When to avoid using a breadboard
Areas where the common breadboard does poorly:
- High voltage
- High frequency (above 10MHz)
- Where the additional breadboard capacitance would present problems (oscillators, etc)
- Where glitches due to poor wire connections would result in poor operation
- Where most of the parts are not through hole 0.1" (2.54mm) centers
- For anything but on-the-bench prototyping (ie, don't take it out of the lab and expect it to work)
- Sensitive analog electronics, such as sensor usage
Perhaps a better way to phrase the question would be when IS it ok to use a breadboard. I'd say if the following cases are true it's probably ok to use a breadboard.
- Rapid prototyping (not built to last)
- Few connections external to the breadboard
- Mostly thru-hole components
- Low voltage <= 12VDC
- Low frequency <= 10Mhz
There are a few exceptions for example you can have more external connections if you use cables with multiple wires and good thru-hole style connectors like ribbon cables. Don't try running lots of jumper wires from the breadboard to other devices or you will spend lots of time checking for broken connections. Many SMD -> thru-hole adaptor boards are available online that will allow you to use SMD parts with a breadboard. This also helps with the frequency issues as the clock circuit can be built on the SMD board while only the low frequency analog/digital circuits are passed to the breadboard.
- When you want to use surface mount parts
- When you want something that won't fall apart
- When you've only got one breadboard...
I use breadboards to help with circuit design, then make a PCB at home when I'm confident.
For surface mount parts, I often make adapter boards which can go into a breadboard.