The typical characteristics of cataclysmic variables (CVs) are three types of periodic oscillations, referring to the rapid quasi-periodic changes of luminosity. With the different time scales and coherences, there are dwarf nova oscillations (DNOs), quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), and longer period dwarf nova oscillations (lpDNOs). A general description of the characteristics and observational features of the three types of periodic oscillations can be found in this paper. The presence of quasi-periodic variations in the light curves may provide abundant information and clues for the study of white dwarf accretion. QPOs are the prominent oscillation type of magnetic CVs, so it is speculated that the origin may be related to magnetic field. Because of the short time scale of DNOs and lpDNOs, they are considered to originate from white dwarf itself. In addition to optical, three types of oscillations can also be observed in X-ray and ultraviolet. The data observations of different wavelengths are helpful to understand the formation of these oscillations more comprehensively.