LabVIEW is a system design platform and development environment for a visual programming language

Visual programming language

In computing, a visual programming language is any programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols, used...

 from National Instruments

National Instruments

National Instruments Corporation, or NI , is an American company with over 5,000 employees and direct operations in 41 countries. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software...

. LabVIEW provides engineers and scientists with the tools needed to create and deploy measurement and control systems.
The graphical language is named "G" (not to be confused with G-code

G-code

G-code is the common name for the most widely used computer numerical control programming language, which has many implementations. Used mainly in automation, it is part of computer-aided engineering. G-code is sometimes called G programming language...

). Originally released for the Apple Macintosh in 1986, LabVIEW is commonly used for data acquisition

Data acquisition

Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems typically convert analog waveforms into digital values for processing...

, instrument control

Instrument control

Instrument control consists of connecting a desktop instrument to a computer and taking measurements.-History:In the late 1960s the first bus used for communication was developed by Hewlett-Packard and was called HP-IB...

, and industrial automation

Automation

Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...

 on a variety of platforms including Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, various versions of UNIX

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

, Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

, and Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

.