Review of particle identification by time of flight techniques

After recalling the basic principles and limits of particle identification using the time of flight method we will discuss the techniques used to realise fast particle detectors with emphasis on their application to large area devices. We will report on recent achievements in scintillator detectors, and review modern developments of fast gaseous, detectors, i.e. parallel plate chambers and Pestov counters as well as very recent results on resistive plate chambers.