A basic lack of expertise did not stop us from drawing up and saving some very basic circuits. Logisim has all kinds of tools to help, such as built-in libraries and simulation options. There is a very simple, intuitive setup that involves starting a project, dragging and dropping the various elements of your circuit onto the board, and then drawing connecting wires from point to point. Selecting any tool or object displays its name and properties in a small grid beneath the tree view. A small tree view offers folders for Wiring, Gates, Plexers, Arithmetic, Memory, Input/Output, and Base. The toolbar is filled with icons that represent logical operators such as AND or NOT tools for adding pins and other components and tools for adding text, shapes, and such. Logisim's compact, efficient interface is dominated by the pegboard main view.

You can use it to create simple circuits and use them to build more complex circuits.Īs a portable application, Logisim runs as soon as you click on its program file, so you can store the program on a portable drive or storage medium and run it on any Windows PC without having to install it. Logisim is simple enough to use as an educational tool for learning the basics of logic circuits, but it can also simulate sophisticated processing pathways. It lets you map out simulated logic circuits such as CPUs using preconfigured elements such as AND, OR, and NOT gates plexers memory and wiring, including a tool for drawing color-coded wiring harnesses that simplify programming and debugging.

Carl Burch's Logisim may be compact, totally portable, and free, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most useful pieces of educational software we've seen yet.

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