printed circuit is a pattern of conductors (corresponding to the wiring of an electronic circuit) formed on a board of insulating material, such as a phenolic, by photo-etching, silk-screening of metallic paint, or by the use of pressure-sensitive preforms. The leads or pins of discrete components are soldered to the printed metal lines at the proper places in the circuit, or the components can be formed along with the conductors.

printed-circuit board is usually copper-clad plastic board used to make a printed circuit.

Breadboarding allows circuits to be assembled and altered quickly. Breadboarding uses discrete components to build a circuit. Virtual breadboarding uses the computer to build and test the circuit without any analog components.

Breadboard is a perforated board, a chassis, or any basic framework on which electronic components can be mounted and quickly wired for the preliminary test of a circuit. It is so called because the first such foundation units of this sort actually were wooden breadboards or any preproduction electronic prototype circuit. A breadboard is a solderless device for temporary prototype with electronics and test circuit designs. Most electronic components in electronic circuits can be interconnected by inserting their leads or terminals into the holes and then making connections through wires where appropriate.

Perfboard is a material for prototyping electronic circuits (also called DOT PCB). It is a thin, rigid sheet with holes pre-drilled at standard intervals across a grid, usually a square grid of 2.54 mm (0.1 in) spacing. These holes are ringed by round or square copper pads, though bare boards are also available. Inexpensive perfboard may have pads on only one side of the board, while better quality perfboard can have pads on both sides (plate-through holes). Since each pad is electrically isolated, the builder makes all connections with either wire wrap or miniature point to point wiring techniques. Discrete components are soldered to the prototype board such as resistors, capacitors, and integrated circuits. The substrate is typically made of paper laminated with phenolic resin (such as FR-2) or a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy laminate (FR-4).