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.
