ch. 1. Introduction -- ch. 2. Chemical bonding and phase diagrams in alloy phase stability -- ch. 3. Early theories of alloy-phase stability -- ch. 4. First-principles band calculations using the muffin-tin potential -- ch. 5. Hume-Rothery electron concentration rule concerning the [alpha/beta] phase transformation in Cu=X (X=Zn, Ga, Ge, etc.) alloy systems -- ch. 6. Structure of structurally complex metallic alloys -- ch. 7. Stabilization mechanism of gamma-brasses characterized by a FsBz-induced pseudogap -- ch. 8. Stabilization mechanism of gamma-brasses characterized by increasing orbital hybridizations : role of d-States-mediated FsBz interactions -- ch. 9. Stabilization mechanism of 1/1-1/1-1/1 approximants -- ch. 10. The interplay and contrasts involved in the chemistry, physics, and crystal structures of alloys and compounds -- ch. 11. Conclusions.