Installer nvc avec Homebrew, Nix

Liens du projet

• Page d'accueil
• Dépôt
• Docs amont
• Page du gestionnaire de paquets

Commandes et alias

• nvc

Historique du projet

Nick Gasson wrote in 2011 about a VHDL compiler named `nvc`, and his GitHub Sponsors profile later described NVC as a spare-time Free Software VHDL compiler and simulator project he had worked on for 10 years. That small independent compiler has since grown into a maintained simulator with releases, Windows packaging, Homebrew/Nix packaging, verification-framework integration, and mixed-language work.

Historique d'adoption

NVC sits in the open HDL tooling ecosystem: not a synthesizer, but useful for compiling, elaborating, and running VHDL test benches. The README explicitly calls out support for OSVVM, UVVM, VUnit, and cocotb, which is the practical adoption surface for verification users. Homebrew analytics on 2026-07-01 showed 783 installs over 365 days, a modest but real signal for a specialized EDA tool.

Modes d'utilisation

The normal workflow is three commands: analyze source files into a work library with `nvc -a`, elaborate a top-level test bench with `nvc -e`, then run it with `nvc -r`. Users can combine those steps in one command for quick test-bench runs, install standard verification libraries, dump waveforms, and experiment with newer mixed VHDL/Verilog support when their designs fit the supported subset.

Pourquoi les passionnés de paquets s'y intéressent

NVC matters to package nerds because it is a compact, open HDL simulator that packages cleanly and complements heavier commercial simulators and GHDL. Its LLVM-native-code design also gives it a distinct performance story in the VHDL simulation niche.

Chronologie

• 2011-11-05: Nick Gasson publishes a post about writing a VHDL compiler named `nvc`.
• 2026-04-12: GitHub releases show NVC 1.20.0 with improved Verilog and mixed-language support.
• 2026-07-01: Homebrew lists NVC 1.21.1 with LLVM and zstd dependencies.

Related projects

• GHDL
• LLVM
• OSVVM
• UVVM
• VUnit
• cocotb

Sources

• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nvc
• https://github.com/nickg/nvc
• https://github.com/nickg/nvc/releases
• https://github.com/sponsors/nickg
• https://www.doof.me.uk/2011/11/05/writing-a-vhdl-compiler/
• https://www.nickg.me.uk/nvc/manual.html