# Stream Processing with Confluent Platform for Apache Flink Confluent Platform for Apache Flink® is a stream processing framework that transforms real-time data through user-defined operators. It runs on-premises alongside other Confluent Platform components and integrates with Apache Kafka® topics as data sources and sinks. Apache Flink applications are composed of streaming dataflows that are transformed by operators. These dataflows form directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) which are pipelines where data flows in one direction without cycles. Each DAG starts with one or more sources and ends in one or more sinks. Flink applications are deployed in Kubernetes with Confluent Manager for Apache Flink (CMF), which is a central management component that enables users to securely manage a fleet of Flink applications across multiple environments. A single CMF instance can manage Flink workloads across multiple Kubernetes clusters, so a fleet can span clusters (for example, across regions or tenancy boundaries) from one control plane. For more information, see [Manage Multiple Kubernetes Clusters in Confluent Manager for Apache Flink](configure/kubernetes-clusters.md#cmf-kubernetes-clusters). #### IMPORTANT Confluent Platform for Apache Flink is fully compatible with Apache Flink, but not all Apache Flink features are supported. For a complete list of supported and unsupported features, see [Confluent Platform for Apache Flink Features and Support](jobs/applications/supported-features.md#cpflink-vs-oss). **New users:** - [Get Started with Applications](get-started/get-started-application.md#cpf-get-started) - [Get Started with Flink SQL Statements](get-started/get-started-statement.md#get-started-flinksql) **Platform operators:** - [Install and Configure](installation/overview.md#cpf-install): - [Learn about Confluent Manager for Flink](concepts/cmf.md#cmf) - [Disaster Recovery](disaster-recovery.md#backup-restore-cmf) **Developers:** - [Flink Architecture and APIs](concepts/flink.md#cp-flink-concepts) - [Feature Compatibility with Apache Flink](jobs/applications/supported-features.md#cpflink-vs-oss) - [Connector Support](jobs/applications/supported-features.md#af-cp-connectors) **Support:** See [Get Help](get-help.md#cpf-get-help)