user4638: I bought these rgb's from Sparkfun, however I have no idea how to hook them up or how to program them. Obviously the data sheet was somewhat helpful, however I have no idea how the IC's in the LED's work themselves or how to control them separately, or even how to string them together. My best guess is currently going for what the led's appear as in the example picture by connecting the first and last pins and putting the respective Vcc and ground pins to Vcc and ground. 
Is there any good examples for hooking these up and coding them, or a basic understandable explanation for how they work?
Thanks, I can't find a great resource yet.

user84: These are much different than "normal" RGB LED: they use the WS2812 chip, which is the same as the chip used in famous Adafruit "neopixels" strips, rings... 
Wiring is simple. For all LEDs:

GND to 0V
VDD to 5V

For the first LED (connected to Arduino):

DIN to any Arduino logical output pin
DOUT to the 2nd LED you want to address (on its DIN pin)

For all but the first LED:

DIN to the previous LED DOUT
DOUT to the next LED DIN (or left floating for the last LED)

Programming neopixel is quite hard because timing of sent commands must be very precise.
I highly suggest to use Adafruit libraries for that.

4638: <p>I bought <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12877" rel="nofollow">these</a> rgb's from Sparkfun, however I have no idea how to hook them up or how to program them. Obviously the <a href="https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/LED/COM-12877.pdf" rel="nofollow">data sheet</a> was somewhat helpful, however I have no idea how the IC's in the LED's work themselves or how to control them separately, or even how to string them together. My best guess is currently going for what the led's appear as in the example picture by connecting the first and last pins and putting the respective Vcc and ground pins to Vcc and ground. </p>

<p>Is there any good examples for hooking these up and coding them, or a basic understandable explanation for how they work?</p>

<p>Thanks, I can't find a great resource yet.</p>
 84: <p>These are much different than "normal" RGB LED: they use the <strong><a href="http://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/WS2812.pdf" rel="nofollow">WS2812</a></strong> chip, which is the same as the chip used in famous Adafruit "neopixels" strips, rings... </p>

<p>Wiring is simple. For all LEDs:</p>

<ul>
<li>GND to 0V</li>
<li>VDD to 5V</li>
</ul>

<p>For the first LED (connected to Arduino):</p>

<ul>
<li>DIN to any Arduino logical output pin</li>
<li>DOUT to the 2nd LED you want to address (on its DIN pin)</li>
</ul>

<p>For all but the first LED:</p>

<ul>
<li>DIN to the previous LED DOUT</li>
<li>DOUT to the next LED DIN (or left floating for the last LED)</li>
</ul>

<p>Programming neopixel is quite hard because timing of sent commands must be very precise.</p>

<p>I highly suggest to use <a href="https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NeoPixel" rel="nofollow">Adafruit libraries</a> for that.</p>
