Understanding Apache Pulsar Topics: A Deep Dive into Naming Conventions

In the world of distributed messaging systems, Apache Pulsar stands out for its sophisticated approach to topic organization. Unlike other messaging systems, Pulsar implements a hierarchical naming structure that brings clarity and organization to your messaging architecture. Let's dive into how Pulsar topics work and how to effectively use them.

The Anatomy of a Pulsar Topic

A Pulsar topic follows this format:

persistent://tenant/namespace/topic-name

This three-level hierarchy isn't just for show – it's a powerful feature that enables better organization and control of your messaging infrastructure. Let's break down each component:

1. Persistence Prefix

The persistent:// prefix indicates that messages will be durably stored. For scenarios where persistence isn't needed, you can use non-persistent:// instead. This choice affects how Pulsar handles your messages and their storage.

2. Tenant

The tenant represents the highest level of isolation in Pulsar. Think of it as your organization's private space. For example, if your company is called Acme, you might use acme-corp as your tenant name.

3. Namespace

Namespaces provide logical grouping within a tenant. They're perfect for separating different departments, environments, or regions. For instance, you might have namespaces like marketing, production, or us-east.

4. Topic Name

The final component is your actual topic name, which describes the specific message stream, such as order-events or user-clicks.

Real-World Examples

Here are some practical examples of Pulsar topics:

persistent://trading-company/market-data/stock-quotes
persistent://ecommerce/order-processing/purchase-events
persistent://gaming-platform/us-west/player-statistics

Best Practices for Topic Organization

Consider these patterns when structuring your topics:

1. Regional Separation

   • persistent://company/us-west/events

   • persistent://company/eu-central/events

2. Environment Isolation

   • persistent://company/production/user-events

   • persistent://company/staging/user-events

3. Team-Based Organization

   • persistent://company/marketing/email-campaigns

   • persistent://company/sales/lead-tracking

This hierarchical structure not only provides clear organization but also enables granular control over authentication, authorization, and resource quotas at each level. Whether you're building a small application or a large-scale distributed system, understanding Pulsar's topic structure is key to effectively organizing your messaging architecture.