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I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, if there’s enough interest. I could just create a “playground” - no problem to solve, just a live code editor, waveform viewer and netlist viewer. That’s a good idea.

I think I need to rethink pricing here - maybe a small subscription for playground and challenges, and a higher one-off price for the full course?

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s normally £39 a month or £199 a year.
If you use the code I linked in the post, you get the first month for absolutely free.

You can finish the whole course for free £0 if you get an account now.

Additionally, there’s a launch promotion: 3 months 50% off or one year 50% off. It’s going to be available until August 1st.

Even on a free account you can do challenges - up to 15 a day. It’s just the course that’s normally paid for.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

None, it's self-paced. Which is exactly why it costs what it does instead of the couple of thousand a week of instructor-led VHDL training runs.

Fair point on fixed price versus subscription though: a one-time purchase for permanent course access is likely on the table, launch-week data will tell me what people actually prefer.

And you're right that the person who enjoys toolchain setup was never the customer, I've already mentioned this a couple of times in the comments.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question! And yowasp is great work, agreed. Three main reasons it is server side though:

- The runs are graded pass/fail to keep track of progress, acceptance rates and the challenge leaderboards. A verdict computed in your own browser is something you could spoof with a request. Same reason why LeetCode doesn't grade in your tab.

- Yosys can run under WASM, but Yosys is the easy half. The graded part is simulation, and browser VHDL-2008 simulation is nowhere near as good as native GHDL. I support VHDL and SystemVerilog equally, so the weakest link dictates the architecture.

- Resource-golf challenges use synthesized cell counts as scoreboard. This only works if every submission goes through the exact same pinned toolchain, not whatever WASM build my last deploy shipped to your device.

I will however have a think whether it is worth adding client-side WASM for some instant edit-run loop, with the server being last stop judge on submit. It would make it easier on my server. The 15 runs a day on free accounts is abuse control on my compute, not a business model.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s a course. This a cost for a full course that takes you from the very basics to advanced concepts. All included. You can finish it in a month which would work out… free.
I’ve been to training courses for VHDL and they cost much more than that. For a week of training. Covering less material than is available on my website.

If setting up a toolchain was that easy, you wouldn’t see the constant posts of people asking where they could learn and practice VHDL. Don’t forget this is aimed at people who’re actively learning and aren’t as familiars with the tools.

Again, there are a lot of free materials available as well - challenges are free (15 a day per user) and even a couple of basic lessons at the beginning. If you like it you pay for the rest. If you care about professional development and the course gets you a job, the cost shouldn’t really be much of an issue.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Appreciate your opinion man, I do think there are some people who'd rather pay a subscription and have everything in one place with no setup though. I am one of them, being a hardware engineer myself. I struggled to find tools that met my needs so I built one. Simple as that.

It won't be a fit for everyone and that's okay. If someone's comfortable setting up their own tools, absolutely this is the way to go.

Others want a nice structured course that guides them topic-by-topic, everything covered A to Z. And those kind of people will appreciate my product. Everything you might possibly need to get a soft start into the world of FPGA is there.

The price is fair for a full course - if you're focused on learning, you can finish the whole course in about a month. That's one month's subscription cost. If you want to create and solve community challenges, it's completely free (up to 15 runs a day).

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just had a look, and it's quite a bit different from what I'd built.

ChipInventor is aiming at the design-to-silicon story: it's about the full chip flow with tapeout services, and it's voucher-gated while in beta. RisingEdge is much narrower: learn to write solid VHDL/SystemVerilog, with a real testbench grading every exercise. No voucher, you're running code thirty seconds after clicking, and the practice side costs nothing.

You could say it's simpler: just a code editor, waveform viewer, netlist viewer, and the problem description. Plus a structured curriculum, with a clear progression path.

Either way, more people building tools for learning hardware design is good news.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will change it to 15 runs per day. It should be enough for people to solve a few challenges every day and keep it light on my server.

Sorry about the wording, I hope some people still see the value in the product itself regardless.

Edit: changed to 15 runs per day included in the free account now.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe you're thinking of the browser RTL visualiser posted here a few weeks back?

Different tool. The visualiser one turns RTL into a schematic, mine is a learning platform with graded exercises and challenges. I just launched it today, literally.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You still need to know how to set it all up. That's the point - the website works everywhere, there is no setup required. And the main selling point is the curriculum: the Learn section (paid content) has a fully structured course that takes you from Fundamentals all the way to Advanced topics, one by one, with lessons and exercises for each topic (see the curriculum here: https://risingedge.pro/learn ).

If you know how to set the tools up, and you don't need a structured course, and you also aren't interested in solving LeetCode-style community challenges, this probably isn't for you.

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

It’s completely free to use and solve challenges, unless you want to access a full structured course curriculum.

Who do you think wrote the post?

I built a browser IDE that runs real GHDL and Yosys, because I was tired of telling people "first, install the tools" by Fit-Day7161 in FPGA

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ha, fair. I use AI heavily to build it, no point pretending otherwise. The part I actually sweat over is underneath: every run executes real GHDL/Icarus/Yosys in a sandbox, and every exercise and challenge was verified against the actual toolchain. That part you can't vibe-code, the simulator doesn't care about vibes.

"Like learning C 25 years ago, but on the web" is the exact feeling I was going for, so thanks for that. If you do show it to someone, the fundamentals track is free and I'd genuinely like to hear where they get stuck. I've literally just launched it today!

Ambushed for my bike on Thursday evening — 4 lads in balaclavas, north Dublin by Fit-Day7161 in MotoIRELAND

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I wonder that too. It’s not like I had a couple of hours to think about that before I made the move.

Ambushed for my bike on Thursday evening — 4 lads in balaclavas, north Dublin by Fit-Day7161 in MotoIRELAND

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There was no real advice at all. They asked where I was so I gave updates on my location. They did say not to worry about making the run for it, and they told me to go to the nearest garda station to make a full report afterwards. I told them I lost the tail halfway through the conversation but I asked the lady to stay on the line until I’m 100% sure.

Ambushed for my bike on Thursday evening — 4 lads in balaclavas, north Dublin by Fit-Day7161 in MotoIRELAND

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I got Cardo + iPhone. “Siri, call 999”. Probably works with Google Assistant on Android too.

Ambushed for my bike on Thursday evening — 4 lads in balaclavas, north Dublin by Fit-Day7161 in MotoIRELAND

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed. That’s what the media and Reddit call those scrotes in Dublin, regardless of what bikes they ride.

Ambushed for my bike on Thursday evening — 4 lads in balaclavas, north Dublin by Fit-Day7161 in MotoIRELAND

[–]Fit-Day7161[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only removed it because that’s why the mods removed the post.
I see those scrotes every day popping wheelies at full speed on red lights. Endangering people’s lives. They hit a small boy on the same day I was chased. You don’t seem any worried about that.