Co-training algorithm is one of the main methods of semi-supervised learning in machine learning, which explores the effective information in unlabeled data by multi-learner collaboration. Based on the development of co-training algorithm, the research work in recent years was further summarized in this article. In particular, three main steps of relevant co-training algorithms are introduced: view acquisition, learners' differentiation, and label confidence estimation. Finally, we summarized the problems existing in the current co-training methods, gave some suggestions for improvement, and looked forward to the future development direction of the co-training algorithm.