Editing Prototype (section)

=== Mechanical and electrical engineering ===

The most common use of the word prototype is a functional, although experimental, version of a non-military machine (e.g., automobiles, domestic appliances, consumer electronics) whose designers would like to have built by [[mass production]] means, as opposed to a [[mockup]], which is an inert representation of a machine's appearance, often made of some non-durable substance.

An electronics designer often builds the first prototype from [[breadboard]] or [[stripboard]] or [[perfboard]], typically using "DIP" packages.

However, more and more often the first functional prototype is built on a "prototype [[Printed circuit board|PCB]]" almost identical to the production PCB, as PCB manufacturing prices fall and as many components are not available in [[Dual in-line package|DIP]] packages, but only available in [[Surface-mount technology|SMT]] packages optimized for placing on a PCB.

Builders of military machines and aviation prefer the terms "experimental" and "service test".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upHlAAAAMAAJ|title=International Military Digest|last1=Willcox|first1=Cornélis De Witt|last2=Stuart|first2=Edwin Roy|date=1918|publisher=Cumulative digest corporation|language=en}}</ref>