user29868: I am getting started with project 01 on the Arduino starter kit. I'm facing an issue when wiring parts with long ends e.g. led & resistor. To make the simple circuit with led, resistor & switch work, I have to hold down the resistor & led, and then press the button. The parts don't connect well to the wires underneath the breadboard.
I want ask if someone could suggest how to better deal with such parts. On searching, I found people cut their parts short, but are there other approaches ?
Thanks.

user15180: Cutting them short is proven solution, but there is sometimes still problem with legs too thin to fit good.
Other, even more reliable, is to solder them to pinheader https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16_Pin_Header.jpg (just break away 2 or 3 pins depending on how many legs you need). Works even for SMD resistors and diodes https://divnoblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/005-odpor_1.jpg
Also you can use small piece of universal stripboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard / perfboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfboard, to solder anything on that and solder the pinheader under it. Works perfectly for switches etc.
(of course you can buy "modules" from any suplier, where is the part, maybe accompanied by one or two resistors or such, but the price is higher, than is you do it manually at home and there is not such wide range, as is in normal analog/digital parts, which you can solder to fit your needs)
The problem with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard is, that usually the holes are good just for the pinheader-sized legs (a lot of IC have the right dimensions too), while nearly any pasive/simple parts are much thinner and do not fit reliably. But for some fast playing with and non-critical application it is usually usable enough.

29868: <p>I am getting started with project 01 on the Arduino starter kit. I'm facing an issue when wiring parts with long ends e.g. led &amp; resistor. To make the simple circuit with led, resistor &amp; switch work, I have to hold down the resistor &amp; led, and then press the button. The parts don't connect well to the wires underneath the breadboard.</p>

<p>I want ask if someone could suggest how to better deal with such parts. On searching, I found people cut their parts short, but are there other approaches ?
Thanks.</p>
 15180: <p>Cutting them short is proven solution, but there is sometimes still problem with legs too thin to fit good.</p>

<p>Other, even more reliable, is to solder them to pinheader <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16_Pin_Header.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16_Pin_Header.jpg</a> (just break away 2 or 3 pins depending on how many legs you need). Works even for SMD resistors and diodes <a href="https://divnoblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/005-odpor_1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://divnoblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/005-odpor_1.jpg</a></p>

<p>Also you can use small piece of universal stripboard <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard</a> / perfboard <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfboard" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfboard</a>, to solder anything on that and solder the pinheader under it. Works perfectly for switches etc.</p>

<p>(of course you can buy "modules" from any suplier, where is the part, maybe accompanied by one or two resistors or such, but the price is higher, than is you do it manually at home and there is not such wide range, as is in normal analog/digital parts, which you can solder to fit your needs)</p>

<p>The problem with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard</a> is, that usually the holes are good just for the pinheader-sized legs (a lot of IC have the right dimensions too), while nearly any pasive/simple parts are much thinner and do not fit reliably. But for some fast playing with and non-critical application it is usually usable enough.</p>
