The purpose of ISO/IEC 19514:2017 is to specify the Systems Modeling Language (SysML), a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering. Its intent is to specify the language so that systems engineering modelers may learn to apply and use SysML; modeling tool vendors may implement and support SysML; and both can provide feedback to improve future versions. Note that a definition of "system" and "systems engineering" can be found in ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288.

SysML reuses a subset of UML 2 and provides additional extensions to satisfy the requirements of the language. This International Standard documents the language architecture in terms of the parts of UML 2 that are reused and the extensions to UML 2. The International Standard includes the concrete syntax (notation) for the complete language and specifies the extensions to UML 2. The reusable portion of the UML 2 standard is not included directly in the International Standard but is included by reference. The International Standard also provides examples of how the language can be used to solve common systems engineering problems.

SysML is designed to provide simple but powerful constructs for modeling a wide range of systems engineering problems. It is particularly effective in specifying requirements, structure, behavior, allocations, and constraints on system properties to support engineering analysis. The language is intended to support multiple processes and methods such as structured, object-oriented, and others, but each methodology may impose additional constraints on how a construct or diagram kind may be used. This version of the language supports most, but not all, of the requirements of the UML for Systems Engineering RFP, as shown in the Requirements Traceability referenced by Annex F. These gaps are intended to be addressed in future versions of SysML as indicated in the matrix.

The following sub clauses provide background information about this International Standard. Instructions for both systems engineers and tool vendors who read this International Standard are provided in "How to Read this International Standard." The main body of this International Standard describes the normative technical content. The annexes include additional information to aid in understanding and implementation of this International Standard.