DIP/DIL Components

Many electronic components you will use for your experiments come in a Dual In-Line Package (DIP). Occasionally, they are also referred to as DIL (Dual In-Line), which means the same thing. With their easily identifiable pins, these packages are ideal for building circuits on a breadboard.

Components are typically labeled as DIPn or DILn, where n represents the total number of pins. For example, a DIP14 component has two rows with seven pins each. The numbering of these pins follows a standard convention, which is illustrated using two examples…

A close up of a DIP8 (Dual-In Package).
A DIP8 (Dual-In Package).
A digram illustrating the standard pin numbering of a DIP-8 package
Pin Numbering of a DIP-8 Package.
A close up of a DIP14 (Dual-In Package).
A DIP14 (Dual-In Package).
A digram illustrating the standard pin numbering of a DIP-14 package
Pin Numbering of a DIP-14 Package

Here is a short list of common components that use DIP packages:

Integrated Circuits (ICs)
This is the most common use. Many widely used ICs—especially older designs or those popular with hobbyists—are available in DIP form. Examples include:

  • Logic gates (e.g., 74LS series, CD4000 series)
  • Microcontrollers
  • Operational amplifiers (op-amps) (e.g., LM741, TL082)
  • Timers (e.g., 555 timer IC)
  • Voltage regulators (e.g., 78xx series)

DIP switches (Miniature switches)

LED arrays (Such as numeric or bar-graph displays)

The ease of handling DIP components—especially for manual assembly, breadboard work, and prototyping—continues to make them a popular choice for these applications, even though surface-mount technology (SMT) dominates mass production.