[en] A review of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) experiments in tokamaks and stellarators is presented. ECH has the desirable properties of easily controlled, highly localized absorption, insensitivity to plasma boundary conditions, and high power density. The behavior of electron cyclotron waves is described by well developed theory, and experimenal determinations of absorption and propagation tend to support the theory. Global energy confinement scalings suggest that the confinement deterioration with increasing auxiliary power found with other heating methods is also found with ECH, with some exceptions. The application of ECH to the generation of plasmas with high poloidal beta, control of MHD activity, noninductive plasma current drive, and measurement of local electron thermal conductivity is discussed. 55 refs