Molotov Cocktail

The Molotov cocktail is a thrown weapon that engulfs an area with flames for a short time. The area of effect is quite large and spreads over time before self-extinguishing. The fire will burn all Infected that come into contact with it. While Common Infected cannot attack after being ignited and die in seconds, Special Infected can withstand the fire until their health is burned away. The Molotov cocktail is dangerous in close combat because the splash damage and flames may cause you and nearby teammates to lose health.

Tactics

 * If a Boomer is around a corner where the wall is impenetrable by bullets, and you do not wish to risk being covered in bile by attempting to land a well-angled shot; throw a Molotov around the corner. The flames will spread, so it is not required to hit him directly in order to kill him. However, the Boomer becomes a ticking time bomb and may run toward you and your teammates in order to splash them before he dies, but be careful, and if this does happen, it would be a good idea to run up to him and knock him back with a melee attack before he explodes.
 * Do not hit teammates. If they are incapacitated inside a fire, it may be difficult to revive them.
 * Where the Pipe bomb is less effective (e.g. against bosses) due to its fuse, the Molotov shines. Setting a Witch on fire will gradually burn her health away, making her easier to kill. A burning Tank will survive for 30-40 seconds at most (depending on what difficulty, the Tank may have more or less health to burn). Only in campaign mode, setting the Tank on fire will increase his running speed, since he doesn't have much time to attack the survivors.
 * There is a nice trick on the Farmhouse Finale. First, when a Tank is coming, throw a molotov at him and climb to a high place to hide. When it finds you, run, though it might take a moment for it to actually reach you. Keep running or climbing and hiding until the Tank burns to death in about forty seconds.
 * No Infected of any kind know better than to avoid fire, and will gladly cross it to reach you. The crux of the Molotov strategy is to let them. If you know where a Horde is coming from, throw the Molotov at a choke point between the Horde and your teammates. The flaming barrier will burn all Common Infected as they try to cross it.  Try to throw the Molotov just as they reach the choke point in order to increase the likelihood of burning the entire Horde before the flames expire.  NOTE sometimes they will try to find a way around the fire, but it is not likely. Infected tend to want to get from point A to point B (i.e a straight line) unless a static object is in the way, like a big tree trunk.
 * Obviously, fire does not burn in water.
 * There is at least one exception to this: Death Toll's first crescendo point in the storm drains. A molotov thrown into the shallow water will burn as normal.
 * Once lit, Special Infected do not self-extinguish. They will burn until they die. This applies for Tanks and Witches, too.
 * In Versus, if a player is hanging and being attacked by a smoker out of reach from normal weapons, consider lobbing a molotov to release them.
 * If you are in a bad mood, you can, when the Tank comes, throw the Molotov in a choke point before your teammates get through to let the Tank kill them while you run to the safe house. Just be wary of the bad karma that follows!
 * Since it will not set off car alarms, a common strategy is to lob a molotov at a car alarm to kill any smokers that would try to pull you to set off the car alarm.

Infected

 * Though it will eventually kill it, the Hunter does twice the normal damage when it is on fire. NOTE: After the recent update, the bonus fire damage is only gained by lighting a Hunter on fire using a molotov. The Hunter doesn't deal as much damage as it used to after the update as well.
 * As a Boomer, you can set yourself on fire to become a ticking time bomb. Run into survivors to forcefully explode, since the survivors can't safely push you away and shoot you without the risk of being exploded on, but be wary, Boomers don't have very much health, so don't set yourself on fire too early.
 * If you're playing as a Smoker, a great tactic is to drag a survivor through the flames, causing massive damage and preventing others from rescuing them. (Take care as they CAN kill you with their weapons, flame doesn't burn bullets)

Trivia

 * The Molotov also appeared in the Half-Life 2 beta.