Background
In our company, we work with a manufacturer of equipment, we develop cross-platform C ++ / Qt applications for the devices that they manufacture. Previously, we used communication with their devices via USB (virtual COM port). Now we have been informed that this manufacturer plans to switch to LabVIEW (USB data collection). Because of this, we will receive relevant information in the future, however, I would like to receive some information about this and ask you a question that I could not find on the Internet easily.
Sorry for the noob questions.
Questions
1) What is LabVIEW? Am I right that this is not one piece of the device, but a set of components, drivers and standards?
2) Who is the developer of LabVIEW? I read How long I need to learn LabVIEW , but I'm not sure. This is the person who integrates LabVIEW components and creates firmware for them. Or a person who develops custom applications that interact with LabVIEW?
3) I assume that the first part of Question 2 will be done by our partner company. The second part will be on us. But who creates the communication protocol? Is there a standard way in which DAQ communicates with its PC drivers, or should a programmer develop a communication protocol?
4) I found that there is a driver for linux in National Instruments. Does this driver contain some APIs / libraries that can be included in C ++ code in a standard way and used to communicate with DAQ?