The next stage of the computer revolution consists in the proliferation of sophisticated and cheap digital controllers into almost every aspect of man-made systems. Informatics is expected to shift its focus of attention from computers performing internal computations, or communicating with human users and with other computers, toward computers interacting in real-time with physical processes. In such settings, the proper functioning of the whole system depends critically on the interaction between the discrete dynamics of the digital controller and the continuous dynamics of the environment in which it is embedded. Models of hybrid systems suggest a framework for modelling, simulation, verification, synthesis and implementation of such systems.