Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are a very different to a regular microcontroller board. With a microcontroller you have control over is the software, the code that runs on the chip, but with an FPGA you start with a blank slate and design the circuit rather than write the code that runs on it. There is no processor to run software, at least not until you design it.
If you are interested in learning more about digital logic design, for sure you have to take a look at this new development board created by 1BitSquared called the iCEBreaker FPGA. It is currently available on Crowd Supply for $69.
The iCEBreaker FPGA is built around the Lattice iCE40UP5k FPGA, capable of hosting CPU soft cores such as picorv32, picosoc, and RISC-V. It has an on-board FPGA programmer and USB-to-serial adaptor compatible with IceStorm’s programming tools.
To read more, please visit: https://www.open-electronics.org/icebreaker-fpga-development-board-specifically-designed-for-you/.