12. In a computational device, a computer-implemented method of building instrument or front panels, comprising the steps of: providing, with a computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) for rendering and placing components on an instrument or front panel, the GUI displaying the instrument or front panel to a user; associating, with the computing device, a textual language program with the instrument or front panel, the textual language program separately displayed and including code for the execution of one or more components on the instrument or front panel, the display of the textual language program occurring in a window, the window displaying at least one control allowing a user to switch between threads of execution of the textual language program, the threads of execution comprising two or more of: an initialization procedure, a foreground task, a background task, a timed execution task, an event-driven execution task, and a termination procedure, at least one of the components on the instrument or front panel: displaying input or output values for the textual language program during execution of the textual language program, directly corresponding with, and interacting only with, a section of code in the textual language program, and not interacting with or corresponding with a graphical diagram; and displaying, with the computing device, a plurality of icons representing components in a library that may be placed in the instrument or front panel, the instrument or front panel running continuously during execution of the textual language program.
12. In a computational device, a computer-implemented method of building instrument or front panels, comprising the steps of: providing, with a computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) for rendering and placing components on an instrument or front panel, the GUI displaying the instrument or front panel to a user; associating, with the computing device, a textual language program with the instrument or front panel, the textual language program separately displayed and including code for the execution of one or more components on the instrument or front panel, the display of the textual language program occurring in a window, the window displaying at least one control allowing a user to switch between threads of execution of the textual language program, the threads of execution comprising two or more of: an initialization procedure, a foreground task, a background task, a timed execution task, an event-driven execution task, and a termination procedure, at least one of the components on the instrument or front panel: displaying input or output values for the textual language program during execution of the textual language program, directly corresponding with, and interacting only with, a section of code in the textual language program, and not interacting with or corresponding with a graphical diagram; and displaying, with the computing device, a plurality of icons representing components in a library that may be placed in the instrument or front panel, the instrument or front panel running continuously during execution of the textual language program. 15. The method of claim 12 wherein the properties include at least one of a widget property or a property of an I/O device.