Holography and holographic interferometry as means for nondestructive testing as well as a metrologic tool in engineering, biology, and other fields has got significant momentum by the introduction of digital holography and furtheron by the employment of numerical processing power, which became available due to the increase in speed and data capacity of modern computers. In this review paper we present the basics of holography, holographic interferometry and digital holography and give examples from such diverse fields as deformation analysis, form determination, refractive index measurement, and wave front reconstruction by shearographic differential interference contrast microscopy.Index Terms-Digital holography, holographic interferometry, nondestructive testing, deformation measurement, strain and stress measurement, shearography, fiber testing. ✦ 1551-3203 (c)