What is the primary purpose of the Salesforce B2C Commerce pipeline?

The primary purpose of the Salesforce B2C Commerce pipeline is to define the flow of data and processes in a web application. The pipeline structure serves as a crucial framework for how requests are handled and processed within the platform. It enables developers to create a sequence of steps that dictate how data moves through the system, allowing for the orchestration of interactions between the client, server, and various backend services.

The pipeline contains various components called "pipeline steps," which can include tasks such as retrieving data from the database, processing that data, and rendering views for the end customer. This modular approach helps to simplify the development of complex functionalities by breaking them down into manageable processes that can be easily maintained and modified.

While managing database connections, handling security protocols, and optimizing server performance are all important aspects of any web application, they are not the core focus of the pipeline itself. Instead, these functions may be part of the broader application architecture but do not capture the essential role of the pipeline in controlling how data flows and how various operations are sequenced in response to user requests.