View UV Coordinates
UV Coordinates refers to the coordinate space used by meshes and image-based textures to be applied to the mesh surfaces. Specifically, UV coorinates are nothing more than a different label from the XY coordinates that you are familiar with. They are labeled differently as to not be confused by the XY coordinate label, as XY refers to geometry/world space, and UV refers to image space. These two spaces can share similar information, but since they refer to vastly different outcomes more often than not, it makes sense to keep them separate, and refer to them separately.
Historically, UV coordinates have been a necessary evil (though they are also a powerful tool). In the last few years, the Disney company has developed the PTEX coordinate space, which helps to remove the burden of UV complexity from less technically-inclined users. That said, It will take some iterations of various products for PTEX to be integrated into the various applications that are necessary; in addition, tools like Body Paint have made working with UVs as easy as possible, and offers tremendous control and opportunities to problem solve, since the UVs are directly accessible. The PTEX format produces images that appear as a jumble, which is very disorienting if one has experience with applications such as Body Paint.