Blocks, abstraction and modularity

Blocks, abstraction and modularity

􀂃Multiplexers are common enough that we often want to treat them as abstract units or black boxes, as symbolized by our block diagrams.

—Block symbols make circuit diagrams simpler, by hiding the internal implementation details. You can use a device without knowing howit’s designed, as long as you know what it does.

—Different multiplexer implementations should be interchangeable.

—Circuit blocks also aid hardware re-use, since you don’t have to keep building a multiplexer from scratch every time you need one.

􀂃These blocks are similar to functions in programming languages!