Semiconductor distributed feedback (DFB) laser has become a key component in optical fiber communication and free-space optical communication due to its excellent spectral characteristics, modulation characteristics, as well as the low cost and volume-production characteristics, which will play an irreplaceable role in a variety of applications such as 5G, data center and microwave photonics. This paper reviews the DFB lasers in the optical communication band based on their applications and characteristics. The principle and recent progress of diverse DFB lasers are introduced and reviewed respectively, including high speed directly modulated DFB laser, high power DFB laser, and low noise (narrow linewidth and low relative intensity noise) DFB laser.