7 Kafka Interaction Patterns
This chapter covers
- Patterns for applying Kafka in microservices
- Implementing a data mesh architecture with Kafka
- Integrating data using Kafka Connect
- An introduction to Kafka transactions
The team gathers once again in the meeting room, with the whiteboard cluttered with diagrams of their Kafka setup. Max Sellington, Eva Catalyst, and Rob Routine are now deep in discussion about how Kafka fits into their architecture.
Max: You know, one thing’s been bothering me. Not too long ago, service buses were all the rage. And they worked pretty well. Those tools let you visually define the data flow between services and even create transformations right there. But where are we now? It feels like we’ve taken a step back to low-level programming. Why? Is this all just for performance?
Eva: It’s not just about performance, Max. Those service buses never worked perfectly. The visual tools were useful, but they were never as expressive as code. Every time we needed to make a more complex change, it felt like we were fighting the tool’s limitations. And don’t forget, every small change often required redeploying the whole service bus pipeline, which wasn’t flexible at all. Flexibility is one of the main things we gain with Kafka and microservices.