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Gluing and sticking stuff is an essential part of making, but it's also a tricky science, with the variety of materials, surfaces, and adhesives, and the effects of application and temperature.
I thought I'd compile an ad-hoc list of some of my favourite and most used adhesives.
This stuff is great for flexible, waterproof and high-temperature-stable connection of plastic, glass and metal surfaces. I use it for making non-waterproof project boxes water resistant, for sealing around panel connectors, adding or repairing strain relief, and gluing surfaces that will get hot.
A few hours' patience can be the difference between mediocrity and success with cyanoacrylate. I still use the thin stuff sometimes, but a bottle of the Zap brand 'Slo-Zap' higher-viscosity stuff lasts forever (much less prone to sticking itself closed), and glues much better in scenarios where there's a small gap to fill, and does so with higher strength. It's touch-dry within an hour, though can take a day to fully cure.
It also has the significant benefit of being much less fume-y, due to the slower reaction.
This stuff is great for when you need a bond between tricky materials (plastic, metal, glass, crystal...) with just a little bit of flexibility, but more sturdiness than silicone or similar. Being transparent and non-crazing also helps for subtle gluing of transparent/translucent items, hence its use in jewellery. Low fumes. It takes a day or so to cure enough for use, and a few days to reach full strength. Tubes do slowly dry/cure by themselves after opening so buy in smaller containers. Useful for rigid connections where thermal expansion cycling is a concern.
Goopy and easy to get everywhere, but very good at its specific job which is connecting flat surfaces to other flat surfaces. Spray contact adhesive is okay but hit-and-miss, and requires careful masking of areas you don't want to get stuck. I mostly find it more useful to apply and spread the liquid myself. Excellent for porous surfaces like wood, paper, fabric, polystyrene.
I got a pile of this stuff from a surplus store for peanuts, so I'm biased from that point. But let me tell you, I've never seen anything remotely close to the vigour with which this stuff sticks two surfaces together. Glass, paint, metal, plastic, whatever. If you want something attached without gluing, and don't want to remove it anytime soon, this stuff wins.
This is much denser than other foam tapes I've used, and absolutely will not tear down the middle of the foam.
I nearly broke a metal fitting trying to remove something I'd stuck down and changed my mind about, so don't say I didn't warn you.
For prototyping, masking tape is great. You can connect things together and be fairly assured you won't damage their surface or leave residue behind (provided you don't leave it on for longer than a week or two). You can fill in holes, make compound curves, etc. Cardboard and masking tape are a cheap and easy way to prototype physical objects.