Embarking on the Journey to FPGA Programming

As an electronic engineering student, I started by learning digital circuit design and programming languages, then moved on to more complex microcontroller hardware and software projects. We used languages like Assembler and PLM to manage the hardware components, which included an 8080 microprocessor connected to various digital and analog devices.

Later, I developed control systems for utilities and agricultural facilities using traditional CISC machines operating on a sequential instruction execution model. However, FPGA devices, which operate on a parallel data flow model, presented a new way of thinking and designing.

Driven by a curiosity to harness this power of parallel processing, I ventured into FPGA programming. My quest began at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, California, a hub where tech enthusiasts gather to exchange knowledge on programming, hardware development, and more. I attended several meetups there, including a Robot Arm Simulation workshop and a Verilog session focused on FPGA prototyping.

To kickstart my FPGA journey, I followed a familiar learning path—starting with the basics. I read Russell Merrick's "Getting Started with FPGAs" to grasp the core concepts and components of FPGAs. To master Verilog, the programming language for designing FPGA applications, I referred to the Verilog Reference Guide, which I found via a quick Google search.

Equipped with a DE10-Lite board from terasIC featuring an Altera FPGA, I dove into setting up my development environment. I installed the necessary software on a brand-new Windows 11 laptop and repurposed a MacPro by replacing macOS with Ubuntu 22.04.

My initial experiments were guided by resources like the System Verilog homework and basics-graphics-music repositories on GitHub. I improved my skills through several practice and learning sessions and prepared to create my first complete FPGA application. This journey from a student to a developer taught me the importance of community, structured learning, and hands-on experience in mastering new technological realms.