What is the role of a topic in SNS?

A topic in Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) serves as a communication channel that enables the transmission of messages between senders and recipients. When a publisher wants to send a message, it does so to a specific topic, and any subscribers associated with that topic will receive the message. This decouples the message publishers from the subscribers, allowing for a flexible and scalable system where multiple subscribers can receive the same message without the need for direct connections.

This mechanism enhances real-time communication capabilities, as it supports various protocols for message delivery, including HTTP, HTTPS, email, SMS, and application endpoints, among others. Because it is designed to facilitate messaging and handle the distribution of messages across multiple subscribers, the role of the topic is fundamentally about enabling effective communication.

Other options such as a data storage location, protocol handler, or security feature do not accurately describe the primary function of a topic in SNS. Instead, they focus on different aspects of AWS services or functionalities that are not directly related to the communication role fulfilled by a topic in SNS.