Virtuoso Video Diary: SKILL IDE Performance Analysis Tools

As a SKILL code developer, do you spend a major chunk of your time in fine-tuning your SKILL code? I am sure nobody writes perfect code in the first attempt. Producing efficient and bug-free code involves several iterations of proactively monitoring the code, eliminating bottlenecks, and analyzing as well as improving its performance. And there are tools that can help you improve your code’s performance without affecting its behavior.

Hey, don’t panic! I am not asking you to learn any new tools. Everything you need for improving the performance of your SKILL code is available within Cadence SKILL IDE. We don’t call it an ‘Integrated Development Environment’ for no reason!

SKILL IDE offers the following three tools to help you find what ails your code:

• SKILL Code Browser
  

Code Browser is a source code navigation and analysis tool, which allows you to browse your code without having to keep track of the declarations and references of each program element. It is designed to enhance your ability to understand and modify your SKILL programs. Using the Code Browser, you can view the call graph of user-defined functions. You can also jump directly to the definition of the function selected in the Code Browser window. In short, Code Browser helps you keep an eye on your code without overly complicating things.

• SKILL Lint
  

SKILL Lint can be used for statically checking SKILL and SKILL++ programs for possible errors and inefficiencies that may go undetected during normal testing. SKILL Lint also provides hints about improving the efficiency of your code. So, like a good friend, SKILL Lint points out the issues in your code and gives you hints on fixing them.

• SKILL Profiler
  

SKILL Profiler is a performance analysis tool that provides information about the run-time behavior of your code. Using the Profiler, you can identify the functions that are consuming the most time or memory during a run. You can then evaluate these functions for possible performance improvements. In short, SKILL Profiler keeps the guesswork out of performance analysis.

Watch the following videos on Cadence Online Support:

• Browsing Your Code Using SKILL Code Browser 
• Improving Your Code with SKILL Lint Manager
• Analyzing Your Code Using SKILL Profiler Assistant

Note: Cadence Help supports native playback of videos (mp4) added to the installed Virtuoso Documentation Library. Look under Video Demos for a video topic of your interest. 

Related Resources

• Cadence SKILL IDE User Guide 

What's Next

Virtuoso Video Diary will next bring to you a set of videos on Symbolic Placement of Devices (SPD), a row-based symbolic placer that lets layout engineers perform quick and easy placement of PMOS and NMOS devices. These videos will help you get started with using SPD and understand some of its prominent features, such as smart move, multirow placement, signal trunks, and user-defined abutments. Stay tuned…

About Virtuoso Video Diary

Virtuoso Video Diary is envisaged to be an online journal that will relay information about Virtuoso videos that are available in the Cadence Online Support Video Library. For IC6.1.7 and ICADV12.2, over a hundred videos on a wide variety of new and exciting Virtuoso features have already been created. Virtuoso Video Diaries brings you direct links to these videos and other related material, on regular basis, in your mailbox. Subscribe to receive the e-mail notifications.