C.V.N.
REDDY SEELAM
LINT
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Linting in VLSI - Interview Questions & Answers
1. What is linting in VLSI, and why is it important?
Answer: Linting in VLSI is a process that analyzes HDL code (like Verilog or VHDL) for potential errors,
coding standard violations, and design flaws. It's crucial for identifying issues early in the design cycle, before
synthesis or simulation, to avoid costly rework.
2. What kind of issues can linting detect?
Answer: Linting can identify syntactic/semantic errors, combinational loops, non-synthesizable code,
undriven/multi-driven nets, and coding style violations.
3. What are some popular linting tools used in the VLSI industry?
Answer: Common tools include SpyGlass (Synopsys), JasperGold CDC (Cadence), Alint Pro (Aldec), and
Mentor Graphics' HDL Designer.
4. How does linting differ from functional simulation?
Answer: Linting finds static code issues, while simulation tests functional behavior under varying conditions.
5. How does linting contribute to design quality and robustness?
Answer: By catching errors early, it enhances code robustness and reduces debug time post-synthesis.
6. Can you give an example of a linting check that identifies a design flaw?
Answer: Assigning a value exceeding the declared width of an output is a common error linting can catch.
7. What is the role of linting in the VLSI design flow?
Answer: Linting ensures RTL is clean and synthesizable before it moves to synthesis or implementation.
8. What are undriven signals, and how does linting detect them?
Answer: Undriven signals are declared but never assigned; linting flags these to avoid floating nets.
Linting in VLSI - Interview Questions & Answers
9. How does linting help with coding guideline enforcement?
Answer: It ensures RTL code follows naming conventions and best practices for readability and consistency.
10. What are combinational loops, and why are they flagged by lint tools?
Answer: Loops without sequential elements can cause non-determinism and are flagged to avoid synthesis
errors.
11. Can linting catch clock domain crossing (CDC) issues?
Answer: No. CDC issues require dedicated CDC tools, not general-purpose linters.
12. What is a multi-driven net warning in linting?
Answer: It's a net driven by multiple sources, potentially causing contention, flagged by lint tools.
13. How does linting improve design reusability?
Answer: By enforcing clean and modular RTL, designs become easier to reuse across projects.
14. What is the significance of implicit net declaration warnings in linting?
Answer: Undeclared nets default to 'wire' in Verilog, which can mask errors. Linting prevents this.
15. How often should linting be performed in a project?
Answer: Ideally at every code check-in or commit to catch issues early in the cycle.
16. Can linting tools detect unreachable code?
Answer: Yes, linting can detect dead code blocks and unused logic for cleanup.
17. What is the benefit of severity levels in linting reports?
Answer: They help prioritize issues into critical, warning, or informational types.
Linting in VLSI - Interview Questions & Answers
18. How can a designer suppress false positives in lint reports?
Answer: By using inline pragmas or config files to selectively ignore known-safe rules.
19. What is the difference between structural and semantic lint checks?
Answer: Structural checks examine net connectivity; semantic checks look at logic behavior.
20. What are some common errors that beginners face which linting helps detect?
Answer: Examples: missing default assignments, mixed blocking/non-blocking assignments,
non-synthesizable constructs, incorrect port directions.
Thank You
The VLSI Voyager
-C.V.N Reddy Seelam
