Looking for a "basic" LED primer

I made my first post here a while ago and it vanished. Probably my fault ipad acts up.
So here I am giving this another try.

Im trying to learn the basics of working with LEDs for a couple projects.
Eventually I want to learn more but for now I dont need to become an LED guru.

The problem is, every page I find goes into depth, led history, how theyre made, every little detail.

ATM I just want to know things like...

What are those white peg boards called that you attach LEDs to and how do you work with them?

How do you calculate your power?

What else do you need in the way of parts, example to connect your power source to the LEDs?

I want to mainly work with the large square CREE LEDs, are there special considerations for these?

Thanks!

Still searching and I cant find anything that really cuts to the meat of how to work with LEDs.

What are those white peg boards called that you attach LEDs to and how do you work with them?-- I'm assuming that you are talking about solderless bread boards. Useful for prototyping circuits, but not much use for high power LEDs.

How do you calculate your power? -- Power = Voltage * Current. In the case of LEDs (when using the right driver), the current is constant, and the voltage is varied depending on the needs of LEDs. All LEDs will have a datasheet that will show the approximate forward voltage for a given current. This will allow you to ballpark the power requirements of your LED setup.

What else do you need in the way of parts, example to connect your power source to the LEDs? -- You will need an LED driver and a heatsink at the minimum. Depending on the LED driver, you may need an additional power supply, and if the driver is dimmable, you may need some additional circuitry to control it. This will vary with the LED driver. For the driver itself, you want to use a constant current LED driver. This will give you the highest reliability. There are constant voltage type LED drivers, but I'd avoid them for lower voltage setups (constant voltage drivers are good for long strings of LEDs).

I want to mainly work with the large square CREE LEDs, are there special considerations for these? -- Biggest thing to consider when working with these LEDs is getting the heat out. You will need a decent sized heatsink for them. You will want to decide if you want to go completely passive, or if you want to go active with a fan. Active heatsinks will be a lot smaller, but will cause a considerable temperature rise at the LED if the fan fails. Heat is your enemy when it comes to LEDs. The cooler the LED, the longer it will live.