  This paper reviews the modern state of the Wiener--Hopf factorization method
and its generalizations. The main constructive results for matrix Wiener--Hopf
are presented, approximation methods are outlined and the main areas of
applications are mentioned. The aim of the paper is to sketched some
perspective of the development of this method, importance of bringing together
pure and applied analysis to most effectively use of the Wiener--Hopf
technique.
