Fiber optic sensing technology is a kind of sensing technology emerging in recent years, which has received extensive attention and research in many fields. The main progress of optical fiber shape sensing technology was summarized, and the basic principle of fiber shape sensing technology based on fiber grating sensing and distributed sensing was discussed. The theoretical framework of shape reconstruction (Frenet-Serret formula) was introduced, and the key problems in the research of distributed fiber shape sensing technology were summarized and discussed. On this basis, the research prospect of distributed fiber shape sensing technology is prospected.