Theory of classification : a survey of some recent advances

The last few years have witnessed important new developments in the theory and practice of pattern classification. We intend to survey some of the main new ideas that have lead to these important recent developments. Resume. Durant ces dernieres annees, la theorie et la pratique de la reconnaissance des formes ont ´e marquees par des developpements originaux. Ce survol presente certaines des principales idees novatrices qui ont conduitces developpements importants.