fpga configuration questions

To my understanding if you are trying to program the board again and again you could probably program the board using a .sof file. This would program the board through JTAG and would program the board faster. This would be helpful in the initial stage of debugging. But, the design would be required to be programmed again and again. Once the design is working completely you could create a .pof file to program the CFM and then the board won't be required to re-program each time it is turned off.