The use of laser-induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) has grown steadily, and has proven to be a relatively dynamic research activity for performing direct spectrochemical elemental or metal determination in a variety of materials, including solids, liquids, and gases, with none or little sample pretreatment procedures. Significant progress has been made during the last several years on diverse and versatile applications of LIBS including remote material analysis in nuclear power stations, space exploration, diagnostics of archaeological objects, and metal diffusion in solar cells, etc. This review gives a brief discussion on the basic principles, instrumentation, and recent and selected applications.