Karnaugh map importance!

[Altera_Forum]

Actually i'm introducing myself on the design of Aplication Specified and Logic Functions with an FPGA of Altera Cyclone III and my cuestion is about the iportance of the Karnaugh map, when i think in the method more efficient to program a logic in a FPGA Quartus have megafunction is not more easy with this symbols?

[Altera_Forum]

Karnaugh maps are a thing of the past. In the old days when logic design and optimization was done by hand, combinational circuits could be minimized using Karnaugh maps and Boolean algebra. These days, the software tools take care of all such optimizations so useless knowledge to have, really.

[Altera_Forum]

I do not think knowing K-maps and other hand optimizations is useless when synthesis engines can do this for you. Blindly letting your tools do all your work for you can sometimes make you a lazy designer so having an understanding of hand optimizations is still a good thing if you ask me.  

 K-maps when you draw them out also give you a good idea how FPGAs implement combinational logic since FPGAs implement combinational logic this using lookup tables. Often the optimizations that you perform by hand using K-maps isn't needed in FPGAs since the FPGA lookup tables implement every combination of an output signal of the function.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I do not think knowing K-maps and other hand optimizations is useless when synthesis engines can do this for you. Blindly letting your tools do all your work for you can sometimes make you a lazy designer so having an understanding of hand optimizations is still a good thing if you ask me.    K-maps when you draw them out also give you a good idea how FPGAs implement combinational logic since FPGAs implement combinational logic this using lookup tables. Often the optimizations that you perform by hand using K-maps isn't needed in FPGAs since the FPGA lookup tables implement every combination of an output signal of the function.  --- Quote End ---      Thank's BadOmen,  Is a good perspective, because if we think in the logic for implement something in a FPGA we need first consider the logic, the method (Karnaugh Maps, Combinational Logic, Tautology, Algrebra), Otherwise the machine think for us! , and it's not the objective.

[Altera_Forum]

And when the machines starting thinking for us then the Terminator starts time traveling and making a mess of everything :)

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  And when the machines starting thinking for us then the Terminator starts time traveling and making a mess of everything :)  --- Quote End ---    Maybe we'll be some like pets or puppets of the Machines! :p