  In this communication the advantages and drawbacks of the isogeometric
analysis (IGA) are reviewed in the context of electromagnetic simulations. IGA
extends the set of polynomial basis functions, commonly employed by the
classical Finite Element Method (FEM). While identical to FEM with
N\'ed\'elec's basis functions in the lowest order case, it is based on B-spline
and Non-Uniform Rational B-spline basis functions. The main benefit of this is
the exact representation of the geometry in the language of computer aided
design (CAD) tools. This simplifies the meshing as the computational mesh is
implicitly created by the engineer using the CAD tool. The curl- and
div-conforming spline function spaces are recapitulated and the available
software is discussed. Finally, several non-academic benchmark examples in two
and three dimensions are shown which are used in optimization and uncertainty
quantification workflows.
