We survey some recent results on traveling waves and pattern formation in spatially discrete bistable reaction-diffusion equations. We start by recalling several classic results concerning the existence, uniqueness and stability of travelling wave solutions to the discrete Nagumo equation with nearest-neighbour interactions, together with the Fredholm theory behind some of the proofs. We subsequently discuss extensions involving wave connections between periodic equilibria, long-range interactions and planar lattices. We show how some of the results can be extended to the two-component discrete FitzHugh–Nagumo equation, which can be analyzed using singular perturbation theory. We conclude by studying the behaviour of the Nagumo equation when discretization schemes are used that involve both space and time, or that are non-uniform but adaptive in space.@en