Part 2 answers: What do I need on my machine before I can build anything?
You cannot learn RTL without a working loop: a shell, version control, and simulators you can run yourself. This part teaches you to find your way around a project folder, save your work with Git, and check that your tools are installed and which versions they are.
It ends with the skill that pays for the whole course: reading tool messages literally instead of guessing what they mean.
What | Detail |
|---|---|
Time | About 2 hours, plus install time on your machine. |
You will build | A working shell, a Git history of the example project, and a tools check that prints your versions. |
You are done when |
|
Move around a project tree, inspect files and run commands from the shell.
Save work with Git, compare versions and undo mistakes.
Check that Icarus, Verilator, Yosys, Make and Git are installed and print their versions.
# | Lesson | What it covers | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
2.1 | The few commands you need, practised in a safe sandbox. | F | |
2.2 | What is source, what is generated, and where each lives. | F | |
2.3 | Commit, compare and undo, with a deliberate mistake to undo. | F | |
2.4 | Install Icarus, Verilator, Yosys, Make and Git, and prove they work. | F | |
2.5 | Six real messages in one template: stage, file, line, cause. | F |
Lessons are in learning order: each one sets up the problem the next one solves. The glossary and the command cheat sheet are open to you throughout; if something fails, go to the troubleshooting table.