The document describes the state pattern and its implementation using a gumball machine example. The state pattern allows an object to change its behavior when its internal state changes, making it appear that the object has changed its class. The document outlines defining a State interface and implementing state classes for each machine state. It also describes reworking the Gumball Machine class to delegate to the appropriate state class and removing conditional code. This implements the state pattern and allows changing the gumball machine's behavior by changing its current state object.