Re: [myhdl-list] essay about integer arithmetic

[Jan D. <ja...@ja...>]

Andrew Lentvorski wrote:
> Jan Decaluwe wrote:
>> This is an essay that I wanted to write for a long time.
>> It describes what I think is wrong with integer arithmetic
>> in VHDL and Verilog, and why MyHDL provides a solution.
>>
>> Before releasing it to the general public, I'm interested
>> to hear what you think about it.
>>
>>     http://www.jandecaluwe.com/hdldesign/counting.html
> 
> The essay sums up some of my gripes about the mishmash that is the whole 
> abstract behavior of numbers problem.  Nicely done.  I know that I'll 
> point more than a few newbies at it.
> 
> 
> I do have a bit of a gripe about statements like:
> "This situation would not persist without the widespread support of the 
> designer community."
> 
> Ummmmm, no.  Most of the designers I know of hate the way a *lot* of 
> things are done in Verilog and VHDL.  Would we be using MyHDL if that 
> were not the case?  ;)  However, an individual designer has very limited 
> options to push back into these standards.  See SystemVerilog, for 
> example.

I agree that "widespread support" sounds a bit harsh and perhaps too
"active". Perhaps "compliancy" is a better description?

On the other hand, most designers I know *personally* also favor
a more abstract approach, but overall I have every indication
that this is a currently a minority view. Otherwise, wouldn't
VHDL integer subtypes be used more than they are? Wouldn't
people complain more about Verilog's bizarre integer
interpretation, instead of silently obeying the rules?

And even in the MyHDL community, I don't expect everyone to
agree. Look at some responses in this thread.

There's a reason I put this essay on my personal website
instead of myhdl.org. I expect controversy (and I'm just
starting :-)). It's not necessary to agree with my
viewpoints to be able use MyHDL successfully, so I shouldn't
alienate people unnecessarily.

Regards,

Jan

-- 
Jan Decaluwe - Resources bvba - http://www.jandecaluwe.com
    Python as a hardware description language:
    http://www.myhdl.org