I want to have my entity be able to break and place blocks but I am wondering how I would just go about breaking or placing anything at the moment. I see there is a breakBlock() method but I don't know how to use it correctly, or how to place a block. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

For breaking blocks with break particles and sound use world.func_147480_a(x, y, z, true);

This is for 1.7.10

That definitely works, thanks. Does anyone know any other methods I can use to either break or place blocks, from both 1.7.2 and 1.7.10.