From the Department of Redundancy Department

Dobbs Code Talk - Redundancy in Programming Languages discusses why sometimes redundancy is a good thing. Like in accounting, or computer programming. (Or HDL programming.)

Key conclusion:

Many programming language designers mistakenly assume that removing redundancy makes programmers more productive. ...

Well-designed redundancy can, however, dramatically improve productivity with its ability to uncover errors early in the development process. ...

The trick, of course, is figuring out which redundancies are good, and which aren't.

Countdown to DAC: Design Automation Conference

If you're involved in the EDA or ASIC industries, you should consider going to 45th DAC Home: Design Automation Conference.

There are early registration discounts available for signing up before May 19, so get moving!

I mostly like DAC for the exhibits and the panels. A lot of the papers go over my head -- often PhDs presenting their thesis research on "new routing algorithms that did x% better on university benchmarks."

Profile-Guided Optimizations for Software Development

Not being a commercial software developer, I hadn't heard of Profile-Guided Optimizations (from the blog of the Opera Browser Desktop Team), but it sounds clever: run some "real-world benchmarks" through your application, and then recompile the application to optimize for the code path followed most often.

Is this common in software engineering? Do EDA tools do tricks like this for best performance? Let's hope so.

Weirdest EDA Acquisition Ever?

Just read about Synopsys Invests In Prover Technology and I decided to post it without further research, just to react to the article.

From reading the press release, I'm really left scratching my head. Is this for real? It's not April 1, right? I am very curious to see how much synergy exists between "railway signal design automation" and EDA!

A missing link in tech history

For those interested in the history of our industry -- and who of us shouldn't be? -- here's a news item of the pre-electronic (even pre-electrical) origins of computing:

A missing link in tech history - San Jose Mercury News tells the story of the construction of the "Babbage Difference Engine", which was designed but never built by 19th century inventor Charles Babbage. This is truly an engineering marvel. Frankly, I'm amazed that it works! Here's a video showing some details of this mechanical masterpiece in operation. I certainly want to head over to Computer History Museum in Mountain View to check it out.

While we're on the subject of history, here are other good resources to check out:

• Intel Museum (online and in Santa Clara)
• The Chip History Center (online)
• IEEE Virtual Museum (online)

Blessed Perl

I just spent three days in great Advanced Perl Programming class taught by the Anderson Software Group. This was the best class I've taken in a long time. One of the most satisfying things to do at work is to develop a well-crafted program (usually in Perl) and see it working smoothly to automate my own or someone else's work. The class exposed me to things I'd always wanted to know about Perl, including Object-Oriented Perl, GUI building, and interfacing to databases, networks and C programs. Great stuff!

We worked from Anderson's class notes, but the reference text for the course is Advanced Perl Programming from O'Reilly. See my other favorite programming books on the CAD Engineer's Bookshelf.

I'm hearing rumblings that Python is a "better Perl", designed from scratch for object-oriented programming. I guess it lacks that Perl syntax that can make a program look like hieroglyphics? This sounds like the next language to learn.

Apple buys a CPU company

Wow, I didn't see this coming: Apple disses Intel's Atom, buys PowerPC designer P.A. Semi. Very interesting. I had been vaguely aware of P.A. Semi, but didn't know where they'd find big demand for their advanced PowerPC CPU. And Apple has become more of a system designer than a chip designer. So I wouldn't have guessed that they'd buy a Semiconductor IP company. Some have twittered, "why not AMD?" For that matter, why not Transmeta, if they're looking for a very low power mobile CPU?

Congratulations, P.A. Semi! It will be fun to see how this plays out.

Forbes article

Update: color analysis from Chris Edwards.

Stop Me Before I Schwag Again

Just got back from the TSMC Technology Symposium. I'll think about what I can share from that always-valuable event. But what I have on my mind, in the wake of Earth Day, is the schwag that us engineers accumulate, and how we just can't stop it!

• Another conference, another tote bag. My closet is overflowing! And, another non-recyclable badge lanyard that will have to be thrown out. I wish that conference organizers would "think green" and give out less "junk", and distribute reusable or recyclable merchandise. Of course, I need to look in the mirror as well. Why can't I say "No" to this stuff? I'm making some progress in turning down trinkets, but it requires eternal vigilance.
• Will engineers do anything for a T-shirt? Although I love them, my home is overflowing with shirts from vendors and from runs and rides that I go on. I've become more discriminating: a vendor's white t-shirt won't make the grade, nor will colored ones with a non-clever design. What I am amazed by is how easily I can give these shirts away to other engineers. I put a vendor's black t-shirt out in the break room with a "Free Shirt!" Post-It note. Within five minutes, it disappeared! I have successfully followed the mantra Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In the words of Fake Steve Jobs, namaste.