2.11. Exchange

In AMQP an exchange is a destination on the messaging broker that receives messages from senders. After receiving a message, the exchange distributes a copy of the message to queues that are bound to the exchange. Consuming applications retrieve messages from those queues. Queues are bound to exchanges using binding keys that specify which messages from the exchange are of interest to the consumer. The queues buffer messages. This allows many consuming applications to receive messages from a single sender at different rates.

There are various types of exchanges that provide different distribution algorithms. The parameters used to bind queues to an exchange interact with the exchange's distribution algorithm to enable sophisticated routing schemas that are highly-performant.