O(a) improved lattice QCD

We review the O(a) improvement of lattice QCD with special emphasis on the motivation for performing the improvement programme non-perturbatively and the general concepts of on-shell improvement. The present status of the calculations of various improvement coefficients (perturbative and non-perturbative) is reviewed, as well as the computation of the isospin current normalization constants $Z_A$ and $Z_V$. We comment on recent results for hadronic observables obtained in the improved theory.