Recommended Books
Everything has a start and everyone has been a beginner.
There are great books to help you starting with Energia and designing elaborate projects with the LaunchPads.
Embedded computing mixes hardware and software. If electronics provides the common ground, each sensor relies on a specific scientific field —as light, sound, thermodynamics, robotics,... Also required, a background in data acquisition and processing, some programming skills, especially a knowledge of the C++ language!
At last, a book for the LaunchPad MSP430 with Energia!
Getting Started with the MSP430 Launchpad is specifically written for the LaunchPad MSP430 with Energia.
The book offers a step-by-step introduction to embedded computing with hands-on projects. Each chapter starts with a project, introduces the concepts and then discusses them. I really like the progressive approach and the 26 projects, from a blinking LED to a more complex musical instrument or message displayed on a LCD.
Although the Educational BoosterPack is the recommended companion for this book, schematics are provided for the corresponding breakout sensors on a breadboard. The book is fully illustrated with clear diagrams and schematics —alas in B&W.
A highly recommended book for starting with the MSP430 and Energia!
Second best option for an introduction to embedded computing is Getting Started with Arduino by Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino.
This book provides an introduction to Arduino and gives the basics. Although the book is intended primarily for the Arduino boards, Energia is a fork of Arduino and shares the same software, but with different hardware.
This was the first book I read on embedded computing.
For a more advanced exploration, Arduino Cookbook by Michael Margolis provides details on every aspect of software and hardware, describes elaborate projects, discuss different solutions, and provides useful tips and tricks.
I use this book as a reference for my projects.