INTRODUCTION Main feature of gaseous detectors with resistive electrodes-spark quenching HISTORY OF GASEOUS DETECTORS WITH RESISTIVE ELECTRODES Iarrocci streamer tubes Multi-wire proportional counters with resistive electrodes Pestov RPC Santonico RPC Timing RPC Multigap RPCs High position resolution RPCs SINGLE LAYER RPCs Features of single layer RPCs: designs, construction features, oil treatment and operation Physics of spark protection Spark and streamer modes Signal developments and position information Time resolution Choice of gases and resistive materials DOUBLE LAYER RPCs Designs, construction features, materialsDark current, noise pulses Choice of resistive materials (melamine, Bakelite, glass) Rate characteristics Gases and gas systems RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Basic principle of multilayer RPCs operation Time resolution Space charge effect Noise pulses High rate RPCs Materials Chinese / Pestov glass ceramics High position resolution RPCs RPC OPERATION IN HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS L3 experiment SLAC BaBar RPCs, problems and solutions LHC: CMS, ATLAS, ALICE experiments Gain monitoring and stability HADES-TOF ASTROPHYSICS EXPERIMENTS OPERA detector ARGO experiment Extreme energy and others large-scale experiments UPGRADE DETECTORS; NEW EXPERIMENTS LHC detectors upgrades BESIII-ETOF upgrade BGO-EGG at LEPS2 SBN-TOF R3B-FAIR NEW DEVELOPMENTS Hybrid designs: Paulo detectors, high pos. resol. detectors for CMS Micro-pattern detectors with resistive electrodes APPLICATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES RPC for time of flight PET Resistive MICROMEGAS in ATLAS Neutrons detection Imaging calorimetry-DHCAL Homeland security-muon tomography Mammographic scanner Prototypes of Rn and Po detectors Prototypes of flame and spark detectors CONCLUSIONS The place of RPCs among present alternative detectors and perspectives