Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) as a third-order optical effect is widely used in laser beam combination, distributed fiber sensing, Brillouin lasers and other fields. In recent years, SBS pulse compression has also received special attention. Based on the energy transfer characteristics of the Brillouin amplification process, SBS pulse compression technology can compress nanosecond pulses to sub-nanosecond levels, and the peak power can be increased by 1-2 orders of magnitude. This paper systematically introduces the basic theory of SBS pulse compression, comprehensively discusses the influence of SBS compressor structure, gain medium, pump pulse and other factors on pulse compression characteristics, and looks forward to the development trends of SBS pulse compression. It provides a useful reference for the future study of SBS characteristics and a feasible scheme for the acquisition of high repetition frequency and high energy laser.