Discrete switch
Provided by the ASK Keyboard Dictionary
Aka/also known as: individual switch, modular switch
A discrete keyswitch is one that is modular so it can be added or removed to a supporting keyboard with at most some soldering, is self-contained, and can easily be made to operate on its own. Alps SKCx/SKBx, Cherry MX, etc. style switches are considered "discrete". A good indicator of when a switch is discrete is when it's possible to take one and wire a simple circuit onto its metal legs, which is possible with the aforementioned designs. Switches that rely on a membrane assembly or a pad card are generally not discrete since (while some components of the switch might be removable) their form of sensing is usually something shared by all keys on the keyboard - what remains of any removable part of the switch is useless unless the sensor and likely some form of keyboard frame comes with it (which would then render all the other keys useless). This is why despite having largely discrete parts, IBM beam spring and capacitive buckling spring switches are not considered discrete since the pad card used for sensing is one large component shared by all.
