribution. Not a big deal since the
> > software is free anyway, but it would be an easier way to load a
> > program onto multiple machines if you could just make an exe file.
> >
> > 2. It is not the industry standard for data acquisition
> > programming. Just like Microsoft is the "industry standard" for
> > most computers on Earth, LabVIEW is the holder of the vast majority
> > of the market share for corporate data acquisition. I know for a
> > fact that at least one of our physics graduates was employed
> > expressly because of his physics background and LabVIEW skills
> > combined.
> > Anyway, I have played with the free Visual BASIC Express Edition
> > and had a lot of fun with it and found it to be quite powerful.
> >
> > John
> >
> > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> > John E. Sohl, Ph.D.
> > Professor of Physics
> > Weber State University
> > 2508 University Circle
> > Ogden, UT 84408-2508
> >
> > voice: (801) 626-7907, fax: (801) 626-7445
> > e-mail: jsohl@weber.edu
> > web: http://physics.weber.edu/sohl/
> >
> > > > > "Bob Sciamanda" <trebor@winbeam.com> 8/8/2008 10:41 AM >>>
> > Microsoft is making available, for free download, the 2008 Express
> > Editions of Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual C++ and other stuff!
> > Just go to:
> >
> > http://www.microsoft.com/Express/Download/
> >
> > Bob Sciamanda
> > Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (Em)
> > trebor@winbeam.com
> > http://www.winbeam.com/~trebor/
> > _______________________________________________
> > Forum for Physics Educators
> > Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> > https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
>
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