Kafka for Architects: Event-driven architecture, logs, microservices,...

Description

Kafka for Architects: Event-driven architecture, logs, microservices, real-time event processing

Design enterprise systems with Kafka using proven architectural principles, patterns, and strategies.

Kafka for Architects teaches software architects and technology leaders how to successfully integrate Apache Kafka into enterprise applications without getting lost in implementation details. Instead of focusing on code, this practical guide explains how to use Kafka strategically to achieve scalability, reliability, real-time processing, and business objectives.

Organizations across industries rely on Kafka because of its ability to handle massive data flows with speed, resilience, and flexibility. Author Katya Gorshkova explains how Kafka fits into modern system architectures and demonstrates how it can support event-driven applications, microservices communication, logging, telemetry, data pipelines, and other enterprise use cases.

In Kafka for Architects, you will learn how to:

• Understand Kafka’s role in modern enterprise software architecture.
• Apply event-driven architecture patterns effectively.
• Design scalable data streaming solutions.
• Use Kafka within messaging systems and distributed applications.
• Understand Kafka cluster architecture and operations.
• Create reliable data contracts and manage event schemas.
• Apply Kafka solutions to real-world enterprise scenarios.

About the Technology

Apache Kafka is a distributed event streaming platform designed for building real-time data pipelines and modern software systems. For architects, understanding Kafka is essential because it influences decisions around system design, deployment, scalability, monitoring, and long-term maintenance.

This book provides the architectural knowledge needed to integrate Kafka successfully into enterprise environments of any size.

About the Book

Rather than teaching Kafka through code examples alone, Kafka for Architects focuses on architectural thinking. You’ll explore design principles, proven patterns, common mistakes, integration approaches, and the wider Kafka ecosystem.

You’ll learn how Kafka supports everything from event-driven architectures to large-scale microservices platforms, helping you make better decisions when designing complex systems.

What’s Inside

• Event-driven architecture patterns, including CQRS, event sourcing, and microservices integration.
• Efficient messaging strategies, including message production, consumption, batching, partitioning, and performance optimization.
• Kafka cluster design, covering topics, partitions, replication, and configuration.
• Data contract design, schema evolution, governance, and Schema Registry usage.
• Streaming application architecture and enterprise Kafka operations.
• Practical approaches for organizing and managing Kafka projects.

Who This Book Is For

This book is designed for current and aspiring enterprise architects, solution architects, software architects, and technical leaders who need to understand how Kafka can support large-scale applications.

About the Author

Katya Gorshkova is a consulting engineer and architect specializing in FinTech solutions, with extensive experience designing real-time data processing systems and enterprise applications.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Kafka Foundations for Architects

1. Understanding Kafka from an Architect’s Perspective
2. Kafka Cluster Data Architecture
3. Kafka Clients and Message Production
4. Building Consumer Applications

Part 2: Designing Kafka Solutions
5. Kafka in Real-World Applications
6. Defining Data Contracts
7. Kafka Interaction Patterns
8. Designing Streaming Applications

Part 3: Enterprise Kafka Management
9. Managing Kafka in Enterprise Environments
10. Organizing Kafka Projects
11. Operating Kafka Systems
12. The Future of Kafka