Soldering terminology

Also used in its abbreviated form, as PCB. The insulating base material, the upper or inner surface(s) of which is used for creating and mounting a conductive pattern made of electrically conductive materials, according to the circuit structure, is referred to as interconnection board or printed wiring board (PWB), while the circuit board fitted with electronic components is known as a printed circuit board (PCB). As part of the efforts for downsizing and streamlining the printed circuits, a trend is developing for PCBs which are (1) flexible, (2) multilayered, (3) fine - patterned, and (4) populated in surface mount. In practice, PCBs are often simply referred to as circuit boards.