Testing a board without placing a component

[nahidalam]

Is there a way to build a (functional) board without placing 1 component?

I am designing a PCB and want to have the option to make it work w/ or w/o placing a specific component (X). This component X doesn't impact the main feature of the board.

One solution of this problem is using a jumper - design in a way so that the jumper on/off can make the circuit close/open. But I don't want to use jumper in my board.

 

[horace1]

it depends on the component
often we have general purpose boards where some of the components depend on the application
on power up the microcontroller tests for each component and if not found issues an error message and disables its functionality
this is simple with devices such as modems and interfaces such as SPI and I2C where one can test the reponse to a command but much more difficent with a device such as an LED