For a long time, applications of JT theory consisted mainly in parameter studies (model studies) where the APES and dynamical properties of JT systems have been investigated as functions on the system parameters such as coupling constants etc. Fits of these parameters to experimental data were often doubtful and inconclusive. The situation changed in the 1980s when efficient ab initio methods were developed and computational resources became powerful enough to allow for a reliable determination of these parameters from first principles. Apart from wave function -based techniques (which are sometimes considered genuinely ab initio in the literature) the advent of density functional theory (DFT) opened up new avenues to treat larger systems including solids. This allowed details of JT systems to be characterised and experimental findings to be reliably interpreted. It lies at the heart of most developments addressed in section § Applications.