Programming language for IC design

Question

I plan to work on this field in the future (I'm still very new to the engineering world). I got some time free now and I would like to invest in learning more. Will I need any programming language in the design of integrated circuits? If so, in which should I focus?

Thanks, excuse my bad english.

• user16222: Analogue or digital design? if digital: VHDL/Verilog
• Chris Stratton: You need one or more traditional programming languages for quickly generating custom tools, too! Often one of those should be C, the other could be varied - python, matlab, perl, java, even fortran there are a lot of choices. But you have to be able to convince a computer to help you out with a unique problem encountered along the way, in addition to doing whatever you are nominally supposed to be doing.

Answer 1

For digital logic, focus on hardware description languages hdl, such as verilog or vhdl.

For analog simulation, you'll want to be familiar with spice.

• João Pedro: I like more analogs, but I'm affraid I won't get many uses as digital IC, is that truth?
• user65586: As an engineer, you'll need to be flexible enough to do both.
• old_timer: there are now free tools for these languages, there are open cores out there you can examine (Like any other open source, doesnt mean they are all "good" designs they are just "free" designs). Likewise on the analog side. The cost is your time not the tools, which is not the way it has always been.