The document discusses the divide-and-conquer algorithm design paradigm. It defines divide-and-conquer as breaking a problem down into smaller subproblems, solving those subproblems recursively, and combining the solutions to solve the original problem. Examples of algorithms that use this approach include merge sort, quicksort, and matrix multiplication. Advantages include solving difficult problems efficiently in parallel and with good memory performance. The document also provides an example of applying divide-and-conquer to the closest pair of points problem.