Skip to main content
Redhat Developers  Logo
  • Products

    Featured

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      Red Hat Enterprise Linux Icon
    • Red Hat OpenShift AI
      Red Hat OpenShift AI
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI
      Linux icon inside of a brain
    • Image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      RHEL image mode
    • Red Hat OpenShift
      Openshift icon
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
      Ansible icon
    • Red Hat Developer Hub
      Developer Hub
    • View All Red Hat Products
    • Linux

      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      • Image mode for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
      • Red Hat Universal Base Images (UBI)
    • Java runtimes & frameworks

      • JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
      • Red Hat build of OpenJDK
    • Kubernetes

      • Red Hat OpenShift
      • Microsoft Azure Red Hat OpenShift
      • Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
      • Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed
    • Integration & App Connectivity

      • Red Hat Build of Apache Camel
      • Red Hat Service Interconnect
      • Red Hat Connectivity Link
    • AI/ML

      • Red Hat OpenShift AI
      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI
    • Automation

      • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
      • Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed
    • Developer tools

      • Red Hat Trusted Software Supply Chain
      • Podman Desktop
      • Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
    • Developer Sandbox

      Developer Sandbox
      Try Red Hat products and technologies without setup or configuration fees for 30 days with this shared Openshift and Kubernetes cluster.
    • Try at no cost
  • Technologies

    Featured

    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • Linux
      Linux Icon
    • Kubernetes
      Cloud icon
    • Automation
      Automation Icon showing arrows moving in a circle around a gear
    • View All Technologies
    • Programming Languages & Frameworks

      • Java
      • Python
      • JavaScript
    • System Design & Architecture

      • Red Hat architecture and design patterns
      • Microservices
      • Event-Driven Architecture
      • Databases
    • Developer Productivity

      • Developer productivity
      • Developer Tools
      • GitOps
    • Secure Development & Architectures

      • Security
      • Secure coding
    • Platform Engineering

      • DevOps
      • DevSecOps
      • Ansible automation for applications and services
    • Automated Data Processing

      • AI/ML
      • Data Science
      • Apache Kafka on Kubernetes
      • View All Technologies
    • Start exploring in the Developer Sandbox for free

      sandbox graphic
      Try Red Hat's products and technologies without setup or configuration.
    • Try at no cost
  • Learn

    Featured

    • Kubernetes & Cloud Native
      Openshift icon
    • Linux
      Rhel icon
    • Automation
      Ansible cloud icon
    • Java
      Java icon
    • AI/ML
      AI/ML Icon
    • View All Learning Resources

    E-Books

    • GitOps Cookbook
    • Podman in Action
    • Kubernetes Operators
    • The Path to GitOps
    • View All E-books

    Cheat Sheets

    • Linux Commands
    • Bash Commands
    • Git
    • systemd Commands
    • View All Cheat Sheets

    Documentation

    • API Catalog
    • Product Documentation
    • Legacy Documentation
    • Red Hat Learning

      Learning image
      Boost your technical skills to expert-level with the help of interactive lessons offered by various Red Hat Learning programs.
    • Explore Red Hat Learning
  • Developer Sandbox

    Developer Sandbox

    • Access Red Hat’s products and technologies without setup or configuration, and start developing quicker than ever before with our new, no-cost sandbox environments.
    • Explore Developer Sandbox

    Featured Developer Sandbox activities

    • Get started with your Developer Sandbox
    • OpenShift virtualization and application modernization using the Developer Sandbox
    • Explore all Developer Sandbox activities

    Ready to start developing apps?

    • Try at no cost
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Videos

Building resilient event-driven architectures with Apache Kafka

May 5, 2021
Don Schenck
Related topics:
ContainersEvent-DrivenKubernetesMicroservices
Related products:
Streams for Apache Kafka

Share:

    Even though cloud-native computing has been around for some time—the Cloud Native Computing Foundation was started in 2015; an eon in computer time—not every developer has experienced the, uh, "joy" of dealing with distributed systems. The old patterns of thinking and architecting systems have given way to new ideas and new problems. For example, it's not always possible (or advisable) to connect to a database and run transactions. Databases themselves are giving way to events and Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) and eventual consistency. Two-phase commits are being replaced with queues and database sagas, while monoliths are replaced with microservices, containers, and Kubernetes. "Small and local" thinking rules the day.

    Now combine this with the fallacies of distributed processing, and suddenly event-driven architecture becomes very attractive. Thankfully, there are tools to make this possible. Apache Kafka is one of those tools.

    Kafka makes event processing possible; Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka makes event processing easy.

    Why events?

    With the move to cloud-based computing, architects and developers were forced to re-examine how data is processed. Questions about timeliness and data urgency were met with the realization that immediate updates aren't always necessary. Plus, the focus shifted to systems that can sometimes (most times; ideally all times) continue to operate even if all the parts aren't working. The goal of systems changed from "It must never fail" to "Failure is inevitable, so we need to handle it." This led to the rise of a new way of thinking that includes circuit breakers, multiple databases, events, and more.

    The beauty of the event-driven model is that you can fire the event and continue on, leaving the results up to "the system." Your code doesn't sit and wait for four databases to be updated or for an object to propagate around the globe via a CDN. There's a certain freedom that the developer feels when processing events. You're either pushing them out and forgetting about them, or you're simply waiting for an event to arrive and then processing it. In other words, your code is typically a one-way street. Low latency, or at least reduced latency, is almost automatic.

    And loosely-coupled services? Events, by nature, force loosely-coupled services. The API is the event. My code isn't calling a method in your code; I'm simply supplying a message. What your code does with it is up to you.

    Why should developers care about Kafka?

    As a developer, you're going to need to embrace event processing if you want a system that's elastic, resilient, and high performing. It's just a matter of fact.

    Kafka brings a level of maturity as well as a robust community with it. Apache Kafka is tried and tested. It's used all over the place and has an entire ecosystem surrounding it. Kafka connectors, for example, allow you to process some events with zero code written. This is important to a developer for this reason: If I know I do not need to write certain code, that frees me up to concentrate on the code I do need to write.

    Business aside; it's fun.

    Side note: Events pair excellently with Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS).

    What next?

    Get coding. Write some PoC (Proof of Concept) applications—or use one of our examples—and do what we developers do best: Show what software can do.

    I suggest watching this short and informative video about Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka, and then continuing your journey into the joy of distributed processing. There are only four steps to awesomeness:

    1. Get your (free) instance of Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka.
    2. Get your (free) instance of Developer Sandbox for Red Hat OpenShift.
    3. Write event-processing code.
    4. Profit.
    Last updated: February 5, 2024

    Recent Posts

    • More Essential AI tutorials for Node.js Developers

    • How to run a fraud detection AI model on RHEL CVMs

    • How we use software provenance at Red Hat

    • Alternatives to creating bootc images from scratch

    • How to update OpenStack Services on OpenShift

    Red Hat Developers logo LinkedIn YouTube Twitter Facebook

    Products

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • Red Hat OpenShift
    • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

    Build

    • Developer Sandbox
    • Developer Tools
    • Interactive Tutorials
    • API Catalog

    Quicklinks

    • Learning Resources
    • E-books
    • Cheat Sheets
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Newsletter

    Communicate

    • About us
    • Contact sales
    • Find a partner
    • Report a website issue
    • Site Status Dashboard
    • Report a security problem

    RED HAT DEVELOPER

    Build here. Go anywhere.

    We serve the builders. The problem solvers who create careers with code.

    Join us if you’re a developer, software engineer, web designer, front-end designer, UX designer, computer scientist, architect, tester, product manager, project manager or team lead.

    Sign me up

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • About Red Hat
    • Jobs
    • Events
    • Locations
    • Contact Red Hat
    • Red Hat Blog
    • Inclusion at Red Hat
    • Cool Stuff Store
    • Red Hat Summit

    Red Hat legal and privacy links

    • Privacy statement
    • Terms of use
    • All policies and guidelines
    • Digital accessibility

    Report a website issue