Which characteristic is NOT associated with the Salesforce Streaming API?

The characteristic that is not associated with the Salesforce Streaming API is the ability to directly modify data in Salesforce. The Streaming API is designed primarily for event-driven communication. It allows applications to receive real-time notifications about changes to Salesforce data.

By enabling notifications of data changes, the Streaming API lets clients subscribe to specific events, such as creation, updates, or deletions of records, and react accordingly. It utilizes a specific protocol, namely the Bayeux protocol, for delivering messages, ensuring the efficient transfer of information about these events without needing to poll the server continuously.

Polling for data retrieval is considered an alternative approach and is not a function of the Streaming API, as it focuses on pushing updates rather than retrieving data at intervals. Therefore, the characteristic of directly modifying data in Salesforce does not fit the purpose of the Streaming API, which is solely focused on sending change notifications rather than altering data.