Explain the execution flow of template processing in FreeMarker?

Processing a template always follows the same sequence, whether it happens once in a script or thousands of times per second in a web app:

1. An application-wide Configuration is created (or reused) with a TemplateLoader and formatting settings.
2. configuration.getTemplate("name.ftl", locale) is called. If that template is already in the cache and still fresh, the cached compiled Template (an AST) is returned; otherwise the loader reads the source, FreeMarker parses it into an AST, and the result is cached.
3. Application code builds a data model, typically a Map or POJO, and wraps it with an ObjectWrapper so FreeMarker can traverse it.
4. template.process(dataModel, writer) is called. This creates a fresh, per-call Environment, walks the AST, evaluates each interpolation and directive against the data model, and writes text to the Writer as it goes.

The Template object itself is reusable and thread-safe once compiled; only the Environment created for each process() call carries per-request state, which is what makes it safe to serve many concurrent requests from one cached template.