How FPGAs work, and why people will buy them (2013)
> FPGAs are a programmable platform, but one designed by EEs for EEs rather than for programmers.<p>This is the problem with FPGAs. Their performance and utility is not really disputed. Working with them is so un-ergonomic that it's frankly embarrassing.<p>The EE world is notoriously closed/proprietary making it incredibly difficult to explore novelty or customize tooling to suit specific needs. The situation is reminiscent of the pre-gcc era proprietary C compilers. Sure synthesis / place and route are much harder problems than compiling to machine code but I would guess that fact amplifies the need.<p>One can't really expect software's current development comfort without acknowledging its driving force (GNU/the free software movement).