A comparison of different methods for the characterization of planar line discontinuities with emphasis on microstrip discontinuities is given, thereby describing the present state of the art in this area of microwave circuit CAD. Quasi-static equivalent circuit models, the magnetic wall waveguide model of microstrip discontinuities, full-wave analysis techniques like the orthogonal series expansion and mode matching techniques, the spectral domain analysis technique using roof-top functions, and the finite-difference time-domain technique are described briefly and compared with respect to their numerical eaciency and their capabilities.