The MSP430 is a popular family of microcontrollers from Texas Instruments. In this book we will work with the smallest type, which is the powerful MSP430G2553. We will look at the capabilities of this microcontroller in detail, as it is well-suited for self-made projects because it is available in a P-DIP20 package. We will take a closer look at the microcontroller and then build, step by step, some interesting applications, including a "Hello World" blinking LED and a nice clock application, which can calculate the day of the week based on the date. You also will learn how to create code for the MSP microcontroller in assembler. In addition to that, we will work with the MSP-Arduino IDE, which makes it quite easy to create fast applications without special in-depth knowledge of the microcontrollers. All the code used in the book is available for download at www.elektor.com/20112.