In this thesis, we study puncturing schemes for finite-length rate-compatible lowdensity parity-check codes. A new bit-by-bit puncturing pattern searching scheme is proposed. The ultimate goal of the proposed method is to improve the recovery error probability of the punctured bits. We also take into account the detrimental effects on previous punctured and unpunctured bits brought about by the new selected punctured. Given the bit locations which have been punctured, a new one is chosen from the set of candidate bits by i) examining its recovery capability (which depends on the number and reliabilities of its connected check node message) and ii) assessing the impact a candidate bit may make. Numerical experimental results show that the proposed scheme outperforms existing puncturing methods. The superiority and robustness of our scheme are further verified by some observed statistics and are consistent with a Gaussian approximation based analytic prediction.