So, at this point, I think most of us know what an ASIC is. Even the super-noobs. At this point, I'm at the stage of "almost not a noob".

Application Specific Integrated Circuit. It can only do one thing... But it can do that thing, REALLY well.

From what I've learned, it would seem that FPGA is kind of the gateway to ASIC's. Or so it seems. And FPGA's seem to always come after ASIC's, so that'd make sense. You have to design the ASIC before it's an ASIC, right? Anyway... It would seem that there are people with FPGA's mining X11. Or so I've heard... So it makes me wonder... With the proper learning/knowhow, can the "average Joe" use FPGA this way?

I wonder this, because I've started getting a little into programming lately. I'm still extremely new to it, so I'm not holding my breath, but... What I'm asking is, can any algorithm be mined with FPGA with the proper programming/design of the device? It happened to Sha-256, it SEEMS to be happening with X11, and it may very well have happened to Scrypt, but I'm not sure.

I remember a very long time ago, hearing of a dude with a few boards getting MASSIVE hashrates WELL before ASICs came out. So it makes me wonder, if with the proper resources, an FPGA can be configured for anything?

Does FPGA's capability have anything do with an ASIC, in actuality? Or is it it's own independent thing? See, I thought that ASIC was merely an evolution of a congifured FPGA. The FPGA was basically the prototype, then the ASIC can be produced. But like I said, I'm far from even being intermediate, let alone an expert.

What do you guys think about this?