Berty said:
Peter,
While I understand your point I'm afraid this is why you see so many
Eng that know just about nothing except copy paste of IP module. [...]
Back to Math using your own logic is equivalent to say to Eng you
should learn how to do 1+1 however to do integral of X^2 from 0 to 2 is
to complex so use calculator, I do hope university will not go with
this logic and those that do well maybe from there we get all the
copy-paste Eng's.
[...]
And where do you stop? By your own logic, they can't just stop at
doing integrals. You need to know how to derive all the integral
short-cuts that you use, for fear that someday while waiting for a bus,
someone holds a gun to your head and makes you re-derive the integral
of sin(x)dx. But you can't stop there either - you have to move on to
differential calculus and partial differential equations. But that's
not all, then you need to... (etc)
Moving back to the electronics world, how about other components in the
FPGA (or an ASIC)? Before I can use the PLL or CDR within the Rocket
I/O, should I understand it so well that I could design one myself?
What about the DCM? Do I need to be able to design my own latch-up
resistant, ESD protected, discrete input and output buffers before I
can use an ASIC vendors' IO cell? What about the optical transceiver
that I connected to the Rocket I/O - do I need to know exactly how the
pin diodes and laser drivers work before I can use an optical
transceiver?
Everyone is going to draw the line in different spots, based upon their
needs. Not everyone wants or needs to specialize in FIFO design. If
you can do it, great - it gives you a slight competitive advantage for
a few jobs out there (or turn it into a life-long job, as Peter has).
But that alone does not indicate
Having said all this, however, I have to agree with some of the
underlying points upon which you've placed your FIFO example... that
engineers need a firm understanding of the basics so that when they are
called upon to design something, they know where to start. Even more
importantly, they understand the limits of their knowledge, and if
necessary, know how to educate *themselves* further on the topic,
without much outside help. That's the true sign of an engineer - not
if they can design an async FIFO.
Have fun,
Marc