Why Gowin boards work well for first FPGA labs: compact Tang boards, usable documentation, and an open tooling context.
Company
YosysHQ
Team around Yosys, nextpnr, SBY, and OSS CAD Suite.
YosysHQ maintains open-source tools often used in FPGA flows with nextpnr and Verilator.
For FPGA.camp it is a baseline source for open synthesis and tooling coverage.
Journal
Yosys, nextpnr, Verilator, and LiteX as a baseline map for open FPGA tooling.
News
Yosys is a baseline open-source framework for Verilog RTL synthesis and formal-related flows.
nextpnr supports multiple FPGA families, including Gowin through Project Apicula.