Abstract: As the simplest nonlinear polymers，star polymers have become a research hotspot due to their unique structure，good properties and wide applications. Star polymers often are researched as branched model in order to simplify intricate branch configuration of dendrimers and to obtain branched information of polymers. Both advantages and disadvantages of various methods and techniques are also pointed out. Different synthesis methods of star polymers by living polymerization are introduced as well together with their properties and applications.