There are lots of ways to use FPGAs. One way is to convert compute-bound software into hardware. This can increase speed and — in some cases — reduce power consumption. Typically, you’ll do this by writing in a subset of C, but Hastlayer can convert .NET assemblies into FPGA configurations with some limitations.
The Hungarian company behind Hastlayer claims they’ll eventually have to charge money for something but for now, the tool is free and they are promising to always have some free option. The interesting thing is that the .NET assemblies are essentially object code so you aren’t compiling source but rather an intermediate language that you can generate with many different language tools.
