The document discusses the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML is a general-purpose modeling language used to specify, visualize, construct, and document software systems. It captures decisions and understanding about systems that must be constructed. The goals of UML included developing a modeling language that could be used across different domains and development methods. UML has three main building blocks - things, relationships, and diagrams. Things represent elements in a model like classes, components, and use cases. Relationships connect things and show dependencies, generalizations, and associations. Diagrams provide different views of UML models, including structural diagrams and behavioral diagrams.