The purpose of this article is to delineate strategic considerations and provide practical procedures to enable non-experts to synthesize peptides with a reasonable chance of success. This article is not encyclopedic but rather devoted to the Fmoc/tBu approach of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), which is now the most commonly used methodology for the production of peptides. The principles of SPPS with a review of linkers and supports currently employed are presented. Basic concepts for the different steps of SPPS such as anchoring, deprotection, coupling reaction and cleavage are all discussed along with the possible problem of aggregation and side-reactions. Essential protocols for the synthesis of fully deprotected peptides are presented including resin handling, coupling, capping, Fmoc-deprotection, final cleavage and disulfide bridge formation.