Ill-posed optimization problems appear in a wide range of mathematical applications, and their numerical solution requires the use of appropriate regularization techniques. In order to understand these techniques, a thorough analysis is inevitable. The main subject of this book are quadratic optimal control problems subject to elliptic linear or semi-linear partial differential equations. Depending on the structure of the differential equation, different regularization techniques are employed, and their analysis leads to novel results such as rate of convergence estimates.