user logic peripheral

With SOPC Builder and Nios, I'm sure there will be a lot more softies taking on hardware projects.

In general with hdls you want to be as specific as possible. Frequently if you don't explicitly state exactly what you want to have happen, synthesis tools will basically make a guess (for lack of better terms). Guess is probably better stated as it has to remember what the prior state was which usually means the inference of latches or extra logic that you don't need.

In software we frequently try to minimize the number of lines of code we are able do something. A lot of times with hardware that same concept isn't true. Depending on how you write things, smaller logic can frequently be more lines of code.

My personal feeling on hardware is to be specific when you can, meaning that you should always have a good idea as to what the synthesis tool is going to generate based on your hdl. In a lot of cases that means being explicit.

Altera

hbutler97