DIP switches are manual electric switches

Switch

In electronics, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another....

 that are packaged in a group in a standard dual in-line package

Dual in-line package

In microelectronics, a dual in-line package is an electronic device package with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of electrical connecting pins. The package may be through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board or inserted in a socket.A DIP is usually referred to as a DIPn, where n is...

 (DIP) (the whole package unit may also be referred to as a DIP switch in the singular). This type of switch is designed to be used on a printed circuit board

Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

 along with other electronic

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

 components and is commonly used to customize the behavior of an electronic device for specific situations.

DIP switches are an alternative to jumper

Jumper (computing)

In electronics and particularly computing, a jumper is a short length of conductor used to close a break in or bypass part of an electrical circuit...

 blocks.