The document provides an introduction to the Rational Unified Process (RUP). It discusses what a software engineering process is, limitations of the waterfall model, and an overview of RUP. RUP is an iterative software development process framework that is use case driven and architecture-centric. It consists of four main phases - inception, elaboration, construction, and transition - with milestones used to transition between phases. The goal is to deliver working software incrementally throughout the project lifetime.