TI Support Ecosystem
Run-Time Software
The MSP430, like most of TI’s microcontroller (MCU) platforms, is supported by a rich, layered
approach to foundational software.
Low-level C Header Files
Working our way up from the bottom, the MSP430 family provides a custom C language header
file (and linker command file) for each device. These header files provide symbols that define all
the various registers, pointers and bitfields found on ‘your’ device. Not only do they minimize the
number of times you’ll need to pour through the user guide and datasheet (to figure out
obsequious hex values), but they make your code more readable. We also hope that providing a
common set of symbols will make it easier to share and reuse code. Finally, since these files
primarily contain ‘definitions’, they don’t add any ‘bulk’ to your code. (We’ll discuss these files
further at the end of this chapter.)
MSP430ware (DriverLib)
MSP430ware is a collection of libraries, examples, and tools. We’ll examine many of these items
in the next chapter. What we want to call out here is the MSP430ware Driver Library – also
known as “DriverLib”.
MSP430ware DriverLib borrows heavily from the stellar TivaWare driver library that ships with
TI’s ARM Cortex-M4F devices. In each case, DriverLib provides a low-level abstraction layer that
makes writing code easier. MSP430ware even builds upon the ‘header’ file layer making it easier
to dig-thru the source code (which is provided) if you ever want to discover how an API is
implemented. Furthermore, it means you can easily mix-and-match DriverLib with ‘header’ file
code.
Our main goal is to help you improve the readability and maintenance of your ‘430 code; that
said, we also strive to keep the library as small and efficient as possible.
2 - 4 MSP430 Workshop - Programming C with CCS
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