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GHDL
?GHDL is a shorthand for G Hardware Design Language. Currently,
G
has no meaning.
GHDL is a VHDL
compiler that can execute (nearly) any
VHDL
program. GHDL
is not a synthesis tool: you cannot
create a netlist with GHDL
.
Unlike some other simulators, GHDL
is a compiler: it directly
translates a VHDL
file to machine code, using the GCC
back-end and without using an intermediary language such as C
or C++
. Therefore, the compiled code should be faster and
the analysis time should be shorter than with a compiler using an
intermediary language.
The Windows(TM) version of GHDL
is not based on GCC
but on
an internal code generator.
The current version of GHDL
does not contain any graphical
viewer: you cannot see signal waves. You can still check with a test
bench. The current version can produce a VCD
file which can be
viewed with a wave viewer, as well as ghw
files to be viewed by
‘gtkwave’.
GHDL
aims at implementing VHDL
as defined by IEEE 1076.
It supports most of the 1987 standard and most features added by the
1993 standard.