[hgomersall]

We use the python based myhdl extensively and are very successful in writing hdl for fpga that has vanishingly few bugs. The reason why myhdl makes this possible is that testing is relatively trivial, so we use it properly (i.e. everywhere). You're right that it doesn't solve the hard problem, and discipline is needed around things like clocks, but it does enable modern development techniques and when writing RTL, HDL is very amenable to extensive tests to quash bugs.

[incrudible]

I am always suspicious about entrenched people claiming that this or that is not the hard part. Maybe that is true, but it can still be tedious or error prone, and this is most obvious to someone who is still bothered by it, whereas the old guard is already numb to it.