tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25711833285154742472024-03-12T21:32:33.015-04:00The Savvy Test EngineerInteresting items about test engineering in general, whether you run script engines simulating GUI use, write LabVIEW code all day, or do hard core SPC.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-57709641649926806862015-05-24T18:00:00.000-04:002015-05-24T18:59:38.321-04:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 5: A Little-Known LanguageA couple of weeks ago <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2015/05/labview-thoughts-part-4.html" target="_blank">I commented on an article</a> about "little-known" programming languages and how it didn't mention LabVIEW at all. Well, Dice posted a <a href="http://insights.dice.com/2015/05/05/should-you-learn-a-little-known-programming-language/" target="_blank">follow-up article of sorts</a> on whether someone should learn a little-known language. Again, LabVIEW is not mentioned.<br />
<br />
But I've come to the opinion that it doesn't really matter, for two main reasons.<br />
<br />
First, my impression of Dice is a site geared towards pure programmers. Yes, I like to read specific articles on the site that appeal to my interests, but the majority of their content deals with web-based programming, games, and database/big data concerns. LabVIEW isn't designed for that.<br />
<br />
Second, knowing LabVIEW on its own is too limiting. LabVIEW is a language, but it is language <b>optimized</b> for specific applications. Sure, you can write pure database applications with it - I have - or you could write web apps with it. But if you know LabVIEW <u>and</u> you are an electrical engineer, manufacturing engineer, etc. - then you are an order of magnitude more valuable to a company than if you just know LabVIEW.<br />
<br />
Maybe that's why as a language it doesn't get much love from regular programmers. They recognize that it is as much a tool as a language, so they just skip right past it. But as my undergrad physics professor told me, it's always good to learn more methods on how to solve problems. If the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument" target="_blank">only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-32960181064728157072015-05-03T15:40:00.000-04:002015-05-03T15:40:00.182-04:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 4<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/12/labview-thoughts-part-1.html" target="_blank">Back in December</a> I said that I would write a series of posts about LabVIEW. This is the fourth post, and now I want to talk a little about the nature of LabVIEW. Let's start with this post I found from January, <a href="http://news.dice.com/2015/01/05/little-known-programming-languages-that-pay/" target="_blank">Little-Known Programming Languages That Pay</a>.<br />
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Labview isn't listed in the article, not even in the "Math and Science Languages" section of the article. Under that heading, the author instead lists an open source language that's compatible with Matlab. <br />
<br />
And yet LabVIEW is used all over the high-tech industry - I've certainly made a living out of that fact. Next post I'll explain the way I think LabVIEW is perceived, and why. </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-58909159510363655992015-02-26T20:35:00.000-05:002015-02-26T20:35:00.612-05:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 3-a (addendum)A few days ago I wrote a <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2015/02/labview-thoughts-part-3-bitter-edition.html" target="_blank">post about LabVIEW versioning problems</a> (again). Here's something that I forgot to include in that rant:<br />
<br />
To be fair, NI did help me resolve the problem. I had to talk with a half-dozen people before it was fixed, but still. Of those numerous people I talked with, one confidentially shared with me an interesting observation. He (or she) said that this was far from the first versioning issue he'd dealt with, and it all went back to an NI philosophy: <u>they don't go out of their way to support older hardware/software</u>. They would much rather you just upgrade to the latest versions. <br />
<br />
This is fine if you're a small company buying equipment for the first time. But for a big corporation (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/10/yet-another-company.html" target="_blank">like I work for now</a>) that is trying to maintain older systems, it's is difficult. <br />
<br />
I'm guessing that this is partly why LabVIEW sometimes has such a bad rep.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-7838616981961342832015-02-21T17:00:00.000-05:002015-02-21T17:00:00.147-05:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 3 (the bitter edition)I said <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/12/labview-thoughts-part-1.html" target="_blank">back in December</a> that I would write a series of posts about LabVIEW. In this third post in the series, I want to talk a little about LabVIEW versioning hell.<br />
<br />
This is not a new topic with me (look <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2011/05/labview-versioning-hell.html" target="_blank">here </a>or <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/12/labview-versioning-hell-pt-2.html" target="_blank">there</a>). LabVIEW version issues bit me again at work, only this time it was related to old hardware. The problem stretched out for a month - from mid-December until I finally fixed it in January - but here's the crux of it:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I had an older PXI chassis with a new RT computer.</li>
<li>I couldn't get triggering to work on a couple of DAQ cards.</li>
<li>The triggering didn't work because the newer version of the PXI software (on the new RT) didn't support the old PXI.</li>
<li>The newer LV for RT code didn't support the older PXI software that I needed.</li>
</ol>
<br />
To resolve this, I had to completely wipe the RT computer (several times, but that's a different story), re-install an older LV version, and then downgrade my LV code (with all the headaches that entailed). In other words, WEEKS of effort.<br />
<br />
---------------------------<br />
<br />
Not convinced that LabVIEW has a versioning problem? Take a look at these convoluted eye charts, all directly from the NI website:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/B0D5630C0A50D5C6862578E800459248" target="_blank">DAQmx and LabVIEW Version Compatibility</a></li>
<li><a href="http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/CF4279A34F855AB186257B1F00003B82" target="_blank">NI-VISA and LabVIEW Version Compatibility</a></li>
<li><a href="http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/577CC9A7DCFC73DF8625738400116CC3" target="_blank">NI-RIO and LabVIEW Version Compatibility</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ni.com/white-paper/8387/en/" target="_blank">How to Upgrade or Revert a VI to a Different Version of LabVIEW</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
Sometimes I think NI expects customers to just sit and take it, like obedient pets...<br />
<br />
<img src="http://theopticalvisionsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Eye-Chart-Animal-Dog1.jpg" /><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-89263012539538864522015-01-12T20:30:00.000-05:002015-01-12T20:30:01.544-05:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 2I stated in <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/12/labview-thoughts-part-1.html" target="_blank">my previous post</a> that I wanted to write a series about LabVIEW. Today I want to write about a project I'm just wrapping up that dovetails with a recent NI article, <a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/" target="_blank">Top 5 LabVIEW Rookie Mistakes</a>.<br />
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Here are the mistakes NI lists:</div>
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<ol class="pnx-block-2x" style="margin: 0px 0px 24px 25px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/#toc1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Overusing Flat Sequence Structures </span></a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/#toc2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Misusing Local Variables</span></a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/#toc3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Ignoring Code Modularity</span></a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/#toc4" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Creating Massive Block Diagrams</span></a></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.ni.com/newsletter/51735/en/#toc5" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;">Disregarding the Need for Documentation</a></span></li>
</ol>
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As I wrote last time, for the past couple months I've been working on a LabVIEW project. It's a high visibility test system that was originally built well over a decade ago and then went through an upgrade some years later. For several reasons it needed to be updated again. I have now <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">wrapped up the major code rewrites, and once I resolve the remaining hardware issue I'll turn the system over to other engineers for debug work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">To be fair, the system worked. It's hard to fault the engineers whose work produced a functional test system of such complexity. Having said that, I need to add that the original code hit EVERY SINGLE ONE of the items on that NI list. In fact, I would add at least a couple more:</span></div>
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<br />
<ul>
<li><u>Using GUI objects as data holders</u>. Do NOT place a numeric control on the front panel, make it hidden, and then use it as a quasi-global variable. Just say no.</li>
<li><u>Lack of knowledge about functional global variables</u>. Oodles of information about them exists on the NI website, there are templates for them, and they don't break the dataflow paradigm. Just do it.</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I wrote a <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2012/08/horrible-labview.html" target="_blank">post back in 2012</a> where I was in a similar situation: updating someone else's poorly written code. The list I created at that time resembles this list (not surprisingly). <br />
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One of these days I'd like work on someone's code that was well-written and easy to update...<br />
<br />
<img height="256" src="http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/siowfa13/DejaVu.jpg" width="320" /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-48103698759433981662014-12-07T18:00:00.000-05:002014-12-07T18:52:52.976-05:00LabVIEW thoughts, part 1My last couple posts of the year will be about LabVIEW. In fact, my first couple posts of the new year will be as well. I guess I have three reasons to do this.<br />
<br />
<b><u>LabVIEW is all over</u></b><br />
This blog is not meant to be LabVIEW-specific. I've said this all before but it bears repeating:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I am not nor have I ever been an NI employee. </li>
<li>I have never worked for a test engineering house that has a tight NI-LV connection (well, I <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2007/08/labview-programming-style.html" target="_blank">once considered it</a>). </li>
<li>I'm just a test engineer.</li>
</ul>
<br />
However, LV has a huge presence in the test engineering field, and I am a good example of that:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Even though I've done a fair amount of programming in VB and C++, historically I still do most of my work in LV. </li>
<li>I've been a certified LabVIEW developer going on 5 years now. </li>
<li>Of the 200 or so posts I've written over the past seven years, about 25% were about LV in some way.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<b><u>Recent projects</u></b><br />
Over the past two months I've been heavily invested in a LV project at my new company. Last spring I wrapped up my first big <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-experience-with-labview-oop.html" target="_blank">LabVIEW-OOP project</a>. Before I was laid off, I had just finished a LV tool for writing and reading build data for the manufacturing floor. All this LV-specific work has got me to thinking about things.<br />
<br />
<b><u>New environment</u></b><br />
With <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/10/yet-another-company.html" target="_blank">my latest company</a> I experience something that I've seldom had in the world of startups: colleagues. I sit in a cubicle area with four other test engineers in easy talking distance. A dozen more sit within a 30 second stroll. That level of interaction has gotten me to think about LabVIEW in different ways.<br />
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Anyway, I'll write at least one more post on this topic before the year is out, maybe two. But it's Christmas, so things can get busy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-553457304884294862014-11-30T18:00:00.000-05:002015-02-21T16:16:01.510-05:00Interviewing tips for newbiesI've changed jobs about a dozen times (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/10/yet-another-company.html" target="_blank">so far</a>) in my career, and I've been on the other side of the coin many times as well. So I think I've gained some insights into the interview process. The <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/06/interviewing-stumper-questions.html" target="_blank">last time I posted something on this topic</a> was June of last year (and a <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumper-questions-vindicated.html" target="_blank">follow-up</a> as well). So this topic came to mind when something else happened a couple weeks ago.<br />
<br />
My udergrad alam-mater contacted me about a new alumni mentoring initiative they had started. This is certainly nothing new - many colleges do it - nor was I special in being contacted. I added my name to the list and filled out the online data form, and then I started thinking about what the heck I would actually tell someone if they contacted me.<br />
<br />
One of the most intimidating aspects of getting a new job after college (at least for me) was the first job interview. So here's a few things I jotted down.<br />
<ol>
<li><u>Check out the company</u>. This should be obvious nowadays. Check out the company website. Then dig deeper: what division would you work for, what do they make, who are their competitors, etc.</li>
<li><u>Check out the interviewers</u>. Look at their LinkedIn profiles. Look at any papers they've published. Who do they report to?</li>
<li><u>Review the technology</u>. If you're not that familiar with the industry, spend a couple days and get familiar. Download a PDF primer, read about it on wikipedia, whatever.</li>
<li><u>Consider what you'll be testing.</u> (This one is very specific to test engineering, but that's what I do.) Find out what you'd be testing and spend some time thinking about how you would test it. I guarantee you will be asked questions relating to that topic. </li>
</ol>
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If I do ever get contacted, maybe I'll write about the actual experience.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-74165608923480619982014-11-23T20:00:00.000-05:002014-11-23T20:00:02.869-05:00What comes after acceleratorsA couple of weeks ago I wrote about my <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2014/11/reasons-to-test.html" target="_blank">penchant for storing away articles</a> I come across. I've also talked many times about my continued interest (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2010/04/lhc.html" target="_blank">here</a> or <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2012/07/god-particle.html" target="_blank">there</a>, for example) in high energy physics. It's been two decades since I left grad school, but I still have to credit my background in particle physics for my test engineering career.<br />
<br />
A few days ago I came across a piece I had stored away from back in July about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-stenger/the-end-of-accelerator-ph_b_5638851.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" target="_blank">what might come after accelerators</a>. The author, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_J._Stenger" target="_blank">Dr. Victor Stenger</a>, pointed out that while ever more powerful accelerators may not be on anyone's radar right now, there are numerous other tests to expand our knowledge of the universe. <br />
<br />
So I then looked up Dr. Stenger and found out he died back in August. Depressing, but it looked like he lived a good life. So I downloaded his last book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/God-Multiverse-Humanitys-Expanding-Cosmos/dp/1616149701/ref=asap_B000APH2GA_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416782608&sr=1-1" target="_blank">God and the Multiverse</a> and started reading it. I'm only a chapter or so into it, but it's fascinating.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-33472180959951386472014-11-16T17:30:00.000-05:002014-11-16T17:30:01.126-05:00Black Friday flashbackI know Black Friday is still two weeks away, but can you imagine getting <a href="http://gajitz.com/1950s-radioactive-science-kit-most-dangerous-toy-ever/" target="_blank">this</a> as a Christmas present back in the day?<br />
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Interestingly enough, back in 2009 <a href="http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/ebay-watch-gilbert-atomic-energy-lab-from-1949-sells-for-4150" target="_blank">one of these sold for $4150 on eBay</a>.<br />
<br />
The geekiest part for me is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber" target="_blank">cloud chamber</a>. I remember reading about Wilson's work and playing with simplified cloud chambers back in undergrad. Cool.<br />
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<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ0-cnjhlTVxqQHN4AerTO3ZyBR2sZnK0ro6fR6ImHBCeOVyLMa" /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-87823222084908169112014-11-09T11:30:00.000-05:002014-11-09T11:30:01.477-05:00Reasons to testI tend to be a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pack_Rat" target="_blank">packrat</a> for interesting articles. I'll come across something interesting, open the page, and then move on. Consequently, I'll pile up 20, 30 or more open links on Chrome for iPad until I finally break down and binge read.<br />
<br />
Today is a lazy Sunday morning, so I binged. One of those stored links dated to way back in July about <a href="http://edn.com/electronics-blogs/benchtalk/4431973/Test-gets-no--respect?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20140710&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20140710&elq=52e48944d2fe42768d9ed5422c8d23c4&elqCampaignId=17985" target="_blank">reasons to test</a>. It's a nice little summary of four canonical test types. However, it missed at least two test reasons that are specific to volume manufacturing: <b>binning </b>and <b>SPC</b>.<br />
<br />
Suppose your company makes thousands of widgets that have variations in a key parameter. You therefore have two choices: spend time and money reducing that variation to acceptable limits, or find customers that desire those variations. If you opt for the second one you spend time and money to implement the testing for that parameter, and you use the test results to put the parts into different categories for different customers. That's <b>binning</b>.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to try to describe statistical process control (SPC). I've taken a couple of small courses in in it, and I've applied it to manufacturing testing at a couple of different companies. But I'm no expert. Go <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_process_control" target="_blank">here</a> for a good summary, and follow the external references for more detail. All I will say is:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>SPC is a requirement for high volume manufacturing. </li>
<li>You need lots of data for SPC.</li>
<li>You have to test to get that data.</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<div>
So why did the article's author leave out these items? I can think of three reasons. First, maybe he thought they fell under the verification or validation categories. I could <i>maybe </i>buy the verification for SPC argument, but that's as far as I would go. Second, his testing experience is in low-volume industries (i.e. - certain military markets) where SPC or binning isn't useful. Third, he just wrote the article quickly to meet a deadline without thinking it through.</div>
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That last reason is a little harsh. But this lazy Sunday morning is also kind of cold and overcast, so I'm a little morose.</div>
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<img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/brainyflix/photos/8911/medium.jpg" /></div>
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<i>(the internets love cats)</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-9597857351156865682014-11-03T19:00:00.000-05:002014-11-03T19:00:06.515-05:00Matlab improvementsI went to a Matlab seminar a couple of weeks ago, Actually, I thought that I would mostly hear about RF and microwave testing using Keysight (the company formerly known as Agilent) test equipment. I knew they would throw in a little Matlab, especially since Keysight and MathWorks have becomes BFFs (<a href="http://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/agilent-technologies-and-the-mathworks-make-0001" target="_blank">here </a>or <a href="http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/presrel/2009/28jan-em09010.html" target="_blank">there</a>). <br />
<br />
I realized early in the day that it was shaping up to be a majority Matlab experience. So I decided to roll with it and listen - besides which, I also scored a coffee mug.<br />
<br />
<img alt="Displaying 20141103_094533.jpg" height="179" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=c79ce65a4d&view=fimg&th=149761f072438ff3&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1483762270215340032-local0&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ-x3TfRVp28EN-1nw0uk_ELUbSMHxF1Mr4kRkg9o2uKlDmxrqpP-ghKOAkPEN_uc4HJ0nRzd2jsc-9gcJzU2a8SiKUvVFtnzUteuY6JoU2T1JcxsxHcXw3XBs4&ats=1415058180276&rm=149761f072438ff3&zw&sz=w1576-h650" width="320" /><br />
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My experience with mathematical software like Matlab is complicated. Back in grad school I test drove an early version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_(software)" target="_blank">Maple</a>, and I used <a href="http://www.ptc.com/product/mathcad" target="_blank">MathCad</a> to make some nifty models for my thesis. But in the working world Matlab and Labview tend to conflict more than complement - <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=matlab+versus+labview&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS590US590&oq=matlsb+versus+labvie&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&espv=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en-US" target="_blank">google Matlab versus Labview</a> to see what I mean. <br />
<br />
I had used Matlab at several different companies the past decade and viewed it as a great tool if you're a researcher trying to put something together. But when you have to get something to test shippable product, go with the more professional Labview.<br />
<br />
That opinion was shaken up a bit with what I saw in the seminar. The last version I used was Matlab 2007. The latest version (2014) has quite a few new tools. I'm not going to make this a Matlab commercial, but here's what caught my eye:<br />
<ul>
<li>Better debug support</li>
<li>Source code control</li>
<li>More tools fork converting what you just did into m-script or functions.</li>
<li>OOP support</li>
<li>Data highlighting tools</li>
</ul>
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Of course, none of this means that I'll drop Labview and migrate to Matlab. But the experience <i>was</i> an eye-opener...</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-71977758925817435352014-10-22T05:00:00.000-04:002014-10-22T05:00:08.201-04:00Yet more salary surveys<div>
Every so often I like to look at salary surveys. On average I have changed jobs about every two years over the past two decades. So surveys come in handy. Here's a couple that I came across recently.</div>
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<a href="http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/2014-developer-salary-survey/240168195" target="_blank">Dr. Dobbs Developer Salary Survey</a></div>
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This is a pretty good survey from a respected name in software. Not really my cup of tea, but I program often enough to find it interesting.<br />
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<a href="http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?doc_id=275127" target="_blank">Design News 2014 Salaries for 10 Engineering Disciplines</a><br />
I check Design News a few times a week. Usually they post/repost interesting items. But this survey is really more of a overview of salary ranges. There's no commentary about regions of the country, years of experience, etc. I suppose it might be useful if you were a parent talking to your kid about how much they might make as a n engineer. I'm in that situation for at least the next few years, so that's why I looked at it.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-79236797383226792862014-10-19T12:42:00.000-04:002014-10-19T12:43:22.645-04:00Yet another companyA dozen years ago the biggest risk of a startup smacked me upside the head: the company ran out of money and closed it's doors. Since that first experience in the high-tech* startup world, I've worked at a half-dozen or so other such companies. Over half of them are no longer in existence. <br />
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I have accepted that, but I was never happy with it. This past summer things went downhill with my <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/08/yet-another-startup.html" target="_blank">latest company</a>. <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2008/06/boston-testing-is-hiring.html" target="_blank">Within a month I had offers</a> from three companies: a temporary contract gig at a mid-sized company, a large fortune 500 type, and another startup. Sometimes it is good to mix it up, so I decided to ride with the behemoth. I've been here two months now - we'll see how it goes.<br />
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<i>* My definition of a "high-tech" startup includes actual hardware. I'm sure a lot of smart people work at companies developing new apps for smartphones, algorithms for web-hosted databases, or some other clever software tool. But unless it involves some newly-discovered applications of physics/chemistry/biology, it doesn't meet my criteria. That's just my bias.</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-39979180068942364902014-07-13T21:45:00.000-04:002014-07-13T21:45:00.271-04:00PXI workSo I found this <a href="http://www.edn.com/design/manufacturing/4395271/Hardware-Elements-of-Integrating-a-PXI-System" target="_blank">link on EDN about PXI systems</a> last year when I was doing some research for a new project. I was going through old notes this weekend & cleaning up some files when I found it. I'm not quite sure anymore why I saved it. Maybe it's because the author mentioned hybrid slots? I bookmarked the link last year when I was shopping for a PXI chassis for a new test system, but that's as far as memory takes me.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I started thinking about PXI-related issues again this past week, and stumbling across this link reminded me of the experience I had selecting the hardware last fall. After I had determined how the the test system would work, I made a list of all the hardware I needed: DMM, power supply, multiplexer switches, and relays. It was too much for a cDAQ to handle (as much as I liked the concept), so I started shopping PXI companies.<br />
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I priced out what I needed from four different vendors. At a startup company you try to keep the costs low, so I spent over week justifying the cost for the system. If the test system would cost $10k or more, I had to show the legwork to minimize that cost. Of course the expense of someone like me - getting paid what I was paid - digging around to save a grand or less didn't make much sense. But so it goes.<br />
<br />
I ended up buying the PXI gear from NI, and the test system worked. And the one thing I got out of that week I spent shopping PXI prices? There wasn't much difference between the vendors. Originally I tried to shy away from NI since I assumed their stuff would be pricey. But in the end it was barely more expensive than what I could get from the other three companies. Learn something new every day, I suppose.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-52082622779020201652014-07-06T20:00:00.000-04:002014-07-06T20:00:03.798-04:00My experience with Labview OOPAbout a year ago I started <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/08/yet-another-startup.html" target="_blank">working at a new company</a>. One of my first tasks was to automated functional testing for a robotics controller. When I started we were shipping individual units out for sampling, and I had to test them by hand. That took about 3-4 hours (including setup time and recording all the data), and we didn't cover all the testing we should be doing. So my goals for the project were to:<br />
<ol>
<li>Reduce the time down to ~15 minutes</li>
<li>Automate it so a technician could easily run it</li>
<li>Run additional tests that couldn't be done by hand</li>
<li>Save all the data to a database</li>
</ol>
Once I mapped out the program requirements and logical flow, I decided to make this my first foray into object-oriented Labview.<br />
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I had taken a class in LVOOP years ago, and I had read how-to's and case studies with OOP in Labview, but I had never used it for a work-related project. There were several reasons I used.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I was re-engineering a program written by a previous engineer so I had to stick with pre-existing logic.</li>
<li>I was writing small VIs for a larger TestStand implementation</li>
<li>My programming partners didn't know LVOOP at all. </li>
</ul>
Plus I may have been a little intimidated by the whole idea of an unknown architecture. So I stuck with the standards: state machines, producer-consumers, and event-driven programs.<br />
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But now I had no excuses. It was a brand new project, I was the only one working on it, and the project's complexity cried out for a sophisticated solution. This was the perfect time.<br />
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And you know what? It wasn't hard at all. Maybe it was the OO programming I had done before in VB and C++, but the implementation went smoothly. The only Labview-related glitch I had was early in the project when I tried to <a href="http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/Dynamic-Terminals-only-for-a-VI-that-is-in-a-class-but-the-VI/m-p/2661857/thread-id/793224" target="_blank">update a VI class member, but I worked it out</a>. And those classes I wrote for that project ended up being very reusable for two other projects I developed later on. Excellent.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-69809732585789454372014-05-13T19:30:00.000-04:002014-05-13T19:38:00.575-04:00Fortran<div>
So I read this <a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/05/scientific-computings-future-can-any-coding-language-top-a-1950s-behemoth/" target="_blank">interesting little tidbit</a> about an ancient language that I used for my grad school work at Fermilab. Kind of neat.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-89211006465703847032014-04-15T21:00:00.000-04:002014-04-15T21:00:02.914-04:00Noncompete agreements and who owns experience<br />
<br />
In Massachusetts, the governor is proposing to <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/09/gov-patrick-pushes-ban-noncompete-agreements-employment-contracts/kgOq3rkbtQkhYooVIicfOO/story.html" target="_blank">ban noncompete agreements</a>. Go Deval!<br />
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My first experience with such agreements stretches back to 1996. This tech company wanted to hire me, but one of their conditions was I sign a piece of paper stating that if I left the company I couldn't work for any other place doing similar work for a couple of years. When I first read that I was thrown for a loop and almost turned down the offer. But then I talked to a friend in law that said those things were hard to enforce - such docs were used more for scare tactics in the tech industry. <br />
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Why would a company want to use intimidation tactics to keep their employees from jumping ship? I can understand not wanting someone to go to a competitor with trade secrets, but there are already some laws in place to prevent that. But wouldn't a more positive solution be make working there too good to quit? When I worked at Hewlett Packard in the late 90s they called it "golden handcuffs." All the perks of working at HP just made it too depressing to leave for some other company.<br />
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Another thing that comes to mind is that the company using a noncompete agreement is being hypocritical about experience. When they look to hire someone, they prize that person's experience in the industry. But then they turn around and damn someone who wants to take the experience they've acquired to a different company. That really irks me. Any experience I've gained in the course of my job (writing programs, building test systems, going to conferences, etc.) is MINE. The company pays me for the work I do, and they own the product of that work. They do NOT own the knowledge that I've gained in the process. That knowledge and experience I've gained by being a good engineer and deliberately learning new things.<br />
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On a related subject, you could always watch that bad Ben Affleck movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338337/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Paycheck</a>. Then again, maybe not.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-54075093025090809632014-03-17T20:00:00.000-04:002014-03-17T20:00:02.830-04:00Job satisfactionAs my children have grown older, I've tried to describe to them two important things about the working world: doing a job the right way, and the hard-to-define satisfaction you can get from a job well done. I had the perfect example described to me this past weekend.<br />
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My wife teaches at a local high school, and the hockey team made it to the state championship game. To show our support, we attended the game. At the game I bumped into Gus, whom I used to work with at a startup company I left back in 2011. His company runs the IT support for that company, and I worked with him to implement the database I developed as well as my test systems and analysis software. We talked some about how the company was doing, and Gus mentioned that the database, the test systems that write to that database, and the programs that pull and analyze that data are all <b><u>still actively used</u></b> by the company.<br />
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Now THAT is a really nice feeling. I must've done something right.<br />
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<img height="400" src="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/13/40/30/134030241ca5970e31858b60ff30af27.jpg" width="367" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-36719578917495764152014-02-19T14:03:00.002-05:002014-02-19T14:03:59.675-05:00National Engineers WeekIn case anyone missed it:<br />
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<a href="http://www.nspe.org/resources/partners-and-state-societies/national-engineers-week?espuid=CNATL000004129555" target="_blank">http://www.nspe.org/resources/partners-and-state-societies/national-engineers-week?espuid=CNATL000004129555</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-42051835117971784062013-12-15T14:00:00.000-05:002013-12-15T14:00:02.737-05:00The Republican BrainScience and technology are very important to me. I look back on the thousands of years of human civilization, of failed empires, of the rise and fall of governments and it just makes me sad. Then I look at how far civilization has come in just the past few hundred years, and I'm hopeful. Maybe it's a little bit religious, but I do have faith that most people are basically good and, if we continue to emphasize scientific and engineering advancements, humanity will prosper. <br />
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Then I spend a little time watching Fox News, or reading a website <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/" target="_blank">like this</a>, and I get depressed again. The earth is getting warmer. Mankind evolved from apes, which evolved from earlier species, all the way back to primordial ooze. The Earth is a few billion years old, not 6000. All these statements are supported by mountains of evidence and theories. Why don't people accept this? I finally got around to reading "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Republican-Brain-Science-Science--/dp/1118094514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341589766&sr=8-1&keywords=republican+brain" target="_blank">The Republican Brain</a>," and I have to say it was very convincing.<br />
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<img height="313" src="http://issuepedia.org/wikiup/thumb/2/2a/Science-vs-religion.jpg/600px-Science-vs-religion.jpg" width="400" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-21236595269555998952013-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:002013-12-07T09:00:01.955-05:00Labview versioning hell, pt 2Back in July I wanted to look at some fairly old code I had stumbled across - in the past <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2011/05/labview-versioning-hell.html" target="_blank">I've had to do this a time or three</a>. This code was too old to up-convert with the version of LV I had, and I didn't have access to any older versions of LV. While I worked on posting the code online to <a href="http://forums.ni.com/t5/Version-Conversion/bd-p/VersionConversion" target="_blank">ask someone to convert it for me</a>, I posted a <a href="http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Ability-to-view-newer-older-VIs-without-converting-their-version/idi-p/2502266" target="_blank">suggestion to the LabVIEW Idea Exchange</a>. <br />
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Basically, I was asking for a way to at least view very old code, and maybe include reasons for why it couldn't be up-converted. The response I got was, basically, "If you are an SSP member you can download older LV versions. If you don't pay to keep up your SSP, you're SOL."<br />
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Needless to say, I found that less than satisfying. First of all, why would I want to spend the time and effort to download and keep track of older versions of Labview? Second, it sounds like just another way to have owners of the LV software to continually pay money to NI...<br />
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<img 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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-20638673237525517772013-12-01T18:04:00.000-05:002013-12-01T18:06:50.298-05:00Test your codeSo at my new company I'm back to software testing. What goes around comes around I suppose - I first learned the ins and outs of software testing at HP about 15 years ago. Even though most of my jobs have been hardware testing since then, I still enjoy reading about it (i.e. - <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-latest-software-test-tools.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2011/05/congrats-to-henry-huang.html?showComment=1318094143771" target="_blank">there</a>, and <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2007/08/feature-space-for-software-testing.html" target="_blank">way back then</a>). As my dad has said many times, it never hurts to learn something new.<br />
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Speaking of which, I recently found two articles about the costs of NOT testing your software that I enjoyed, in a perverse sort of way. The first article is a bit esoteric unless you've done serious code testing before. Basically, it explains how <a href="http://www.drdobbs.com/testing/the-embarrassing-costs-of-not-testing-yo/240162967" target="_blank">Kaspersky released an update to software that wasn't regression-tested</a>. In other words they made changes to the software, and, while they may have tested their changes, they didn't test whether those changes would mess up the base code. That's the whole point of a regression test suite.<br />
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The second article is of somewhat more personal importance. For a long time I owned only Toyota cars. But once I started reading about braking problems <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls" target="_blank">back in 2009</a>, I decided to buy Ford instead (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-car-part-2.html" target="_blank">here </a>and <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-new-car.html" target="_blank">here</a>). This past October a <a href="http://www.edn.com/design/automotive/4423428/Toyota-s-killer-firmware--Bad-design-and-its-consequences#!" target="_blank">court finally ruled against Toyota</a>, and central to the case was the Engine Control Module's firmware.<br />
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Will companies forever keep neglecting software testing in favor of releasing product ASAP? I mean, just reading a<a href="http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100036670_2010039922.pdf" target="_blank"> paper like this from NASA</a> and anyone with half a brain should realize that software testing is of paramount importance. Jeez.<br />
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<img height="270" src="http://i46.tinypic.com/2nqweuw.jpg" width="400" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-188295952705867552013-11-23T07:00:00.000-05:002013-11-23T07:00:03.071-05:00More salary surveysI have a thing for salary surveys (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/01/it-salary-survey.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2012/09/spoke-too-soon.html" target="_blank">there</a>, and <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2009/08/2009-salary-survey.html" target="_blank">back then</a>). I will admit to using them as a gauge of how fairly I'm paid. But I also think they're interesting because...<br />
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<ul>
<li>A good salary survey will break it out into several interesting data trends. And I'm a geek for data analysis.</li>
<li>I like to see how engineers feel about their own circumstances</li>
<li>It's interesting to see how it relates to where the economy is</li>
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So, here's a couple of surveys that came out in the past month or so. Enjoy.<br />
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<a href="http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=266430" target="_blank">Design News 2013 Salary Survey</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/2013-developer-salary-survey/240163580?elq=8743ceb5dc864e8493519378907ac274" target="_blank">Dr. Dobbs Developer Survey</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-30448577939702131602013-11-20T15:07:00.001-05:002013-11-20T15:07:33.069-05:00Getting back to the blogI'm getting a handle on things <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2013/08/yet-another-startup.html" target="_blank">at my new job</a>, so I'm looking to start posting on here at least a few times a month. When I've come back from a break in the past, I usually create a list of what I want to post on. This time around I'll just wing it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00511951454603737988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2571183328515474247.post-25596233467939373672013-08-01T21:00:00.000-04:002013-08-01T21:00:00.988-04:00Yet another startupI'm sure there's a 12-step program for this somewhere, but I think I may be addicted to start-up companies. Last month I joined my seventh (or maybe eighth) high-tech startup firm. As I've written numerous other times (<a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2012/09/startups-in-news.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2009/06/startup-one-year-anniversary.html" target="_blank">there</a>, and <a href="http://savvytestengineer.blogspot.com/2008/05/test-engineering-in-startup.html" target="_blank">back then</a>, to name a few), I have landed at numerous early-stage companies over the past dozen years or so. That's one upside of living in the Boston area - there is never a shortage of smart engineers wanting to start a new high tech company. <b>And they all need test engineers.</b><br />
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At any rate, I may have to put this blog on hiatus for a while, again. The startup experience can be intense at times.</div>
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But now that I think about it, start-up companies could be fodder for a couple more posts....<br />
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