The pathname translation cache maintains a list of mappings between requested filenames (e.g., ``/~bob'') and actual files on disk (e.g., /home/users/bob/public_html/index.html). This cache allows Flash to avoid using the pathname translation helpers for every incoming request. It reduces the processing needed for pathname translations, and it reduces the number of translation helpers needed by the server. As a result, the memory spent on the cache can be recovered by the reduction in memory used by helper processes.