[robomartin]

Well, we might have to disagree. Implying that it is just a matter of math is almost like saying that any programmer could just walk in the shoes of an EE by just doing some math. Which, of course, isn't even remotely true.

I have a high-school age kid. I taught him Java, C and chunks of PHP. He's already written a half dozen simple games. All of that in about a year of sporadic time. Now I am gettimg him started in electronics. The road ahead is far more difficult than learning to program in any language. Buying Arduinos isn't knowing electronics. There's a vast difference between using an Arduino and designing one. And, BTW, that's relatively simple embedded stuff.

I am not saying that a talented software guy can't learn to design with FPGA's. Not at all. Talented driven people can do anything with enough motivation. All I am saying is that EE doesn't magically turn into software development just because one is using an FPGA. Examples of the complexity and range of disciplines required abound, things like thermal design, signal and power integrity are disciplines in and of themselves that are often the domain of specialized EE's in design teams. The first time I laid out a design with clocks ranging from tens of MHz to GHz, as an EE with excellent command of the science behind the task at hand, it took me months to get it right. That had to work perfectly before my FPGA design and embedded code had even the slightest chance of making the board go.

[lkozma]

I don't think he meant that EE is just a matter of math, but rather that branching out into EE can be thought of as analogous to branching out into math.