Abstract: 3D meshes are widely used in graphic and simulation applications for approximating 3D objects. When representing complex shapes in a raw data format, meshes consume a large amount of space. Applications calling for compact storage and fast transmission of 3D meshes have motivated the multitude of algorithms developed to efficiently compress these datasets. In this paper we survey recent developments in compression of 3D surface meshes. We survey the main ideas and intuition behind techniques for single-rate and progressive mesh coding. Where possible, we discuss the theoretical results obtained for asymptotic behavior or optimality of the approach. We also list some open questions and directions of future research.