The current state of the description and evaluation of dislocation-induced X-ray diffraction line broadening has been reviewed. The diffraction-line broadening can be analyzed in terms of line width, moments or Fourier coefficients. However, in the last years, whole pattern fitting has become the most popular method of evaluation. The line width is proportional to the Burgers vector of dislocations, to the square-root of dislocation density and to the so-called orientation (contrast) factor. The orientation factor determines the
