Kafka for amateur 🫣

June 30, 2025

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Jay

What is Apache Kafka? (In Simple Terms)

Kafka is like a highway for data – it helps different parts of your system talk to each other reliably , even when there’s a lot of traffic.

Think of it as:
A post office that handles millions of letters per second.
A conveyor belt in a factory, moving messages between machines.
A buffer between systems so nothing gets lost.

Main Components vs Real-World Example

Producer : Someone who writes and sends letters
Consumer : Someone who receives and reads letters
Topic : The “mailbox” where similar letters go
Broker : The post office that manages the mail
Cluster : Multiple post offices working together

+----------+         +------------------+         +-----------+
| Producer | ------> | Kafka (Topic)    | ------> | Consumer  |
+----------+         | (Mailbox)        |         +-----------+
                     +------------------+
                              ↑
                     Messages are stored
                     for a while (like logs)

Why Use Kafka?

Fast : Handles millions of events per second.
Scalable : Add more servers if you need more power.
Fault-tolerant : If one server dies, others keep running.
Real-time processing : Great for live dashboards, streaming apps, data pipelines etc.

How to Get Started with Kafka

Step 1: Download Kafka

Go to: https://kafka.apache.org/downloads

Download the latest version (choose the binary version).

Step 2: Start Kafka Locally

Open terminal or command prompt and run:

# Extract the downloaded file
tar -xzf kafka_2.13-3.x.x.tgz
cd kafka_2.13-3.x.x

Start ZooKeeper first (used to manage Kafka):

# Start ZooKeeper
bin/zookeeper-server-start.sh config/zookeeper.properties

Then open another terminal and start Kafka :

# Start Kafka
bin/kafka-server-start.sh config/server.properties

Step 3: Create a Topic

bin/kafka-topics.sh --create --topic my-first-topic --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --replication-factor 1 --partitions 1

Step 4: Start a Producer

bin/kafka-console-producer.sh --topic my-first-topic --bootstrap-server localhost:9092

Now type some messages like:

Hello there, DEV community!
This is my first message.

Step 5: Start a Consumer

bin/kafka-console-consumer.sh --topic my-first-topic --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --from-beginning

You’re officially on your way to becoming a Kafka-savvy learner!

If you’re still feeling stuck, don’t worry — it’s totally normal. The best place to deepen your understanding is straight from the source : Apache Kafka Official Documentation or interactive version from Confluent . It might seem dense at first, but it’s a goldmine for building strong foundations.