What is the difference between RTL (Register Transfer Level) and gate-level design?

RTL (Register Transfer Level) design describes the behavior and data flow of a digital system using registers and logical operations at a high level of abstraction. It focuses on how data moves between registers and how operations are performed on that data. Gate-level design, on the other hand, represents the circuit in terms of individual logic gates and their interconnections, providing a detailed and lower-level view of the circuit’s implementation. RTL design is used for initial design and verification, while gate-level design is used for detailed implementation and optimization.