I am a hobbyist - not an electrical engineer. I have been wanting to use the MSP-430 line because of the cost, performance, and because I just like Texas Instruments.
I've found programming the MSP-430 to be confusing and unintuitive. I realize that I am not the target audience, but I'd still like to use the MSP430 line.
The Arduino, on the other hand, has a very easy to understand programming language. I can easily write sketches for it. Until I come up to speed on the MSP430, I will continue to use this language.
The other day, I was at 43oh.com, and I asked the question "How do I get from Arduino to MSP430". That thread is where I learned about Energia. The Energia team has ported the Arduino IDE and several libraries to work with the MSP430 hardware. You can now program the MSP430 just like an Arduino. I realize this may not be the ideal way to utilize the MSP430, but at least I can now use the chip in my projects, even while still ignorant of exactly how the chip works.
I'm curious to know what you guys and gals think about using this kind of crutch. To be honest the MSP430 code samples I have looked at look so cryptic, even though I have a novice understanding of C. Arduino sketches make sense to me.