We present a brief overview of the main results obtained in our group for the simulation of electronic and optical properties of semiconductor heterostructures. A short introduction is given on InAs quantum dots, grown on InP, GaAs and GaP substrates. It is shown that 1-band k·p calculations can be used in the reciprocal space, in order to get a simulation of perfectly ordered array of quantum dots. A semianalytical modeling is also presented, including an axial approximation of the 8*8 band k·p calculations. Linear and nonlinear contributions to piezoelectricity are discussed. A complete 8*8 band k·p approach is then used to show the properties of InAs/InP quantum dots, with different substrate orientations. Finally, a study of the highly strained InAs/GaP interface is performed with a first principle modeling using ABINIT packages. Band lineups and evolution of gap energies are calculated, and compared to those found by Chuang et al. [1]