The document discusses the open/closed principle (OCP) of software design, which states that software entities should be open for extension but closed for modification. It provides examples of how OCP can be applied at the class, application, and enterprise levels through techniques like inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, small methods, encapsulation, and dependency injection. The document also addresses when it may be acceptable to break from OCP, such as when separation of concerns is violated or a feature does not fit the overall design.