[Coco] Fwd: Re: FPGA VS Software Emulators

[Walter Zambotti]

Mark

>A cheap way to start is using a simulator; you can see your signal waveforms graphically and it's 
>much easier to experiment and debug. If I'm writing a complex self-contained module I generally 
>simulate it first in a simple testbench.

Simulator?

A software simulator for the FPGA device?

Would the simulator be sufficient to actually execute the CoCo fpga projects (minus daughter boards)?

Walter

-----Original Message-----
From: Coco [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of Mark McDougall
Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 3:36 PM
To: coco at maltedmedia.com
Subject: Re: [Coco] Fwd: Re: FPGA VS Software Emulators

On 26/07/2017 3:15 PM, Dave Philipsen wrote:

> Also, there are a lot of websites out there that will give you VHDL 
> (and
> Verilog) examples and syntax.  Since I started with VHDL I have not 
> yet delved into Verilog much but as I understand it you can pretty 
> much do anything with either language. I believe VHDL is the preferred 
> language in Europe and Australia whereas Verilog is more where many US 
> developers are focused.

The VHDL vs Verilog debate is basically a 'religious' thing and there's nothing you can't achieve in both languages.

You're most likely to stick with the one you started with, unless you really have trouble wrapping your head around it and the alternative comes more naturally to you. As Dave says, the _syntax_ for Verilog is more C-like, but don't expect C code to work! ;) The concepts in both (VHDL & Verilog) are similar.

Personally, I started with VHDL but spent about 6 intense months working in Verilog on a huge testbench - code used for testing that was never going to be synthesized in a device - so I've got a decent handle on both. I've also had to incorporate Verilog components into my (VHDL) designs - yes you can mix and match. I prefer VHDL for writing code to be synthesized, and Verilog for writing testbenches!

A cheap way to start is using a simulator; you can see your signal waveforms graphically and it's much easier to experiment and debug. If I'm writing a complex self-contained module I generally simulate it first in a simple testbench.

Regards,

--
Mark McDougall
<http://retroports.blogspot.com.au>

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