What does the "Mappings" section in an AWS CloudFormation template do?

The "Mappings" section in an AWS CloudFormation template is designed to facilitate the customization of resource properties based on specified conditions. This section essentially serves as a key-value pair structure that allows developers to define a set of values for different conditions, such as region or environment type.

For example, you could have different AMI IDs mapped for different AWS regions. When you reference these mappings in your resources, you can dynamically select the appropriate value based on the parameters you define at template runtime. This feature is particularly useful for creating templates that are modular and reusable across different environments or accounts while maintaining varying configurations.

Utilizing the "Mappings" section helps in reducing redundancy and adapting to multiple deployment scenarios without hardcoding values in your resources. It empowers developers to maintain a clean, efficient, and versatile CloudFormation template that can accommodate various deployment needs seamlessly.