user9842: I just watched this excellent video tutorial that shows a simple Arduino program that toggles an LED via a pushbutton. Very cool!
In the video, the author is using a breadboard for prototyping his circuit. What's the next "step up" from this? In other words, say I get my breadboard circuit working perfectly, is it now time to create a PCB? If my understanding of circuitry is correct, this is not a trivial process. I would need a CAD program to design my circuit, and it would likely be very expensive to get the design actually fabricated. At least too expensive for simple hobby purposes. Is there a middle ground between breadboard and PCB?

user6740: You can build your project on stripboard (aka Veroboard, which is a particular brand). The wiki page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard covers most of the salient points - it is essentially a generic PCB. You can cut tracks, either with a knife, or a specialized tool, and you can solder your parts on to the tracks.
They come in various configurations - my personal preference is just straight strips - and you can cut them to size with a hacksaw.
If your project is non-trivial, you might still like to spend some time working out a decent layout. There are free, and not quite free, products to help you - I use Kicad, which is free & opensource, there are many others.
I have also used stripboard to group a few components together - for example, 2 7-segment displays and two SIPO chips to run them - this can then be a "component" for future bread-board projects.

9842: <p>I just watched this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LCCGFSMOr4" rel="nofollow">excellent video tutorial</a> that shows a simple Arduino program that toggles an LED via a pushbutton. Very cool!</p>

<p>In the video, the author is using a breadboard for prototyping his circuit. What's the next "step up" from this? In other words, say I get my breadboard circuit working perfectly, is it now time to create a PCB? If my understanding of circuitry is correct, this is <em>not</em> a trivial process. I would need a CAD program to design my circuit, and it would likely be very expensive to get the design actually fabricated. At least too expensive for simple hobby purposes. <strong>Is there a middle ground between breadboard and PCB?</strong></p>
 6740: <p>You can build your project on stripboard (aka Veroboard, which is a particular brand). The wiki page at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard</a> covers most of the salient points - it is essentially a generic PCB. You can cut tracks, either with a knife, or a specialized tool, and you can solder your parts on to the tracks.</p>

<p>They come in various configurations - my personal preference is just straight strips - and you can cut them to size with a hacksaw.</p>

<p>If your project is non-trivial, you might still like to spend some time working out a decent layout. There are free, and not quite free, products to help you - I use Kicad, which is free &amp; opensource, there are many others.</p>

<p>I have also used stripboard to group a few components together - for example, 2 7-segment displays and two SIPO chips to run them - this can then be a "component" for future bread-board projects.</p>
