concept breadboard in category javascript

This is an excerpt from Manning's book JavaScript on Things: Hacking hardware for web developers. Login to get full access to this book.

A development board helps, but we’re still left with a number of loose wires and components. To help corral this, hardware developers use a prototyping tool called a breadboard (figure 1.6) to lay out circuits in physical space.

Figure 1.6. A breadboard provides an electrically connected grid on which to prototype electronic circuits.

In figure 3.16, the button is connected to a breadboard, oriented such that the “always-connected” pins span the notch in the middle. That means the top row’s highlighted connections are always connected electrically, as are those highlighted in the bottom row. While the button is inactive (not pressed), the two rows are isolated from each other. When the button is pressed, however, a connection is made between the top and bottom pins on the button’s left side, and the top and bottom pins on its right side. The effect is that both highlighted rows are electrically connected to each other while the button is pressed.

Figure 3.16. A push button connected to a breadboard, spanning the center notch. When not pressed, the pairs of pins at the top and bottom of the button are connected electrically (horizontally). When pressed and held, the pairs of pins on the left and right sides of the button are electrically connected (vertically).

3.2.1. Using breadboards to prototype circuits

Breadboards for prototyping circuits are solderless, meaning you can stick things right into the board without any need for solder. They come in various shapes and sizes but are consistent in how the board’s connections are wired. Figure 3.10 shows the layout of a half-size breadboard (full-size breadboards are like two half-sized breadboards connected end to end; they’re twice as long).