Interview Question

You are on the committee to define a uniquely Indian Hardware Description Language: IndieHDL — a cool language from a hot country. One proposal is to restrict the language so that IndieHDL supports only synthesizable programs.

From a user's perspective, what would be the two most significant consequences of switching from VHDL to a hardware description language that supports only synthesizable programs?

Dificulty: Easy

Solution:

1. 
   
   Most testbenches will have to be written in another language, because they rely on unsynthesizable code.
2. 
   
   Most high-level models will have to be written in another hardware description language. An HDL is often needed for high-level models, because we want to model clock cycles and concurrency easily. The first versions of high-level models often contain unsynthesizable code.
3. 
   
   IndieHDL will be easier to learn, because it is simpler. The issue of synthesizable vs unsynthesizable will completely disappear.