Editing Breadboard (section)

== Alternatives ==

Alternative methods to create prototypes are [[point-to-point construction]] (reminiscent of the original wooden breadboards), [[wire wrap]], [[wiring pencil]], and boards like the [[stripboard]]. Complicated systems, such as modern computers comprising millions of [[transistor]]s, [[diode]]s, and [[resistor]]s, do not lend themselves to prototyping using breadboards, as their complex designs can be difficult to lay out and [[debug]] on a breadboard.

Modern circuit designs are generally developed using a [[schematic capture]] and simulation system, and tested in [[electronic circuit simulation|software simulation]] before the first prototype circuits are built on a [[printed circuit board]]. [[Integrated circuit]] designs are a more extreme version of the same process: since producing prototype silicon is costly, extensive software simulations are performed before fabricating the first prototypes. However, prototyping techniques are still used for some applications such as [[Radio frequency|RF]] circuits, or where software models of components are inexact or incomplete.

It is also possible to use a square grid of pairs of holes where one hole per pair connects to its row and the other connects to its column. This same shape can be in a circle with rows and columns each spiraling opposite clockwise/counterclockwise.