If you haven’t done any debugging with microcontroller programs [Kphlight] posted a follow-along guide for debugging MSP430 chips. You can see above that he’s using the TI Launchpad and has chosen the free (but code limited) IAR Embedded Workbench that is one of the IDE’s that TI provides for the kit. The example builds a Pomodoro timer with just five LEDs and one resistor. You’ll flash the code to the chip, step through each line of the firmware, and learn how to manipulate register data during code execution.

It’s a great primer for the uninitiated, and we’d love to see one using open-source tools like DDD and GDB. If you do write one, don’t forget to send us a tip about it. If you want to give open source a try with this hardware check out our own tutorial.