The progress on research methods, influential factors and mechanisms of the deflagration-to-detonation transition(DDT) of energetic materials were summarized. The research methods for DDT mainly include experimental research and numerical simulation method.The influential factors for DDT are loading density, confinement condition, ignition ways and strength, physicochemical characters of material, etc The mechanisms of DDT mainly include "the shockwave grown-up theory" and "the locative heat explosive theory". The research on DDT in the future should be in accompany with the study on the safety of new high energy propellant and explosives. The three-dimension mathematical model of the border issues caused by energetic materials reaction, physicochemical characters and geometry effect of energetic materials should be considered for numerical simulation.