Does FPGA Programming is a new technology or old technology?
I imagine you're asking if FPGA's are outdated technology. Short answer: definately, not!
Modern FPGAs have an incredible processing power and are used frequently.
FPGA's have two main advantages:
1) You can design your own hardware to meet your specific needs, and you can change the architecture whenever you need it.
2) You can do a lot of processing in parallel, having plenty of circuits running at the same time. The total data throughput can be very high.
Microcontrollers also have 2 advantages:
1) Clock speed is usually higher making serial processing faster than in FPGAs but since you have only one processor, the total throughput is lower.
2) You don't have to worry about hardware and can focus simply on software, making things easier.
For FPGA simulation Modelsim is a good choice and they have student licenses which are free. Depending on which FPGAs you use, Xilinx or Altera, you can use Webpack ISE or Quartus respectively to "program" the FPGA, which are free as well.
For programming, there are 2 languages: Verilog and VHDL. Verilog is easier, VHDL is more robust. Both are good. If you don't know which to choose, toss a coin in the air. Personally, I prefer Verilog and I believe it is the most used language.
A good FPGA for begginer is either the Cyclone II from Altera or Spartan 3 from Xilinx. Both are good enough for beginner and medium advanced users and there are some cheap boards on Ebay (less than 40 dollars).