The methods and the experimental technique for investigating desorption stimulated by electronic excitations (DSEE) under electron and photon irradiation of the surface of a solid are described. The most general experimental results of DSEE research on adsorption systems with different kinds of bonding are systematized. The basic DSEE models involving single- and multi-electron excitations are discussed as well as the effect on the characteristics of DSEE of relaxation of excitations as a particle is moved away from the surface. Various applications of methods based on DSEE for studying the condition of the surface of a solid and the processes occurring on it are described. The prospects of predicting stability under irradiation of adsorption systems and film coverings when their electronic subsystem is excited are discussed.