to keep up with the unprecedented demand for products that include vlsi circuits, the engineers qualified and knowledgeable in this area will need to expand exponentially. meeting this demand will require advances in material science, processing equipment, and the effective utilization of computer-aided design. more importantly, it will need a significant number of qualified and talented individuals to become involved in this ultra-complicated task. this book was written to arm these individuals with the essential knowledge they need to get into this exciting field and to help those already in it achieve a higher level of proficiency. few people truly understand how a large chip is developed, but an understanding of the whole process is necessary to appreciate the importance of each part of it and to understand the process from concept to silicon. it will teach readers how to become better engineers through a practical approach of diagnosing and attacking real-world problems.