Is The Bsl Necessary For Programming A Msp430F5529?

Hi everyone,

I've recently been put on to the MSP430F5529, which has built in support for USB. I've always wanted to do something with USB, so I've started a bare-minimum design, i.e. enough to get the micro working and programmable. 

However, I've got a question: is the boot strap loader (BSL) necessary to program the microcontroller?

Alternatively, if there's a bare minimum reference to help get started with please point me at it

Thanks for your help,

Frazer