Convertible Debentures and Revolving Credit Facility (Details Textual) (USD $) Share data in Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Apr. 02, 2011	Apr. 03, 2010	Jul. 03, 2010 2.625% Senior Convertible Debentures [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 2.625% Senior Convertible Debentures [Member] Y	Apr. 02, 2011 2.625% Senior Convertible Debentures [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 2.625% Senior Convertible Debentures [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 2.625% Senior Convertible Debentures [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 3.125% Debentures [Member] Y	Dec. 31, 2011 3.125% Debentures [Member]	Apr. 02, 2011 3.125% Debentures [Member]	Mar. 31, 2007 3.125% Debentures [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of convertible debentures					$ 600,000,000	$ 600,000,000		$ 600,000,000	$ 689,635,000		$ 689,635,000	$ 1,000,000,000
Interest rate of debentures	3.125%	2.625%			2.625%				3.125%			3.125%
Debt outstanding in principal amount									689,600,000
Fair value of debentures					810,800,000				877,900,000
Conversion rate of convertible debentures per $1 thousand principal amount					33.0164				33.5468
Base conversion block amount of senior convertible debenture					1,000
Base conversion block amount of junior convertible debenture									1,000
Effective conversion price of debentures					$ 30.29				$ 29.81
Proceeds from selling of interest rate swaps							30,200,000
Common stock repurchased	219,638,000	468,943,000	149,997,000	433,300,000
LIBOR interest rate reduction					0.2077%
Fair value of hedge items							29,900,000
Maximum number of shares to be purchased by Xilinx under call option					19.8
Price per share of common stock to be purchased by Xilinx under call option					$ 30.29
Aggregate amount to purchase call options		112,319,000			112,300,000
Maximum number of shares to be purchased by the counterparties					19.8
Price per share of common stock to be purchased by counter parties under warrants					$ 42.91
Proceeds from sale of warrants		46,908,000			46,900,000
Net amount paid to hedge counterparties related to call options	65,400,000
Tax benefit related to call option	41,700,000
Carrying value of derivative									1,446,000		1,504,000
Line of credit facility period										5 years
Maximum borrowing capacity of revolving credit facility										250,000,000
Net proceeds from issuance of debentures		587,644,000			587,600,000
Debt issuance cost					12,400,000
Period of amortization of debt issuance cost (in years)					7 years				30 years
Frequency of interest payment					semiannually				semiannually
Date of commencement of interest payment					December 15,2010				September 15,2007
Effective interest rate of debentures					5.75%				7.20%
Net interest amount earned from interest rate swaps					5,000,000
Maximum percentage of contingent interest that will accrue, per year									0.50%
Change in fair value of interest rate swap				268,000
Remaining term of amortization of debt discount, in years					5.2				25
Percentage of purchase price of principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest on purchase of debentures					100.00%				100.00%
Condition to redeem all or remaining debentures on or after March 15, 2014									if the closing price of the Company’s common stock has been at least 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days during any 30 consecutive trading-day period prior to the date on which the Company provides notice of redemption.
Minimum closing price of common stock as percentage of conversion price									130.00%
Number of minimum trading days for closing price of common stock									20 days
Number of consecutive trading days for closing price of common stock									30 days
Convertible Debentures and Revolving Credit Facility (Textual) [Abstract]
Borrowings under credit facility during the period	$ 0