  The state of the art in D-brane model building is briefly reviewed, focusing
on recent achievements in the construction of D=4 N = 1 type II string vacua
with semi-realistic gauge sectors. Such progress relies on a better
understanding of the spectrum of BPS D-branes, the effective field theory
obtained from them and the explicit construction of vacua. We first consider
D-branes in standard Calabi-Yau compactifications, and then the more involved
case of compactifications with fluxes. We discuss how the non-trivial interplay
between D-branes and fluxes modifies the previous model-building rules, as well
as provides new possibilities to connect string theory to particle physics.
