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I get some comments like this: “All the other FPGA boards have loads of blinking LEDs. And they have bunches of buttons and switches! My XuLA board has nothing!”

Now when you learned how to ride a bike, you might have started out using training wheels. These were helpful – they let you get experience with the bike without getting hurt (unless your parents push you out in a busy street – but that's another story). But after a while, you couldn't wait to get rid of those training wheels. Wherever you went, they just screamed out: “I'm a bike-riding noob! Come give me a wedgie!” But the worst part was they got in the way; you couldn't get any speed up because those training wheels were dragging on the ground. Luckily, they weren't welded to the bike and you could take them off. Then you could use the bike for what it was for: getting you from here to there faster and easier than being on foot.

LEDs and buttons are similar to training wheels: good when getting started, but a hindrance after that. <<more...>>