The Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS) has - come one of the most important annual meetings in Europe for the theoretical computer science community. It covers a wide range of topics in the area of - undationsofcomputerscience:algorithmsanddatastructures,automataand formal languages, computational and structural complexity, logic, veri?cation, and current challenges. STACS 2002, the 19th in this series, was held in Antibes - Juan les Pins, on the French Riviera, March 14¿16, 2002. Previous STACS symposia took place in Paris (1984), Saarbruc ¿ ken (1985), Orsay (1986), Passau (1987), Bordeaux (1988), Paderborn (1989), Rouen (1990), Hamburg (1991), Cachan (1992), Wurzburg ¿ (1993), Caen (1994), Munc ¿ hen (1995), Grenoble (1996), Lub ¿ eck (1997), Paris, (1998), Trier (1999), Lille (2000), and Dresden (2001). The proceedings of all these symposia have been published in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series of Springer-Verlag. STACS 2002 received 209 submissions from 30 countries, one of the highest numbers of submissions ever, for a European conference on theoretical computer science. They were dispatched to the Program Committee members, and - derwent a thorough review process, where more than 900 reports were written. These reports then served as guidance to the Program Committee, which met on November 16¿17, 2001, at the INRIA Sophia Antipolis (near Antibes), France, in order to select the conference program.
