January 27, 2026 / 00:49:22

AEM Explained: 30 Concepts Every Professional Should Know

A practical map of Adobe Experience Manager: Author, Publish, Dispatcher, Sling, JCR, templates, components, workflows, MSM, packages, OSGi, and the decisions behind them.

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Episode cover for AEM Explained: 30 Concepts Every Professional Should Know

In Simple Terms

The useful idea from this episode.

A practical map of Adobe Experience Manager: Author, Publish, Dispatcher, Sling, JCR, templates, components, workflows, MSM, packages, OSGi, and the decisions behind them.

Watch or listen for the concept first, then connect it to the practical decision.
Use the notes below as the written companion when you want to revisit the explanation.

AEM Companion Path

Take this episode into the AEM workspace.

The AEM series is designed as a loop: understand the concept, try the check, then return to the hub for the next layer.

Open AEM Tools Follow AEM Hub

Hub See the whole learning path. Tool Run the Resource Resolver check. Reading Read the Sling companion notes.

Audio Episode

About In Simple Terms

Complex technology concepts explained calmly and practically.

In Simple Terms is where I practice explaining the systems people keep asking about: AI, AEM, blockchain, architecture, platforms, and the decisions behind them.

Episode Notes

What this episode covers.

The useful idea

AEM becomes easier when you stop seeing it as one big tool and start seeing it as a chain of decisions: where content is authored, how it is stored, how requests resolve, how pages are rendered, and how the live site is protected and cached.

What this episode helps you understand

How Author, Publish, Dispatcher, and CDN fit together.
Why Sling, JCR, templates, components, ClientLibs, and Sling Models show up in almost every AEM conversation.
How workflows, packages, OSGi configs, MSM, permissions, and rollout affect real enterprise delivery.

Common mistake

The mistake is trying to memorize AEM terms without understanding the request and publishing flow. Once the flow is clear, the vocabulary starts to land in the right place.