HDL and VHDL??

[Wond3rboy]

i wanted to know what hdl and vhdl are and what are the devices that use them?also can we like practice using it at home with some device thats not expensive.

 

[Sceadwian]

Xilinx has a very nice free development package for their FPGA chips available on their website for free which includes simulation software for you to get your feet wet. Boards using Xilinx and similar FPGAs will start at around 80-100 dollars (US) and go up from there depending on complexity and peripherals. Xilinx uses VHDL. HDL is just a generic term for hardware description language. VHDL is a specific implementation, Verilog is another. VHDL and Verilog are used to program FPGAs and other programmable logic devices. Large FPGAs are capable of being programmed to do just about anything your mind can come up with right external drive circuitry. Programming them isn't so easy =)