1. A memory medium which stores program instructions for configuring a device, wherein the device includes a programmable hardware element, wherein the program instructions are executable to perform: receiving user input specifying first and second portions of a graphical program, wherein the graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected icons visually representing functionality of a procedure; compiling the first portion of the graphical program into executable code for execution by a processor and storing the executable code in a memory; generating a hardware description based on the second portion of the graphical program, wherein the hardware description describes a hardware implementation of the second portion of the graphical program; and configuring the programmable hardware element in the device utilizing the hardware description to produce a configured hardware element, wherein the configured hardware element implements the hardware implementation of the second portion of the graphical program; wherein the processor and the configured hardware element are operable to perform the procedure.