Cavitation bubbles are fascinating objects. Albeit simple in concept -- cavities in a liquid -- they can exhibit a variety of extraordinary phenomena. Cavitation bubbles can implode violently, emitting shock waves into the liquid. Pressure gradients lead to the formation of liquid jets, that rush through the bubble and impact at objects with high speeds. Shock waves and jets contribute to erode surfaces. However, when their action can be controlled, cavitation bubbles more and more are utilized with beneficial effect. Examples are the cleaning of surfaces, or, in medicine, lithotripsy procedures for the reduction of kidney and gall stones. \\ Here, we give a brief glimpse on our fundamental research. We study the behaviour of individual cavitation bubbles by means of numerical simulations with a finite volume method and by performing experiments with laser-generated cavitation bubbles at the University of Göttingen. In this presentation, we concentrate on bubbles close to flat solid boundaries and point out applications, that are tightly related to our results.