Here is a picture of the protoboard you will be using. You can see that it is made up of basically 5 sections. The left column, which has the letter ‘X’ written next to it, can be designated as the GND section. And the right column, which has the letter ‘Y’ written next to it can be designated as the +5V section. However, these designations aren't specific. For example the +5V and the GND can simply be a GND and/or power bus. The slots in the ‘X’ column are all connected together and the slots in the ‘Y’ column are all connected together. More details explained down below.
The next two sections contain 5 rows of connections (‘A’ – ‘E’) as well as rows (‘F’ – ‘J’), which are, connected to each other by the columns. Take a look at the diagram to the right. The red line indicates that anything inserted here are all connected to each other. However the red and green lines do not connect, nor does the blue line connect across the spaced bridge to the red or the green. To put it simply, *The rows are connected, the columns are not.
	Let’s now look at why or how these are connected the way they are. This is the underside of the protoboard with the sticky foam layer removed. You can see the goldish lines, which show the connections. The left and right most columns are connected as can be seen with the long vertical strips of gold. The 5 columns (‘A’ – ‘E’ or ‘F’– ‘J’) are connected to each other, which can be seen as well. However, you can see why the left block and the right blocks are not connected to each other since there is no gold connection and a gap in between the blocks.
WARNING! Using a protoboard is quite simple, however there still is some caution that needs to be taken when handling them. - Be careful about forcing too big of a wire into the holes. Doing so can "spring" the contacts thus making a loose hole. Wires then would not be able to connect very well into the holes. - Keep the back of the cover ON. DO NOT REMOVE THE BACK COVER! Removing it can cause a short if there is metal to metal contact on the surface.