Inconsistent approaches to development and to user interfaces can be a problem when multiple developers work on a project. Each developer has his own style of development, color preferences, display techniques, documentation practices, and block diagram methodologies. When creating global variables, one developer might create several single global VIs, each with one front panel object, while another might prefer to create one global VI with multiple front panel objects.
Inconsistent style techniques create software that looks bad. If VIs have different behaviors for the same button, users can become confused and find the user interface of the VIs difficult to use. For example, if one VI requires a user to click a button when he completes a task and another VI requires the user to use a keyboard function key to signal completion of the task, the user can become confused as to what he needs to do.
Inconsistent style also makes software difficult to maintain. For example, if one developer does not like to use subVIs and decides to develop all features within a single large VI, that VI is difficult to modify.
Establish an initial set of guidelines for your VI development team and add additional rules as the project progresses. You can use these style guidelines in future projects.
The LabVIEW Style Checklist provides some style recommendations and checklists to use when working on LabVIEW projects. Use these recommendations and checklists as a basis for developing your own style guidelines. To create a style guide customized to fit the specifications of your project, add, remove, or modify the guidelines provided.
Creating a single standard for development style in any programming language is very difficult because each developer has his own development style. Select a set of guidelines that works for you and your development team and make sure everyone follows those guidelines.