This comprehensive survey examines the field of alphabetic codes, tracing their development from the 1960s to the present day. We explore classical alphabetic codes and their variants, analyzing their properties and the underlying mathematical and algorithmic principles. The paper covers the fundamental relationship between alphabetic codes and comparison-based search procedures and their applications in data compression, routing, and testing. We review optimal alphabetic code construction algorithms, necessary and sufficient conditions for their existence, and upper bounds on the average code length of optimal alphabetic codes. The survey also discusses variations and generalizations of the classical problem of constructing minimum average length alphabetic codes. By elucidating both classical results and recent findings, this paper aims to serve as a valuable resource for researchers and students, concluding with promising future research directions in this still-active field.