The course is organised as sections; most sections have four or five topics of about four lessons. Every lesson is short enough to read in one sitting and built to the same pattern, so you always know where to look.
Part | What it gives you |
|---|---|
Why it matters | The problem the idea solves, in a few sentences. |
Mechanism | How it works on the circuit or in the analysis, with a table or formula. |
Worked example | Numbers, usually as a runnable Python block that asserts them. |
What the review looks for | The checks a signoff reviewer would apply. |
Pitfall and interview callouts | The common mistake and how the idea is asked in interviews. |
Check yourself | A question with a hidden answer: answer it first. |
Related lessons | Links backwards and forwards. |
Python blocks are self-contained and use only the standard library. Each ends with a line starting with PASS if its assertions hold. Change a number and see which assertion breaks: that is the quickest way to learn which relationship matters.
SDC blocks are marked as not runnable: they show the standard commands and what they define. They are explained, not executed.
Waveforms come from real simulations. A short paragraph under each says what the lanes show.
Report text is shown in a generic, illustrative format. It is not output from any commercial tool.
Times are in nanoseconds unless a lesson says picoseconds. Slack is positive when a check passes.
Numbers are illustrative and consistent within a lesson. They are not targets for any process.
A term in a lesson is defined in the Glossary; a metric in the Metrics Reference.
Retrieval is where learning happens: an answer you produced yourself sticks, and a wrong one shows exactly what to reread.