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I am planning to use OPA380AID. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/transimpedance-amplifiers/6612498
My issue is that I need to use this on a bread board. I have found SOIC adaptors. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/8-pin-soic-to-dip-adapter-hookup-guide/all
My question is that is it really difficult to solder the IC into the adaptor, if I am not a pro in soldering. After soldering how can the pin numbers be understood?
Also, is there any other way to use such ICs in breadboard?
Soldering SOIC components is not that difficult if you have the good material, I would recommand you to have a small enough soldering tip and a good solder. I would also recommand you to use a flux pen if you are begining soldering, it's not mandatory but it's much easier to keep the solder clean.
Regarding the pin numbers, it's all explained in the second link you provided:
You can see that there is only one square pad, this one stands for pin 1. For the next it goes in the logical way.
They are pin-to-pin, so pin 1 on the DIP is pin 1 on the SOIC. So if you match the dots up properly you can treat it just as if the part came in an 8-pin DIP with the same pin numbers.
It is not difficult to solder SOIC- the 0.05" (1.27mm) lead spacing is not much harder than soldering a DIP. If your eyes are not completely shot you don't need any aids, just relatively fine solder and tip.
I suggest soldering the chip first, then insert the headers into a breadboard you don't care too much about and then stick the board on and solder it. The breadboard holds the leads in proper alignment, but it also gets a lot of heat with this approach. The purpose in doing the chip first is to avoid having to navigate around the protruding header leads with your soldering iron tip.
For soldering the SOIC, tack the corners down first (first one then the other), then solder the rest of the leads, going over the corner joints afterward. Tacking one corner first allows you to recover easily if you get it a bit misaligned- just re-melt it and nudge the chip a bit. The second corner holds the chip while you solder the rest of the leads.
