I would also add then that assembly language is not as powerful or flexible as VHDL. C is a high-level programming language not unlike, say, Fortran, and its p

I would also add then that assembly language is not as powerful or flexible as VHDL. C is a high-level programming language not unlike, say, Fortran, and its power and flexibility is in expressing calculations and concepts rather than in representing the architecture of a particular processor or in how well-optimized the generated machine code is; compilers are very good at both, and, frankly, they should be expected to do a better job than a human could in a reasonable time - especially when code is still in flux or needs to be refactored.