HPLC, or high-performance liquid chromatography, is a technique used to separate compounds dissolved in a solution. It works by pumping a pressurized liquid mobile phase through a column containing a stationary phase, which interacts differently with different compounds and allows them to separate as they flow out of the column. HPLC provides efficient and fast separation of complex mixtures and allows both qualitative and quantitative analysis of samples from various fields such as pharmaceuticals, forensics, food and flavor, clinical, and environmental applications. The document then discusses various aspects of HPLC instrumentation including pumps, injectors, columns, detectors, and optimization of the technique.