<s>
The	O
Electric	B-Algorithm
VLSI	I-Algorithm
Design	I-Algorithm
System	I-Algorithm
is	O
an	O
EDA	O
tool	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
by	O
Steven	O
M	O
.	O
Rubin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electric	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
construct	O
logic	O
wire	O
schematics	B-Application
and	O
to	O
perform	O
analysis	O
of	O
integrated	O
circuit	O
layout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
handle	O
hardware	O
description	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
VHDL	B-Language
and	O
Verilog	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
has	O
many	O
analysis	O
and	O
synthesis	O
tools	O
,	O
including	O
design	O
rule	O
checking	O
,	O
simulation	O
,	O
routing	B-Algorithm
,	O
Layout	O
vs.	O
Schematic	B-Application
,	O
logical	O
effort	O
,	O
and	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electric	O
is	O
written	O
in	O
Java	B-Device
,	O
and	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
project	I-Application
in	O
1998	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
other	O
systems	O
that	O
design	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
(	O
ICs	O
)	O
by	O
manipulating	O
polygons	O
on	O
different	O
layers	O
of	O
the	O
wafer	O
,	O
Electric	O
views	O
IC	O
layout	O
as	O
connected	O
circuitry	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
way	O
schematic	B-Application
capture	O
systems	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
advantage	O
is	O
that	O
circuits	O
are	O
always	O
extracted	O
,	O
so	O
analyses	O
that	O
need	O
to	O
know	O
the	O
topology	O
(	O
Layout	O
vs.	O
Schematic	B-Application
,	O
simulation	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
by	O
presenting	O
a	O
schematic-capture-like	O
user	O
interface	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
offers	O
a	O
uniform	O
user	O
experience	O
for	O
both	O
IC	O
layout	O
and	O
schematic	B-Application
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
during	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
Electric	O
was	O
distributed	O
for	O
free	O
to	O
universities	O
and	O
sold	O
by	O
Applicon	O
as	O
"	O
Bravo3VLSI	O
"	O
during	O
the	O
mid	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
,	O
Electric	O
Editor	O
Incorporated	O
was	O
founded	O
to	O
sell	O
Electric	O
,	O
and	O
starting	O
in	O
1998	O
it	O
is	O
distributed	O
as	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
by	O
the	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
and	O
by	O
Static	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
starting	O
in	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
development	O
moved	O
to	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
2003	O
the	O
original	O
C	B-Language
version	O
of	O
Electric	O
was	O
discontinued	O
in	O
favour	O
of	O
a	O
Java	B-Device
version	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
completed	O
in	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
