In this review, a review a of the applications of micro-Raman spectroscopy (?RS) to characterize the residual strain and/or stress in electronic packaging is presented. Micro-Raman spectroscopy is considered as an effective tool for residual stress evaluation in semiconductor devices at the microscale level due to its nondestructive, noncontact feature with high spatial resolution. In this review, a comparison of ?RS to the other measurement techniques, such as DIC, micro moire? and XRD has been illustrated. The range of problems in semiconductor packaging that can be characterized by ?RS has been discussed. The basics of ?RS in stress/strain measurement is described and the recent progress of residual stress measurement including shear stress component is discussed in detail. Two case studies for the use of ?RS in electronic packaging are presented, including in the application of through silicon via (TSV) and flip chip assembly. Finally, several challenges for the future development of ?RS are discussed.