[sv-bc] RE: DAC Presentation of SV-2012 Enhancements - Cliff requests your input

From: Gran, Alex <alex_gran@mentor.com>
Date: Thu May 30 2013 - 08:40:49 PDT
Cliff,
    As others have mentioned the big ones that are going to get top billing are the Interface Classes and Soft Constraints, and rightfully so, they're big enhancements that lots of people are interested in.  However I'm going to go the other direction and build upon what Dave Rich was saying about outside the 35 enhancements, most of the other changes where clarifications and errata.
As anyone in your audience who's been tasked with maintaining a large code base like a UVM based project across multiple tools (often from multiple vendors) there have sometimes unfortunately been cases where everyone hasn't been in total agreement of exactly what syntax or semantics should generate errors.  A number of the smaller changes that went into 1800-2012 were to add clarifications and corrections to help remove the ambiguities that often lead to these divergences between different implementations.
A good example of places where previously I had seen divergence in behaviors between vendors, were the areas addressed by the changes introduced by Mantis 3278 & 3279
Mantis 3278 and 3279  clarified the rules for virtual method over-rides and makes covariant typing legal
1800-2009 Sec 8.19 said:
Later, when subclasses override virtual methods, they shall follow the prototype exactly by having matching return types and matching argument names, types, and directions.
In 1800-2012 Sec 8.20 this was changed to
Virtual method overrides in subclasses shall have matching argument types, identical argument names,
identical qualifiers and identical directions to the prototype.  The virtual qualifier is optional in the derived
class method declarations. The return type of a virtual function shall be either:
                        a matching type (see 6.22.1)
                        or a derived class type
of the return type of the virtual function in the superclass.
Previously some vendors had added support for covariant typing even though it was not strictly legal, a well as in some cases had differing opinions on just want needed to 'match' in a virtual method override, causing code to be able to be compiled in one tool but not another.  Now the exact rules for covariant usage are defined and the override semantics are clearer  so vendors can all implement to single agreed upon behavior.

~Alex


From: owner-sv-ec@eda.org [mailto:owner-sv-ec@eda.org] On Behalf Of Rich, Dave
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 3:04 PM
To: Brad Pierce; Bresticker, Shalom; sv-ac@eda.org; sv-bc@eda.org; sv-cc@eda.org; sv-ec@eda.org; sv-dc@eda.org; IEEE P1800 Working Group (ieee1800@eda.org)
Cc: Cliff Cummings
Subject: [sv-ec] RE: DAC Presentation of SV-2012 Enhancements - Cliff requests your input

Hi Cliff,
I also wrote an article about some of my favorite enhancements to 1800-2012: http://go.mentor.com/ready-for-systemverilog-2012
In that article have a link to the 225 issues<http://tinyurl.com/1800-2012-changelog> addressed by the new LRM. But my favorite thing out of that list is that only 35 are enhancements<http://tinyurl.com/pokxxrx>. That is a testament to the stability users have demanded from their verification environment.
Dave
Mentor Graphics

From: owner-sv-ec@eda.org<mailto:owner-sv-ec@eda.org> [mailto:owner-sv-ec@eda.org] On Behalf Of Brad Pierce
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 11:26 AM
To: Bresticker, Shalom; sv-ac@eda.org<mailto:sv-ac@eda.org>; sv-bc@eda.org<mailto:sv-bc@eda.org>; sv-cc@eda.org<mailto:sv-cc@eda.org>; sv-ec@eda.org<mailto:sv-ec@eda.org>; sv-dc@eda.org<mailto:sv-dc@eda.org>; IEEE P1800 Working Group (ieee1800@eda.org<mailto:ieee1800@eda.org>)
Cc: Cliff Cummings
Subject: [sv-ec] RE: DAC Presentation of SV-2012 Enhancements - Cliff requests your input

Hi Cliff,
My favorite SV12 enhancement is Java-style interface classes. As Dave implies in his original paper (http://bradpierce.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/multiple_inheritance_sv.pdf), interface classes could be used to simplify the OVM TLM library code as well as the OVM/VMM Interop library. My explanation of interface classes aimed at those who are more familiar with SV modports than Java is http://bradpierce.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/sv12-interface-classes-think-of-them-as-next-gen-modports/ .
Parameterized functions are not actually an enhancement of SV12, but they are first mentioned in the LRM in the SV12. They will be important, too. Here's my advice on how to use them http://bradpierce.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/sv12-deliver-parameterized-functions-with-let-expressions/ .
-- Brad
From: owner-sv-bc@eda.org<mailto:owner-sv-bc@eda.org> [mailto:owner-sv-bc@eda.org] On Behalf Of Bresticker, Shalom
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 10:50 AM
To: sv-ac@eda.org<mailto:sv-ac@eda.org>; sv-bc@eda.org<mailto:sv-bc@eda.org>; sv-cc@eda.org<mailto:sv-cc@eda.org>; sv-ec@eda.org<mailto:sv-ec@eda.org>; sv-dc@eda.org<mailto:sv-dc@eda.org>; IEEE P1800 Working Group (ieee1800@eda.org<mailto:ieee1800@eda.org>)
Cc: Clifford E. Cummings (cliffc@sunburst-design.com<mailto:cliffc@sunburst-design.com>)
Subject: [sv-bc] FW: DAC Presentation of SV-2012 Enhancements - Cliff requests your input

Hi,
Cliff Cummings asked me to forward this.
Shalom
From: Clifford E. Cummings [mailto:cliffc@sunburst-design.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 20:46
To: Bresticker, Shalom
Subject: DAC Presentation of SV-2012 Enhancements - Cliff requests your input

Hi, All -

I have been asked to give a short SystemVerilog-2012 update presentation at DAC. Stu Sutherland has already done a nice update last year at DAC but I would like to take a slightly different approach while sill acknowledging and referencing his DAC presentation.

I would like to gather input from as many SystemVerilog-2012 committee members as a I can regarding your favorite SystemVerilog-2012 enhancements. I would suggest that you email me with your five favorite enhancements (feel free to send fewer or more than five favorites).

Everyone that sends me a small list of favorites will be acknowledged and thanked in my presentation, which will eventually go into the public domain and will also be posted on my web page.

Time is short! All I need is a list of your favorite enhancements, preferably by the end of day on Friday, but you get extra credit for the following:
(1) Why each enhancement is on your favorites list.
(2) Any examples that show why the enhancement is cool!
(3) Reference to specific section numbers of the IEEE 1800-2012 LRM.

This is your chance to highlight enhancements that you as a committee member felt was important to the Design and Verification community.

Thanks in advance for you short (or extended) feedback.

If anybody has a complete list of the enhancements that was compiled separate from Stu's list, you get double-extra credit!

Regards - Cliff
--
Cliff Cummings - Sunburst Design, Inc. 1639 E. 1320 S., Provo, UT 84606 - 801-960-1996- cliffc@sunburst-design.com<mailto:cliffc@sunburst-design.com> / www.sunburst-design.com<http://www.sunburst-design.com> World Class Verilog, SystemVerilog & OVM/UVM Training

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Received on Thu May 30 08:41:49 2013

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