Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) in heterogeneous computing have been attracting more and more attention due to its customizability and reconfigurability. Development of acceleration systems based on FPGAs involves the cooperation of both hardware and software developers. Building the systems by integrating software part and hardware part that are developed by independent tool chains introduces steep learning curve and difficulties in testing and deployment, thus preventing rapid prototyping. It has been a long academic history on how to make hardware design benefit from the progress in software engineering and software programming languages. This article will first present a survey on the design of development tools for hardware or hardware acceleration systems, and then will show the work of authors. Finally, a conclusion is drawn and the future prospect is discussed.