Unique coverage of both Verilog and VHDL

The review about this product

This book is a unique text on several levels, providing information rarely found in most academic treatments of the subject targeted at beginning students.

It covers and compares VHDL and Verilog impartially, describing their differences, strengths and weaknesses.

It has side by side VHDL and Verilog code - if you know one language, this is an excellent reference to the other language. My copy of the book was used by several engineers to cross train themselves in Verilog or VHDL.

Code is given for practical, real world circuits. From multiplexers to FSM to ALU, it is all in there. Each "class" of circuit is given its own chapter and covered in depth. The FSM chapter is 74 pages, for example.

There are many illustrations of the resulting synthesized logic. A picture is worth a thousand words, and seeing the result of different coding styles is very instructive. For example, coded one way, you get asynchronous resets, coded another, you get synchronous set/reset on your flipflops.

Beyond just a cookbook of VHDL and Verilog reference code, the book does cover such topics as scan test structures, simulation, hierarchial design, but these topics do not receive an in-depth coveraqe. There is an entire chapter dedicated to writing test harnesses, again with side-by-side code for VHDL and Verilog.

My copy saw use in multiple real world projects, by multiple, experienced engineers. It was most often used by VHDL (or Verilog) experts to learn Verilog (or VHDL). It was also used as a reference for coding particular structures. Quickly providing the answer to questions like "how do I code a carry lookahead in Verilog?" Eventually, I had to stop loaning it out as the pages began to fall out from the high volume of use. Unfortunately, it is no longer in print, so I have to use it very carefully, and coworkers are forced to struggle with inferior texts for reference.