The lecture begins with an introduction to FPGAs and their generic architecture. Programmability and its challenges are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the technology review and evolution of the FPGA is discussed in terms of capacity, performance, cost, and energy per operation. Moore’s Law and the world's first commercial FPGA, along with the differences between various FPGA generations, are also discussed, as well as the distinctions between FPGA and ASIC, FPGA and PAL, and the associated challenges of architectural innovation. The lecture concludes with a discussion on the future of FPGA.