 Electronic circuit. An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and piods, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. To be referred to as electronic, rather than electrical, generally at least one active component must be present. The combination of components and wires allows various simple and complex operations to be performed, signals can be amplified, computations can be performed, and data can be moved from one place to another. Circuits can be constructed of discrete components connected by individual pieces of wire, but today it is much more common to create interconnections by photolithographic techniques on a laminated substrate the printed circuit board or PCB and soldered the components to these interconnections to create a finished circuit. In an integrated circuit or IC, the components and interconnections are formed on the same substrate, typically as a male conductor such as silicon or less commonly gallium bar snide. An electronic circuit can usually be categorized as an analog circuit, a digital circuit, or a mixed signal circuit a combination of analog circuits and digital circuits. Breadboards, perf boards, and strip boards are common for testing new designs. They allow the designer to make quick changes to the circuit during development.