We have listed here a few selected books that we like and recommend. We have tried to sort the books according to the level of expertise of the reader. If you are located in France and you want to purchase one of these books, make sure you check http://www.lmet.fr.  In the US, you will find these books where you would expect (Amazon etc.). You can also search the Internet with the ISBN number.

HDL : General, Introduction, okay for beginners

• The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs
  by Clive “Max” Maxfield, June 2004 - ISBN: 0750676043.
  Much more than a complete Introduction, this easy-to-read book presents in a simple manner most of the important FPGA design concepts. Definitely a must for beginners, more advanced users will still find interesting information.
   
• Application-Specific Integrated Circuits - 1st edition (June 1997)
  by Michael John Sebastian Smith - ISBN: 0201500221 - 1026 pages !
  Yes : it is a bit aging, and you would expect this book to be totally obsolete now... but it is still quite interesting in that it covers an incredibly large know-how, which is still the foundation of more recent technology. It is quite affordable and there is still no exact more up-to-date equivalent, so I keep it in this list.
   
• VHDL Made Easy ! - Sept 1996
  by David Pellerin & Douglas Taylor - ISBN: 0136507638 - 432 pages
  This book is getting a bit old, but it still holds the title’s promise : it is really a practical and an easy way into VHDL.

HDL : Going further, for actual designers

• Writing Testbenches - Functional Verification of HDL Models - 2nd Edition (important)
  by Janick Bergeron - ISBN 1-4020-7401-8 - 512 p
  Definitely a Master Piece. If this list only had one book, it would be this one.
  If you are an HDL designer (RTL or Verification), then you need this book !
   
• Reuse Methodology Manual for System-on-a-Chip Designs - Third Edition
  by Michael Keating & Pierre Bricaud - ISBN 1-4020-7141-8 - June 2002,  330 pp.
  There is no way you can avoid the recommendations you will find in this book (and produce good-quality designs). The 3rd Edition is now very sensible and quite “waterproof”. If your company doesn’t have a (good) internal Methodology and Coding Style Guide then go for this book !
   
• Doulos Golden Reference Guides : you can order them now directly.
  VHDL + Verilog + SystemVerilog + SystemC + PSL + e.
  Simply the best and most practical Guides. Keep them at hand near your workstation !
  Do not try and use them to actually learn a new language though. Perfect as a follow-up after the Doulos Training Courses.
   
• VHDL Coding Styles and Methodologies - 2nd Edition
  by Ben Cohen - ISBN 0792384741 - March 1999, 480 pp.
  A classical VHDL reference book, handles all aspects of VHDL accurately, in-depth and great details. Contents is still good today, but you may find it a bit hard to read. Probably not for newbies.

HDL : Only for advanced users

• Assertion-Based Design by Harry Foster, Adam Krolnik, and David Lacey
  ISBN: 1402074980 - June 2003 - 360 p
  If you’re not convinced of what Assertions can do for you, whaat they look like and how they can change your designer’s life, then this book should give you motivation !
  Assertions is still a moving ground and this book came quite early so you may want to keep an eye on latests publications. However the concepts presented are still valid and the examples and assertions cookbook section definitely useful.
   
• Advanced Asic Chip Synthesis Using Synopsys Design Compiler Physical Compiler and Prime Time, 2nd Edition by Himanshu Bhatnagar
  ISBN 0792376447 - 2002 - 328 pages
  If you are moving from an FPGA design position to an ASIC Design position, then you will very likely need this book. If you’re not going to (have to) use the tools from the second part of the title, then you can spend your $$$ in something else. In any case, be sure not to purchase the 1st edition (apparently still available at some merchant’s sites) !
   

Other Languages

• SystemC from the ground up by David C. Black & Jack Donovan
  ISBN: 1402079885 - June 2004 - 244 p
  Excellent no-nonsense and coherent book on SystemC. Don’t get fooled by the “reasonable” number of pages. It is dense and quite complete, with lots examples. It’s up-to-date (as of Q3- 2004 :-).
  You will find other books on SystemC like “System Design with SystemC” or the early “SystemC : methodologies and Applications” but we like this new one.
   
• Practical Programming in Tcl and Tk , 4th Edition by Brent B. Welch et al.
  ISBN 0130385603 - June 2003 - 960 p
  Excellent Book on Tcl/Tk, ofte, considered as THE reference. The title has it : it’s practical and the author knows how to use Tcl/Tk ! As an EDA engineer, you may not be interested by all the chapters.
   
• Tcl/Tk : A Developer’s Guide , 2nd Edition by Clif Flynt
  ISBN 1558608028 - May 2003 - 758 pages
  This is also an excellent book on Tcl/Tk, at least for the EDA user.
   
• Red Hat Linux 9 Bible by Christopher Negus
  ISBN 0764539388  - May 2003 - 1104 pages !
  Simply Superb ! (and affordable). If you go to Linux, this is a great companion.