First, the rough surface scattering problem is formulated from a statistica
l point of view. Then, different numerical schemes that permit one to solve
Maxwell equations without approximation are presented for the three-dimens
ional scattering problem. Particular attention is paid to boundary integral
methods and to the numerical techniques developed to handle large linear s
ystems when short-range interactions dominate. Lastly, several important co
nnected issues that require further numerical and theoretical improvements
are discussed.