I guess it was only a matter of time.

I have now joined the millions of other bloggers out there, adding to a blogosphere of politicians and their opponents, technical enthousiasts, rabid fans, angsty teenagers and the just plain weird.

As many of you probably already know, I am the moderator of the Verification Guild, a website I created in 2003 to replace the electronic newsletter I was editing since 2000. So what is the difference between Janick-the-blogger and Janick-the-moderator?

The Verification Guild is a personal, part-time endeavor that is not owned nor controlled (but supported) by my employer. As the moderator, I simply wish to maintain the technical relevance of its content, not use it as my personal soapbox. I always prefer the contribution of others to my own. I never censor a contribution from a competitor and, thanks to an amazing group of contributors, I do not remember the last time I had to delete a post¹. It appears my main task as a moderator has been to not approve weblinks for pills with very dubious claims.

On the other hand, this blog is part of my day job to promote and advance functional verification methodology. Still not a soapbox (I don’t intent to write editorials) but more like a blackboard. I intent for this blog to be highly technical, for each post to be a small tutorial on an aspect of functional verification or one of the languages used in executing a verification project.

For example, as one of the architects of VMM and its application packages, I will write about specific aspects of its implementation, why it was designed a certain way or how it was meant to be used. I will also write about SystemVerilog constructs that are useful for implementing testbenches. I will answer questions I get frequently asked, either through the regular VMM support channels, by email or while visiting customers.

I also welcome your comments and suggestions. If you wish to leave a comment about one of my posts, simply click on the “comments” link at the bottom. Or write to me. Or drop by the Synopsys booth at the DAC Conference in Anaheim June 9-12 and look for the tall bald guy who isn’t wearing a suit!

¹ How ironic: A few days after writing this, I had to delete the first spam post!